I saw this bike in a Tokyo park yesterday and stopped to talk to its owner, a young man who bought it from a friend who owns a "bike bar" somewhere in the city. The friend knows a number of Keirin racers and this bike was once the racing steed of a guy called Murakami. The brand is Samson and the builder is in Fukuoka, a city on the island of Kyushu in the south of Japan. It seems that it's a brand on the rise and that a number of top riders are choosing it. It was a beautiful bike, with the oval seat stays and the glitter paint and the rider's name carved right into the frame under the bottom bracket. Friendly young man, too. He asked if I'd like to take it for a spin (I love living in Japan) so I left my camera with him and rode around the park a little bit. It was actually the first time that I have ridden a fixed-gear bike and it was weird and wobbly for a bit - definitely not something I'd like to be in traffic on - but what a machine built for speed!
