On Sat, Jan 15, 2011 at 20:26, damien roohr <droohr@comcast.net> wrote:
> I have always been surprised at the lack of interest in Japanese steel here.
> I have never owned one, but from what I have read the hi-end frames in the
> 70's with top Ishiwata and Tange steel were comparable to the best Reynolds
> and and later Columbus steel of the time. There are threads on
> bikeforums.com that get into Japanese steel in detail. I do remember a few
> guys racing in the early 1980's on some sweet Miyata bikes, but for sure
> Italian steel and (for the budget minded, cannondale) dominated the field
> back then.
My friend, Garrett, likes to quote the advice of his grandfather: "It's okay to like shrimp, but make hot dogs your favorite food." In case the meaning isn't sufficiently clear nowadays, "shrimp" in this analogy represents something that is exotic, rare and expensive. We were riding our Japanese bikes one day and talking about how we like Italian steel, but we don't own any, and he reminded me of this advice. It's okay to like Italian bikes, but make Japanese bikes your favorite.
I have a soft spot for the high end Japanese bikes of 1975-1980 myself. I'm grateful that CR people, and bike shoppers in general, haven't been terribly interested in them. They are rare but still generally cheap - I won't say "undervalued", as if the market will one day catch up, because they may never command interest commensurate with their quality in comparision with European bikes. The young riders of fixies who covet the Japanese pedigree of NJS equipment have helped to elevate the values of a few special brands like 3Rensho, but they don't seem to care about the California-Japanese brands like Univega, Nishiki and Centurion. This component of the market also thankfully helps keep Nitto, Sugino and MKS in business.
James Black
Los Angeles, CA