athenstrestle

Hi everyone,

I recently picked up my first road bike, an older Miele which I love. I'm looking for information about it but have come up short so far. I haven't been able to find a good resource on the net for helping be ID it, but have seen helpful posts for others trying to learn about their older bikes. So here goes, if anyone could help me out I'd sure appreciate it. Here are the specs, although I suspect some of these have been upgraded.

- 54 cm Road frame with Miele embossed on the bottom of the BB shell
- has a magenta-purple paint job that appears funky blue in bright sun light (I thought this was an aftermarket paint job (my bike has no decals) until I saw a similar Miele with the same paint (which still had Miele decals so I assume the paint is factory)
- two sets of holes for mounting water bottle cage (both with raised platforms so I know they weren't drilled aftermarket)
- sticker on lower seat-tube (just above BB) indicates tubing is Tange Infinity
- 2 holes in top tube for routing cables, I think someone has drilled these though, kinda elongated oval shaped
- Suntour cyclone cranks, Suntour front derailleur
- Shimano 600 hubs, rear derailleur and shifters (based on assumed bike age, I'm guessing these are updgraded)
- Shimano 105 caliper brakes
- fella who sold me the bike told me fork was aluminum
-
- I'm not sure of the headset (bike not here at the moment), but if it would help anyone ID the bike, I can put it up

I've looked all over the frame for a serial number with no success. I specifically looked on the chain stays, bottom of BB shell, head tube, and have glazed over the rest but seen nothing. Would sure love to ID this bike to learn more about it. Thanks so much.

Im Fixed

Ive had a few miele's the one's Ive had. Had shamano light action basic mid level stuff. There built in Quebec. And they are a nice bike.

ScottRyder 

I have two Miele's, a Lupa and a Gara, both mid eighties. The Lupa is Shimano 105 equipped, the Gara is Shimano 600. Both are very nice bicycles, way below radar coverage on most everybody's screen. They're know for their wild and crazy colors ... Check out this link and scroll down till you find he article on Jim Miele who built in Toronto:

https://bhovey.com/Masi/Scans/BicycleGuide/index1.htm

Replacement decals are available on Ebay.

Scott

trueno92

scott, u know of miele? i had no idea ppl knew of these bikes outside of ontario.

either way, i

top506

One of Scott's Miele is not only my size but equipped with the '87 7-speed 105 group that I consider to be the high point of veloengineering. I thought he gave it to a (platonic) lady friend of his.
Top

ScottRyder 

q1Sorry Top, it's still in my group. Lauren got the Trek 500 instead for her commuting but still rides the Lupa with me.

And just maybe the group on the bike that you helped me with last week could come your way. It really needs all Italian.

Scott

ScottRyder 

They're wonderful and I'm always looking out for some other models.

Scott

mishmashmusic

I have a bright yellow 91 Miele Gara w/Campy Athena gruppo that I bought last year. I had the headset replaced not long ago, and a lot of the guys at the shop commented on what nice bike it was.

jet sanchEz

I don't mean to derail but why do you consider this group to be so good? I just picked up a nice little road bike with this group on it (I think it is a 1987 model, what is the model number so that I can be sure?) and it is very nice but I didn't think it was anything super-amazing. Can you educate me? Thanks.

top506

No, not super amazing, but cost-effective and competent. The first perfected index shifting, as Shimano put all they learned from several years of Dura-Ace and 600 field trials into it. And great bang for the buck.
Top

mishmashmusic

Thanks for posting these scans --- I printed out the Miele pages and read them last night. Nice to know a little bit more about the history of my bike

lotek 

Miele frames were made in Canada, some frames were thought to be Italian but
were not made in Italy. The company was run by Jim Miele and his wife,
the company employed primarily italian labor that had experience in the
bike industry back in Italy, at least for their framebuilders.
The company crashed when Jim Miele took on a major partner and lost control of it.
The investors wanted to make the company grow, so pushed hard into the U.S. market
but didn't make the impatct they wanted and folded. After that Jim Miele
was running a small bike shop in Toronto (maybe Mississauga?) and the
rights to the name, as well as all leftover stock, was auctioned off in
bankruptcy. Jim Miele passed away in 2003.

(the above was culled for CR list posts about Miele.)

I recall seeing Miele bikes being pushed heavily in the US magazines such as Bicycle
Guide. They were seen as an alternative to the more expensive Italian steel and were
pretty highly rated. I think I've seen a scanned review or two, will try to dig
up links and post them here.

Marty

edit: Nevermind the article I was thinking of is posted above.

trueno92

that link with all the scans = GOLD MINE.

apparently some frames WERE imported when Jim convinced Rossin to produce a line, possibly because it was cheaper to buy them than to make them with the canadian dollar to the italian.... currency... gura?

they were the frames that were only solid colors from what i have read.

dookie

my first 'real' road bike was a miele...don't remember the model (had a name, not a number), but it was lugged columbus cromor with a chrome fork and *gorgeous* iridescent pearl white paint (think mother-of-pearl) and a 600 ultegra (tricolor) build out. i bought it in ~1987 and rode the hell out of it until it was stolen in 1993.

fantastic bike! rode great, well built, nice details, nice paint...a bit heavy. as i recall it was ~$500-600? i'd love to find another for posterity's sake...better tubing this time.

dookie

you saw there are *lots* of others?

https://bhovey.com/Masi/Scans/index.htm

ScottRyder 

My Mieles

The Lupa:



The Gara:



Scott

trueno92

scott, that lupa is screaming for honey brown tape and saddle.

(but then it would look too nice to be the commuter it looks to be acting as)

i read the articles and the elite-S 9000 had Ambrosio Aero Elite 19 Durex wheels. I WANT!!!

ScottRyder 

mmmm, I like that idea of the Brooks! The Gara is actually at the frame painters. I found the finish to be flat without any depth and the color a little too harsh. The replacement decals are yellow so I picked a classic Ferrari silver that I think will work well. I've got a Super record group that I'll use to build it up with. White hoods, what do you think for bar tape color? Yellow?

Scott

trueno92

haha wow, don't know if this is a duplicated effort on your decals, but I would be more than happy to nab this and ship them off to you

https://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-s...AdIdZ118949794

https://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-s...AdIdZ118945314

https://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-s...AdIdZ118945741

yellow tape and if u can nail a yellow turbo saddle, that would look pretty killer.

if u go brooks saddle, then honey brown tape for sure. on a silver bike with yellow accents, it should still look good. with some tires that have brownwall on them, it should come together nicely.

what tires are brownish still? IRC?

ScottRyder 

Yep, the decals I got are the same as in the first link, same seller.

The Panaracers I use have gum walls but the other tires I use have a nice reddish brown sides but I can't remember what they are.

Here's a nice Lupa in my area for sale:

https://nh.craigslist.org/bik/1125043709.html

Scott

trueno92

wow, do all ppl in new hampshire keep their vintage bikes in such great condition?

in toronto, that same Lupa would be $360.

ScottRyder 

You don't want to know what I paid for my Lupa!

Scott

skyrider

Those scans are a good read . Went out at lunch and picked up a Miele mountain bike Aries 450 cromo ishiwata sae with exage country group ambrosio off road rims. 20 bucks, lots of crud on it but will clean up nice.

ScottRyder 

Nice score, I've been looking for a Miele MTB for quite awhile.

Scott

BrendonL

I think I may have the same bike you do. my Dad picked it up in hamilton about 10 years ago for...get this..80$!!! the bike was ridden barely ever... and its sat in our garage pretty much since then untill I decided to fix it up and dust it off.

(click for bigger picture)


its a great ride and the chrome is really nice. the colour might get yaou some funny looks but when they see how fast you're going they unerstand!