Nagasawaphiles,
I've owned a few examples, most recently a frame I custom ordered in 2007 from Mr. Nagasawa, that was facilitated by a friend living in Japan.
What is the general impression about "what these frames go for"? I paid about $1400 for a custom order track frame, with headset and bb included, about $300 worth of parts. Is $1,100 for a custom made frame by a living legend considered too expensive to be fabricated with "lowly" cast drop outs? In the world of custom framebuilding pricing these days, that seems like a deal. I consider Nagasawa bikes to be nicely made, but more hammer than art, and i'm perfectly fine with that. They are what they are.
Grant McLean Toronto, Canada
From: "Scott L. Minneman" <minneman@onomy.com>
I agree that the Nagasawa lugsets are beautiful, and they seem very easy to work with, and I'm certain that there's skill involved in making a frame with them. Their design is exquisite....but I do wonder a bit about (and am slightly upset by) the extent to which they mimic what a master framebuilder might/would do with real dropouts and tubing. It almost strikes me as disingenuous to make a plug-joined investment-cast part that looks like a contoured-tip dropout with an open-tube stay (or fork blade), complete with drawn-back braze.
Furthermore, if one is making these parts (moreover, creating the original masters), they could've done most *anything* with the design (arbitrary amounts of detail, novel shapes, etc.), and this is what was chosen?
I'm sure that opinions vary, but I think I want a little more craftsmanship if I'm paying what these frames go for. I know it was expensive to tool up these parts, and I'm sure the unit cost is considerable, but there has also been a lot of time to amortize that initial expense.
Sorry...just feeling a little growly this evening (and those pictures of the pre-investment-cast Nagasawa just drove home my point...so much sweeter to know it's all *real* craft).
Scott Minneman
San Francisco, CA USA