Having learnt his trade with Ugo de Rosa, Yoshiaki Nagasawa quickly became Japan's preeminant frame builder
Frame design and choice of components may be limited by the sport's governing body, Nihon Jitensha Shinkōkai (NJS), but keirin bikes are still a thing of beauty
Not many track bikes can claim associations with Manchester, Milan and Osaka, but this Keirin racing machine, built by Yoshiaki Nagasawa for Mancunian pro Matt Crampton in 2009, does. Crampton, a contemporary of Sir Chris Hoy, has a trophy cabinet bulging from numerous Commonwealth Games and European Track Championships.
Still, it was winning the Japanese Keirin Association Race in Manchester in 2008 that led to an invitation to join the Japan Keirin School in Izu, Japan.
Part training academy, part spiritual retreat, wholly disciplinarian, the school is as intense as the racing scene, which exists solely to generate 1.328 trillion yen (£6,481m) in annual gambling revenue. Keirin is big business in Japan; a contact sport far removed from the sanitised Olympic and UCI versions.
Hoy and Crampton raced Keirin frequently in Japan during the late 2000s. Both pros maintain that nothing honed their track skills for international competition more than belting around an outdoor asphalt track in all weathers with a group of eight fiercely competitive Japanese riders.
Bike and parts fully approved by the NJS
“Crampton may have been new to the scene, but he knew how to choose a bike,” says current owner Richard Hoddinott of vintage specialists The Velo Pages. “Nagasawa is a legendary Keirin frame builder who served a lengthy apprenticeship with Ugo De Rosa in 1970s Milan.”
Back in Osaka, Nagasawa applied his learned skills to Keirin bikes, which, to ensure fair play for those having a flutter, must be near identical. The frames have to be steel, and all components must be approved by the Nihon Jitensha Shinkōkai (NJS), the sport’s governing body. The NJS seldom changes its standards, so the bikes have barely changed since the 1970s, bar contemporary drive chain components.
Owner of Velo Pages, Richard Hoddinott is one of the foremost bike collectors in the UK. His collection ranges from classic French machines ridden in the early Tours de France to bikes belonging to British legends from Ray Booty to Eileen Sheridan. He recently rode one of his bikes across Iceland. No mod cons included
The sport’s restrictive standards may seem at odds with creativity, yet Nagasawa can work magic with lengths of Japanese Tange chromoly steel tubing and a brazing torch like few others. Note the heart on the forks, a tribute to the late, great Ugo.
