• All back from travels and thought I'd give an update on what I found.

    Went to loads of shops in Tokyo and the only one I went to that was open at the time and had ex-Keirin frames was Dreamworks (see http://prollyisnotprobably.com/2009/10/tokyo_bike_shop_dreamworks.php). The frames were £550 upwards, a tad more than I planned to spend so I gave it a miss given my luggage was nearly at limit already.

    The rest of the shops I went in Tokyo had mostly European and US frames, costing much more than over here. Even saw some Shop 14 frames at Geek Garage going for almost £1000. As others have mentioned perhaps the best strategy is to bring a European frame over to Japan and do a trade.

    At Osaka I only went to Gira Gira, which had two frames in my size but they were even more at around £750+. Spoke to the Australian guy there and he said the days of cheap frames were over, even on Yahoo Auctions.

    Whilst in Osaka, I traveled to Kishiwada to see the keirin races. Interesting experience as I was the only foreigner and the only person not gambling. Dirt cheap to get in but not the best view of the riders as there is a wire fence around the track.

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