Originally Posted by capnjonny

I just finished this Nishiki Olympic Mixte and am taking it to the shop tomorrow for them to sell. When I brought it home I was unimpressed with the color. It looked like dirty brown mustard. After I stripped the steel wheels and the drop bars and stem shifters it started to grow on me. By the time I had completely stripped it and gave everything a good clean I was in love. You can tell a bike has not been ridden when the crank spindle has absolutely no wear on it. The 40-52 tooth Maxi chain rings looked new, and the paint had almost no damage. Just a few pin holes.

I was starting to get a Serengeti vibe, the paint reminded me of a lion or leopard, and I almost painted spots on the frame. I did put a cool Bianchi saddle with leopard spots on it which I had been dying to use on a build. This was the time.

Even though it came with a nice Shimano 600 derailleur I decided to kit it out with Suntour bits, including a Vgt long cage rear and Spirt front Der, and Suntour adjustable ratchet thumb shifters. The original Diacompe center pulls were like new but I swapped in some Coolstop pads. For wheels I used a 1 1/4 x 27 at the back and a 1 x 27 in front , both with sealed bearings and stainless spokes.

New 1 1/8 x 27 gum walls from our huge stash of them and a new adjustable stem and new 2" riser bars with some custom brown grips completed the package

Oh, I almost forgot. I put a 6 speed Suntour 13-30 tooth freewheel on it . lots of range for hills or flats.

Enjoy