sailorboy
04-03-2008, 07:31 AM
Yoshiaki Nagasawa – A visit to the sensei’s shop.
Background: I confess to not being a long-time fan of Mr. Nagasawa’s bicycles and planning out what might for some be considered a pilgrimage of the highest importance to have a bicycle made to order from a true master of handmade steel bicycles. I suppose it is mainly because for a long time I had only seen examples of his track bikes, and since I’ve never been a fixed gear fan, never really considered the possibility of getting a road bike from him. Once in Japan however, I was able to see a few examples of his work in person, including a road bike, and knew this was at least worth looking into. That coupled with my ongoing exposure to his work, and that of other greats right here on the forum, it became as obvious as anything could be that I knew I had to do this.
Facing the prospect of returning to the states this June after 3 years in Japan with the Navy, I had my Japanese friend and fellow ‘bike maniac’ as he calls me, just cold call Mr. Nagasawa’s number and inquire about a bike. Within a couple of calls I found out that not only is he still building road bikes, but that he offers a special service to foreigners who have a limited time only in Japan. Provided we could make the journey to his shop, he would measure me up for the frame and have it made before I left the country to avoid shipping to the States. I must emphasize the point that this is something he reserves especially for outsiders who go through the trouble of coming to Japan and visiting his shop. It probably doesn’t hurt that I had a Japanese friend, with knowledge and experience in bikes, to make that call and ask nicely!!
Timeline:
10 am Tuesday, depart Ayase city (40km south of Tokyo) to Osaka—500+km away
5 pm arrive at Nagasawa’s shop, early for our appointment. We rang the bell on the shop door and he appeared in a doorway of the house behind us across the street. He told us to go ahead inside and look around and that he would be over in a little while. We later found out that some time in recent years, he has adopted a flip-flopped schedule, working through the night and sleeping in the day. It is possible we woke him up!! The shop overhead doors weren’t locked when he told us to go inside, where we immediately discovered 3 bikes fully kitted out with campy record and awaiting shipment to their new owners. Most people don’t lock doors in Japan, especially in more out of the way places. Apparently there aren’t many Americans living around him.
5-6 pm basically free time to snoop around the upstairs of his shop where measurements are taken and bikes are assembled. We also walked outside and checked out his current pride and joy, a box truck that he converted to a mobile tech support vehicle for amateur racing in Japan.
6-7 pm tour of the downstairs of the shop where frame production and prep for paint is done. Most of the flickr pictures came from this point. The brazing demonstration took place here, and he says it was a current order for a Keirin frame that he was working on. It is good that he did this before we went to dinner!!
7-8:30 pm I am fitted for my frame using my current bike--a Richard Sachs as well as Q+A from Nagasawa. He did it with me in baggy street clothes and sneakers despite my telling him that I had my cycling gear in the car. No body measurements, he basically crouched next to me holding the top tube while I sat on the bike with hands in 3 different positions. He then sat in his chair at a computer and looked at my bike a lot without me on it, and also took some measurements. I told him I wanted this bike to ride like a European road racing frame, and he seemed to know exactly what I was trying to convey. He said that he thought the Sachs was set up a little more like a ‘touring bike’ with a larger fork offset and slightly longer chainstays, and wanted to make sure that I was OK with his bike being built to some tighter tolerances. Umm…yea! What he ended up with on the build sheet was somewhat of a surprise to me; a slight sloping top tube—to account for the fact that he doesn’t do extended headtubes like that on my Sachs— a 71.5 head angle and 72 seat angle, with only a 40mm fork offset on a size 54 frame. When I asked if he was concerned about toe overlap, he quickly replied that the head tube angle would take care of that…Trust.
830 to I dunno, 1 am? Dinner with his family at his favorite Yaki Niku (Korean barbecue) restaurant. After most of the family had gone home one by one, I think Mrs. Nagasawa finally sent the daughter back down on her bike to force us out of there well after midnight. This man just loves to talk and enjoy a special meal with outsiders!
1-3 am, sake in his shop and he fitted my Japanese friend for a bike as well. He will have to wait 2 years for his though. I felt a little badly at this point since Nagasawa was probably not in a condition to fully invest himself into any serious work. At least he wasn’t doing any brazing for the rest of the night!
We were then shown two small apartment-type rooms adjacent to his home where we could stay for the night and leave the keys in the mailbox before we left the next morning. We said our goodbyes and exchanged some gifts since we would not see him in the morning.
The next post will have more detail about dinner and an interview with him.
Background: I confess to not being a long-time fan of Mr. Nagasawa’s bicycles and planning out what might for some be considered a pilgrimage of the highest importance to have a bicycle made to order from a true master of handmade steel bicycles. I suppose it is mainly because for a long time I had only seen examples of his track bikes, and since I’ve never been a fixed gear fan, never really considered the possibility of getting a road bike from him. Once in Japan however, I was able to see a few examples of his work in person, including a road bike, and knew this was at least worth looking into. That coupled with my ongoing exposure to his work, and that of other greats right here on the forum, it became as obvious as anything could be that I knew I had to do this.
Facing the prospect of returning to the states this June after 3 years in Japan with the Navy, I had my Japanese friend and fellow ‘bike maniac’ as he calls me, just cold call Mr. Nagasawa’s number and inquire about a bike. Within a couple of calls I found out that not only is he still building road bikes, but that he offers a special service to foreigners who have a limited time only in Japan. Provided we could make the journey to his shop, he would measure me up for the frame and have it made before I left the country to avoid shipping to the States. I must emphasize the point that this is something he reserves especially for outsiders who go through the trouble of coming to Japan and visiting his shop. It probably doesn’t hurt that I had a Japanese friend, with knowledge and experience in bikes, to make that call and ask nicely!!
Timeline:
10 am Tuesday, depart Ayase city (40km south of Tokyo) to Osaka—500+km away
5 pm arrive at Nagasawa’s shop, early for our appointment. We rang the bell on the shop door and he appeared in a doorway of the house behind us across the street. He told us to go ahead inside and look around and that he would be over in a little while. We later found out that some time in recent years, he has adopted a flip-flopped schedule, working through the night and sleeping in the day. It is possible we woke him up!! The shop overhead doors weren’t locked when he told us to go inside, where we immediately discovered 3 bikes fully kitted out with campy record and awaiting shipment to their new owners. Most people don’t lock doors in Japan, especially in more out of the way places. Apparently there aren’t many Americans living around him.
5-6 pm basically free time to snoop around the upstairs of his shop where measurements are taken and bikes are assembled. We also walked outside and checked out his current pride and joy, a box truck that he converted to a mobile tech support vehicle for amateur racing in Japan.
6-7 pm tour of the downstairs of the shop where frame production and prep for paint is done. Most of the flickr pictures came from this point. The brazing demonstration took place here, and he says it was a current order for a Keirin frame that he was working on. It is good that he did this before we went to dinner!!
7-8:30 pm I am fitted for my frame using my current bike--a Richard Sachs as well as Q+A from Nagasawa. He did it with me in baggy street clothes and sneakers despite my telling him that I had my cycling gear in the car. No body measurements, he basically crouched next to me holding the top tube while I sat on the bike with hands in 3 different positions. He then sat in his chair at a computer and looked at my bike a lot without me on it, and also took some measurements. I told him I wanted this bike to ride like a European road racing frame, and he seemed to know exactly what I was trying to convey. He said that he thought the Sachs was set up a little more like a ‘touring bike’ with a larger fork offset and slightly longer chainstays, and wanted to make sure that I was OK with his bike being built to some tighter tolerances. Umm…yea! What he ended up with on the build sheet was somewhat of a surprise to me; a slight sloping top tube—to account for the fact that he doesn’t do extended headtubes like that on my Sachs— a 71.5 head angle and 72 seat angle, with only a 40mm fork offset on a size 54 frame. When I asked if he was concerned about toe overlap, he quickly replied that the head tube angle would take care of that…Trust.
830 to I dunno, 1 am? Dinner with his family at his favorite Yaki Niku (Korean barbecue) restaurant. After most of the family had gone home one by one, I think Mrs. Nagasawa finally sent the daughter back down on her bike to force us out of there well after midnight. This man just loves to talk and enjoy a special meal with outsiders!
1-3 am, sake in his shop and he fitted my Japanese friend for a bike as well. He will have to wait 2 years for his though. I felt a little badly at this point since Nagasawa was probably not in a condition to fully invest himself into any serious work. At least he wasn’t doing any brazing for the rest of the night!
We were then shown two small apartment-type rooms adjacent to his home where we could stay for the night and leave the keys in the mailbox before we left the next morning. We said our goodbyes and exchanged some gifts since we would not see him in the morning.
The next post will have more detail about dinner and an interview with him.