Project Nippon

It is possible to get it sub 1k.
but very difficult.
best bet it slow and ebay lots of stuff that people have already imported- cos the price drops amazingly.

I miss the old days, when c £500 was a possibility.
(for a near enough NJS build)

Word of advice. Dont buy njs saddles unless its for the shortest of track sprints alone.
horrible little fuckers.

Where can these be bought ?

Been on the look out for a while -

That's 185 pounds. Cheaper than Campy.

Japanese hub porn. I've been lusting after them ever since I learned of their existence. I personally can't justify spending $300 on a pair of hubs though.. If you can, then do it.

utfs?

Listen to Soper, he's wise and has the most amazing eyebrows.

Pics or you're lying.

Can you not feel the bristles permeating through the ether?

Dude, I know survival Engrish... give me a brake.

Where can these be bought ?

Been on the look out for a while -

idk, Japan I presume. Having a Japanese wife like Roboto does will probably make importing them a bit easier.

Fancy taking part in a Tokyo - Kyoto cycle ride in 2012?

Yes!

Yes!

一緒に行きましょう！Will keep you posted, probably start planning in the autumn.

^Cool! Always wanted to do some kind of japanese road trip and what better way than by bike

Ok so I'm really getting into the FG culture and I'm looking to start my own project when I get the funds in order. I've been thinking about putting a themed project bike together and want peoples suggestions and thoughts on putting together a complete Japanese build. The mrs is Japanese and although she doesn't share my enthusiasm in the project she is quite helpful when it comes to finding parts to import. I want good quality components but I am on a budget!

I just want to know what parts people suggest particularly with the frame as I've heard Keirin frames can be a bit flimsy to say the least. So Kalavinka, Nagasawa or another make for the frame. I'm pretty set on A Sugino and MKS combination and some Token components too. I want the bike to be aesthetically pleasing, performance is a bonus.

I'd love to get your combined knowledge on this as it will be my first build.

Cheers
Rob

Well, it's probably not going to be cheap and you can either go for quality or budget components.

If you're going to go for a full NJS build then you will almost certainly be spending £1500 at least but I'm sure it's possible to spend less and still get a full Japanese build. You may have to compromise on some things though - I have a full Japanese bike which is all NJS except the tyres and the brake (although it is Japanese.)

Do plenty of reading, get on Yahoo auctions and check out sites like Hub-Jub in the UK and NJS Track Supermarket in Japan to get an idea of costs. Don't forget, you may have to pay import tax on anything from Japan.

re: Kerin Frame's stength.

For what it's worth I crashed my Vivalo (not the most reputed Keirin builder) twice last summer. Once into a car that cut across the road and stopped in front of me, and the other time I was side swiped x hit and run resulting in broken elbow and being off the bike until last week.

Both times the frame suffered no damage, nothing. I had it checked by two seperate LBS both times and neither could find anything wrong with the frame. I had one of those protector dealies, and I honestly think it absorbed potential TT denting impact both times.

I don't know what you plan on getting into but short of riding full clip directly into an on coming car you shouldn't have to worry about the frame being strong enough for whatever you throw at it.

Rob, if your budget is sub £1k, don't bother with an all jap build. It will not happen. Sorry.

No chance for <£1,000, my recently finished build was somewhere between €2,000 - €2,500 and the frame was a secondhand Fort. That was using mostly NJS parts. Most people think it looks shit too.

^ This is true.

You might manage it I'd you either buy sometime already built up in the UK or if you buy only second hand parts and a frame, again in the UK.

I think mine was around the £2K mark and that was with a used frame/forks and I got a stupidly good deal on those.

I actually thought this thread was about him and his Nagasawas.... disappoint.

+1

Still got my cruiser...

No chance for <£1,000, my recently finished build was somewhere between €2,000 - €2,500 and the frame was a secondhand Fort. That was using mostly NJS parts. Most people think it looks shit too.

i actually quite like your build, i am completely bemused to how you managed to spend that much money though.

i actually quite like your build, i am completely bemused to how you managed to spend that much money though.

Well I'd say it was around that mark, €400-500 for the wheel build, frame was €250 + 150 + 100 (powdercoating + fork), €1,000+ on groupset, bars and misc. bits and bobs. €100 for Brooks saddle. Not dead certain on the goupset and bits but it's certainly over €1,000. Just waiting on some new Fort decals and it's done. Photos will be up ASAP.

500 quid for your wheels? what are they?

There or abouts I'd say, Gran-Compe rims, Velocity B43 and Deep V rims. Stainless spokes and nipples. I was lazy and didn't build them myself either so with tyres and tubes it was probably about that.

No chance for <£1,000, my recently finished build was somewhere between €2,000 - €2,500 and the frame was a secondhand Fort. That was using mostly NJS parts. Most people think it looks shit too.

I don't know what it looks like buddy, but I know you did the expensive route. If I remember well you were buying stuff from NJS Supermarket, that's your choice. Doesn't mean we would all do it, innit.

No chance for <£1,000

Bullsh*t! Sorry, I've done enough to know. ;)

...My friend Rob... that's where you're compromising the most actually.
The frame should be your least of worries.
Frames come and go. You can crash it, brake it, get it nicked...etc...
Want a piece of advice: Get yourself quality components, good wheelset, if you so like Japanes...
Peace.

This makes no sense, if you get your frame nicked, unless it's from your house it will be the entire bike with the components, so this makes the component bit a bit redundant, the changing frame bit makes sense.

Keirin frames are perfectly strong, ask Build or Ma3k, both have keirin frames and don't treat them extra carefully, and I believe they are both still ok, they were made to be extra strong so they can survive crashes and not break.

Thirdly if you want to do a japanese build you will need a japanese frame, otherwise it will be pointless trying to make sure that the rest is japanese.

Why not just try to build a classic looking steel lugged style bike, still has a theme just seems to be more attainable on a budget.

There or abouts I'd say, Gran-Compe rims, Velocity B43 and Deep V rims. Stainless spokes and nipples. I was lazy and didn't build them myself either so with tyres and tubes it was probably about that.

im sorry but i doubt that this build would cost four to five hundred quid.

I don't know what it looks like buddy, but I know you did the expensive route. If I remember well you were buying stuff from NJS Supermarket, that's your choice. Doesn't mean we would all do it, innit.

Bullsh*t! Sorry, I've done enough to know. ;)

Nuknow is right, your build does seem ridiculously overpriced, not everyone will spend over £70 on a chainring.

I don't know what it looks like buddy, but I know you did the expensive route. If I remember well you were buying stuff from NJS Supermarket, that's your choice. Doesn't mean we would all do it, innit.

Oh yeah man of course, I know I could have found cheaper parts elsewhere and gone for some secondhand stuff but I really wanted that new car smell ;) I did go a little crazy ono some parts too, the monster chainring was a bit silly.

You could definitely build a super nice bike sub one grand but I don't think you could build a full NJS build now for that price. NJS stuff just has way to much hipster tax on it.