I really like the Nagasawa styling, but it is true, the frames are very plug and play. He has invested a lot in having the lugs and dropouts as close to the finished product as possible. So, there is very little left to do after the very skillful brazing has cooled. I don't thing this is good or bad, but it accomplishes a fine result without too much work. Suited to the end use I think. Brent
Steelman Cycles
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If you think about where Nagasawa came from, it's no wonder he builds frames with plug-and-play parts that require little finish. I'd do the same were I him. He worked for Pogliaghi and De Rosa at a time when both those makers used pressed lugs and very crudely cast crowns. The amount of filing and sanding required to make those frames even minimally presentable would have taken hours of work, and work that's very hard on the finger-tips and hands and wrists. If Nagasawa still had to do that...he wouldn't be building frames anymore, and probably would not have been for quite some time by now. He would have retired with repetitive motion injuries.
I have a lot of admiration for the way Nagasawa thought through the problem of how to minimize unnecessary work, and still produce a high-quality product. His frames might not be quite as characterful as a 1972 short-point De Rosa, or a 1968 Pogliaghi road, but they're still recognizably his, and very tidy looking. And he's still making them!
I'd love to have one. They're hard to get though. And not cheap when they are available on the used market. Too bad he doesn't take orders for road-frames..or so I've heard..is that true?
Charles Andrews Los Angeles
One thing which always flabbergasts me is the degree to which people think their mad driving skills make it unpossible for them to get into an accident [while doing something else at the same time]
-Atrios