The Radavist

Chunks’ Nagasawa
Words and photos by Morgan Taylor

When we think of building a bike, there’s usually an aesthetic ideal and a finished product in mind. While many of the beautiful bicycles we pore over are works of perfection, the range of aesthetic ideals is as varied as the riders who put them together.

I’ve known Chunks since the early days of fixie freestyle. We used to get together on a weekly basis to do backwards circles and bunny hop converted road frames – sound familiar? That weekly gathering gave us the motivation to ride through winters, sharing laughs and forging friendships along the way.

At the time, the NJS track bike was an aesthetic ideal it seemed we all lusted for. The race-bred, yet street-tough style led many down the path of looseball hubs and B123s in less than optimal conditions. Some went even further, to a carefully curated, freshly imported Keirin frameset dripping in Nitto and Dura Ace.

If you were around in the mid-2000’s, rode a track bike on the streets and still have that frame, chances are, it might look like this. I love seeing friend’s zippy, fast, track-drop equipped bikes get swapped out for a spinny gear, risers and a Wald basket. When Matt wanted something more lively to ride to work each day, he bought his friend’s old Samson track bike and quickly made the transition to basket track.

Matt is co-owner at Flat Track Coffee, my local shop and every day he rides to work in Vans, with his made in the USA, Austin-based, Helm boots in the basket and a few bags of coffee for customers. This bike is always parked inside the shop and finally I got around to photographing it. Personally, I love this bike so much, as I’m sure Matt does.

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When I first walked into the Six Eleven Bicycle Co booth at this year’s NAHBS, I immediately was drawn to this purple machine, like a moth to the flame. Like many people, all I saw was a 3 Rensho track bike. That is until I spotted the very clever 6 Eleven decals. Aaron went overboard here and I’m still dumb-founded that it didn’t win best track bike. It’s so good! Even to the point that a certain Japanese builder asked why he had a 3 Rensho in his booth!

Don’t miss those Sugino-branded Suntour cranks, either! Congrats to Aaron for doing a stellar job on this beauty.

It’s not everyday that you see a gorgeous Gan Well Pro track bike rolling on the streets of LA. Maybe 5 years ago, but not today. So when the owner of this beauty walked it into Golden Saddle Cyclery, I had to take it out for some photos. Nitto everything, Suntour hubs, Dura Ace cranks and a well-used perforated Flite. More of this please!

*Unfortunately, the owner has to sell it, so if you’re in the market, call GSC for pricing. Please, serious inquiries only!

It’s hard to introduce this shop without talking about how they were one of the first track bike-specific shops in the US. At the time, you could count them on one hand and King Kog‘s been on people’s radar for almost 10 years. In recent years, King Kog went from a tiny space on an industrial block to a large, full-service bike shop, right off Graham avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. While they still cater to track bikes, King Kog also stocks vintage road bikes and cycling apparel. Chances are, if you’ve got a classic build to finish off, King Kog has that stem you’re looking for and maybe the matching jersey.

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I’ve got a few friends here in Austin with impeccable taste in bikes. Chris is one of them. His Eddy Merckx Pista and matching Eddy Merckx road have been featured here before and today I’ve got a gorgeous Joe Bell-restored blue Nagasawa. When Chris got the frame, it had surface rust and the paint was all chipped up. He’d always wanted a Joe Bell-painted bike, so he contact Joe and set up a restoration. When Joe finished his work, Chris built it up and the end result is stunning. The blue just popped in the late afternoon sun and the freshly-paved asphalt alleyway was the perfect backdrop. This bike is a beauty. See for yourself below.

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This one’s been a long time coming. Ross’ stable is freaking insane. He’s got a Nagasawa track bike with dual brakes, a Richard Sachs cross bike, a Speedvagen cross bike and now this beauty is finally complete. If you’ve been paying attention to Fyxomatosis, since forever, you might recognize this bike. It was featured, a couple years back and shortly after, Andy sold it to Ross.

Gary Neiwand raced the International Keirin circuit and on his third revolution, Yoshi Konno built him this frame. It was a disaster. He didn’t want the low-pro geometry and the top tube was way too long. Yoshi disregarded Gary’s specifications and basically built what he thought was best. What did Gary do? He still raced the bike and still won. With drops. Typically, low-pros are raced with pursuit bars, not drops.

Amazing. You can see more on the story at Fyxo, but for now, let’s look at Ross’ build up. Below are specs and a video of Gary Neiwand racing during the ’96 Olympics in Atlanta.

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