[CR]was nagasawa, now perception versus reality/freeking LONG

(Example: Events:Cirque du Cyclisme)

To: Grant.McLean@SportingLife.ca
Cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
From: "Richard M Sachs" <richardsachs@juno.com>
Subject: [CR]was nagasawa, now perception versus reality/freeking LONG
Date: Fri, 11 Oct 2002 21:08:21 -0400

i first saw nagasawa frames in the middle/late 70s at the now defunct n.y. international cycle shows at the coliseum at columbus circle. oh...only the circle is left; they leveled the coliseum. i started taking a booth there in 75 and had always (tried) to keep my antennae up. though unmarked, i'd annually notice the coolest frames, not at the importers of italian goods, but used as a platform by suntour for their line of components. confused? in essence, that firm used matte- black-and-decal-less nagasawa frames to showcase the parts they made. from my first view and from the subsequent detective work i carried on, i became a nagasawa devotee. i will leave out a ton of information here because i'm a one- finger typist, but the message is that i was convinced that this maker and these frames were the closest i would come to that age old fantasy (that we all at one time bought into) that here was the real thing. i have been to italy many times and i have 'seen' many of the so-called top tier shops go from family businesses into major manufacturers and into 'brands'. and i don't begrudge them or those choices. but, as a neophyte, i looked for a role model. during those years and those that followed, i would come first to the suntour booth for a dose of inspiration. ultimately, i'd see the frames marked as nagasawas and his stock rose even higher. because i was 1) always suspicious of the cycle industry and its ever-present need to create a buzz just for the heluvit, and concurrently 2) i was fascinated with the 'national living treasures of japan thing' (apologies for expressing it so trivially...) i had created this image of a mr. nagasawa holed up in osaka making perfect frames at his own pace and answering to no one. and i apologize for personalizing this, but my point here is that i adapted (sp?) my notion of this fellow as my own personal role model. whether founded or not, the information i dug up about this fellow, and the quality-the consistently extremely high quality of his work-all this, when juxtaposed against my lowering opinion of the so-called high zoot italian built frames...well-i just had this belief that nagasawa came (comes) the closest to being the archtypical master builder of the classic road/track frame. i was always unsure as to why he didn't get much airplay outside of japan and the keirin circuit. but no matter...i followed this guy all these years. i never understood when cr listees didn't 'get into' his frames. i tried other times to get threads going about his work and they mostly fizzled. but thanks to spotting those pics on dale's show page perhaps some others will give this bicycle maker his just do. i think he is without peer. maybe it's a 'rose colored glasses thing'. but until it's shown to me to be otherwise, nagasawa frames made in the classic manner are the best of the best.
e-RICHIE
chester, ct