Bike Build — NJS Panasonic Track Bike

The Purple Panasonic –

One of our employee’s, Chuck, offered our mechanic Bryan a Keirin NJS Panasonic track frame that he just couldn’t pass up. Chuck originally bought the frame, had it stripped and painted with purple flake (sans decals), then built from there, but eventually shifted his focus to other projects. So over the course of a few weeks, Bryan managed to take this swift little Japanese steel frame and turn it into a track worthy racer in his spare time. Panasonic bicycles of all types used to be sought after for their known quality, with companies such as Schwinn, Raleigh, Royce Union and others supposedly even rebadging Panasonic frames at one point for the American market. Since closing their short-lived American divisions in 1989 however, Panasonic bicycles haven’t been near as noticeable in the stateside cycling world. If you know where to look (or import from) though, there are still high-quality Panasonics to be found among enthusiasts throughout the country.

Bryan took great care to build this one right, hand-building the wheels himself and keeping all his components simple and high-quality (although not strictly NJS approved, to spite you purists). The end result is a quick, responsive track bike that is as sleek as it is good-looking. Check out the gallery above and the build list below.