Yoshiaki Nagasawa (born 1947) is a Japanese bicycle frame builder who builds primarily
Keirin
– literally "racing cycle" – is a form of motor-paced cycle racing in which track cyclists sprint for victory following a speed-controlled start behind a motorized or non-motorized pacer. It was developed in Japan around 1948 for gambling ...
track racing bicycles. He has a one-man shop near
Osaka, Japan
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2.7 ...
. Notable riders of his bikes include ten-time world champion track racing cyclist
Koichi Nakano.
Nagasawa was born in 1947 in
Asahi, Chiba Prefecture. In his youth he took part in bicycle races in Japan, including the Japan National Championships Road Race. Later he was chosen as a hopeful to race for Japan at the
1968 Olympics in Mexico City. But after colliding with a bus while training the year before the 1968 Games, he retired from competition.
Giving up racing he decided to become a mechanic for bicycle racing. After graduating from
Nihon University
, abbreviated as , is a private research university in Japan. Its predecessor, Nihon Law School (currently the Department of Law), was founded by Yamada Akiyoshi, the Minister of Justice, in 1889. It is one of Japan's leading private universit ...
in 1970, he went to Italy and studied building under Ugo De Rosa of
De Rosa Bicycles, and has been building bicycles in Japan since the late 1970s.
Nagasawa returned to Japan in January 1976 and established his plant, Nagasawa Racing Cycle, in
Kashiwara, Osaka Prefecture. Koichi Nakano debuted in the track world championships that same year and took the fourth place. He started to ride the Nagasawa frame bike in April 1977 and won an unprecedented 10 world titles, all with Nagasawa frames.
He keeps manufacturing frames to this day and is still invited to races as a mechanic.
References
Cycle manufacturers of Japan
Bicycle framebuilders
Living people
1947 births
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