Kalavinka Super Exhibition track bike build

The seastpost from @bradybrady. Immaculately packaged.

Classy.

Now go find some nice wheels and cranks!

Thanks

Next is bars, pretty much sorted.
Then cranks. (Potential exam results present)
Then wheels (long way off).

Regarding the cranks:

So far have eyed up a SR Royal Pista crank (£40).
They aren't very NJSy, with flutes, which makes them feel a bit wrong.

Other than that have only really thought about some Dura Ace FC-7600 off NJS export but they are much more pricey and tend to mostly be > 165mm (which I would need to ride this on the track, correct?). Obviously they would fit but for the reasons above I remain torn.

Any other options anyone has seen?

The DS only cranks are super cheap but obviously only DS. How do they even manage to break the NDS arm?

Some pics of so far:

Looks really crisp! Cant wait to see the end result. This will look banging!
Have you tried sitting on the saddle yet? Looks really narrow.

Ha yes. And 100% plastic.
I put it on another bike and used it. It hurts for the first minute or so but then either my but gets numb or I just forget about it.

Glad the seatpost arrived safely.
Is the chainstay chromed or is it like Nagasawas and just a shiny sticker?

Think its a shiny sticker, doesn't look chromed. And looks exactly the same as the nagasawa ones.

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My 2p -

If all black wheels = all black cranks
If silver hubb/spokes grey/black rims = silver cranks black chainring
If all silver = all silver crankset

Looking good so far!

Definitely go all black on this.

I've come too far to go black now.

^^Wheel idea is all silver, though really unsure of how that's going to pan out. Black chainring is still on the board however.

So time for an update:
Nothing has happened.

• Had a near miss with a suzue and Mavic open pro wheelset.
  
• Handlebars have proven to be difficult as both sellers I found have gone quiet.
  
• Also missed out on some sugino 75s in a good condition.
  
  

Plan remains the same:

• handlebars (B123aa)
  
• cranks (probably some tatty 7600s off eBay/NJS export and polish them up).
  
• Wheelsets have become a topic of interest. Am eyeing up @shroom s ones for sale.
  
  

In other news:
A kalavinka exactly the same as mine has popped up on njs export. 58cm and £200 more expensive but pretty funny.
Not sure how I feel about it tho. May have to buy it and actually paint it to maintain the (what i beleived to be) uniqueness of my frame.
:(

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Who cares about the uniqueness of the frame! It doesn't make yours less awesome. Your focus should lie on building this beauty up, not on dragging it down by looking at its uglier twin. So buy some shiny kit or get another job to afford it. No use in sobbing over a nice frame standing in your room not being used.

TL;DR: HTFU!

You have to remember these frames in reality aren't that unique, NJS obviously have regulations and thy are all basically the same and the builder has probably built dozens of identical frames

Exactly. It's why they all have tarty paint jobs and cut out lugs and BBs cos at the end of the day they're just cheap chromoly track frames.

Quiet, you'll upset the children, they'll find out for themselves as they grow up.

^^^
yeah, I know just surprised to see one with exactly the same colour skeme. Though this one does have the fastback top eye thingys not the regular kalavinka ones. :P

^
I know they are all no better than any other real track frame and more often than not worse (obvs the NJS stamp gives it the critical weight advantage over most other steel track frames) but still £300 isn't too bad for a track frame.
And aesthetically they do really appeal to me and (at risk of landing myself in the shit fixeh skidderz say thread) the idea they've been ridden by a pro in japan around a track, seems pretty cool.

£300 for a good-looking decent quality track frame in VGC ain't bad. The fact is that the frames are the equivalent of a homogenised 80s timewarp HHV hire bike used for a human-powered version of greyhound racing. Ask any of the riders if they would prefer a Dolan DF4, or even a Planet X.

It still looks good, though!

Thanks, your comparison of japanese kerin and greyhound racing is spot on, exaclty what I thought (that said I would much rather watch the first).

VGC

I think I may have been leading you guys astray slightly. You cant really see it in the pictures but the bike does have two rather knarley war wounds, largest on the Downtube.
Toshi at NJS export said it was fine (I know obvs he will say that but) and I used my optimistically basic rule of if the dents not sharp its not too dangerous to conclude that it was fine.

Here is the Down tube one, hard to see. The other one is under the TT but isn't that bad and easily covered up by NJS certification strap (which I wont remove in fear of loss of its healing powers).

The paint around it has split leaving the bare metal underneath which looks fine with one or two freckles of surface rust. Maybe when I'm old enough to play with it out side I'll tape something over it but that's just me being over protective?

This definitely won't be used when its too wet anyway (at least for now).

Plan is underway but very slow; hope to have ordered this weekend.

some more piccies I had:

Am I right in saying that the BB height is = to the radius of an inflated 700c wheel and 23c tire (334) - the BB drop (61)?

So eventually... Bayum.

Bought the cranks. Was looking at buying them off eBay but then these popped up cheaper and in better condition.
Courtesy of @killy1

Feel very lucky.

Sellers pictures:

And the all important

Bars are on the horizon.

Noice, have been watching. Frame looks great love the Japanese decals.

Excited to see it built

Beginning to think about the wheels slightly.

Was thinking of Dura ace 7600 laced, with silver spokes, to some japanese, relatively low in profile, clincher rims, which is where the issue lies:

Really not keen on the idea of using tubs but want to keep it japanese and silver(ish). Obviously due to the hub choice they would have to be 36H.

• Araya are the obvious choice but only the RC-540 s seem to fit the bill?
  
  

Are there any other viable rim choices as beyond Araya I really have no clue?

TB-14's? Depends on how fussed you are about everything being Japanese.