NJS style track frame and fork for Chicago

Is this the last frame of 2025 ? Might be and it would be a good way to say goodbye to an eventful year in the shop. This Samsom lug set that I got from Richard Sachs about a decade ago had been sitting in a box with no hope of getting used - that is until I told a customer the story of how I saw a social media post by Richard showing that he had these fine pieces of frame building parts in stock. In a truly odd moment I told myself "I'm going to buy a set of those lugs and build an NJS track frame !!". Well, I did get the lugs but I did not build the frame- got too busy with customer bikes and at the time I already had 4-5 fixed gear bikes hanging up in my shop gathering dust. The lugs , dropouts and fork crown were expensive- the most expensive lug set I had ever bought-I felt like a total chump as money was tight back then and I really could not afford to be accumulating frame building stuff that would probably never get used......that was until this week.

I told a customer from Chicago who had travelled out here to pick up a frame he had ordered the whole story of the lugs-I don't remember how the conversation wound up going that way , but it did. He said that he was interested in having an NJS style track frame and fork built- I could not have gotten better news - the Samson lugs would find a home at last and it would not be another track frame for me that I didn't need. I se to work a couple of days ago and here is the result. I have to say, that lug set was a pleasure to work with. The set did not come with a BB shell so I had to look through my accumulation of frame building parts to find one with the correct angles to build this frame. I found a Takahashi BB that I had gotten from the estate sale of Hugh Enochs that was perfect. I needed a tube set and found one - new in the box- of Tange Prestige that I had gotten from the shop sale of Ed Litton who had gotten the frame from Bruce Gordon......that means that no less than three deceased frame builders had a part in the creation of this frame and fork. The fork blades are Columbus PS- also gotten from the shop of Ed Litton. Ironically, I got more Samson dropouts and lugs from that estate as well.......but not this cool fork crown. 

I don't normally use steel plugs on the seat stays of my frames but I did a little research and found that many NJS frames are built this way so I went for authenticity . The materials didn't put up much of a fight and in a couple of days I have this- my second lugged frame of the year and maybe fifth track frame of 2025- big year for the fixies. 

 

Here's a photo of the tubes and lugs fitted but not yet brazed. I pinned the seat tube at the BB shell- a nod to the man who sold me the lugs. I used 50N silver for much of the frame but used bronze for the steerer tube and nickel silver for the seat stay-seat lug junction. 

According to all the things I use to check alignment and sizing, this one looks good . Looking forward to seeing it painted and getting a ride report from the owner. I might do a little bit of sanding around the lugs but it really doesn't need it- I would only be doing that to make myself happy-nobody would see what I had done once the paint was on- kind of pointless but then, it's frame building- lots of pointless stuff in my world.....and that's the point, pretty much.