RaleighSport

A Sekai 4000 finally fell into my lap in extremely pristine condition, however the specialized triple crank and odd mix of Suntour ARX FD/V-GT RD was not quite to my liking so I switched out the drivetrain for suntour superbe, replaced the DT shifters with barcons, swapped out the very small bars for a set of "Sekai" branded bars, threw out the dry rotted tires and added a set of 700x38 commuter tires for a plush ride. I must admit I did have to resist the urge to throw a 6500 group on it and modern bars, but I can finally say I have an eroica ready bike in my collection only one detail remains, I need to reapply the "Sekai" chainstay guard... so without further ado the pics.

mdnelson1234

Nice Lugging. reminds me of a Merckx

friendofpugs

Very cool - do you like how it rides?

RaleighSport

Only got about 80 miles on it so far but yes I'm loving the ride, might just be the newest bike in the rotation aspect but it might stay as the #1 rider.

phtomita

Is Sekai 4000 a Tange Champion #1 tubing?
Also curious when you mentioned 700x38 - is there that much of clearance on chain stays/fork? Or is 700x28?
I tried a 700x28 on my Nishiki Tri-A and simply didn't fit, so have 700x25 on it (it is Conti GP4SII on H+Son Archetype rims).

Drillium Dude 

Glad you stopped by to load up the pics - they look even better full-sized. You really did a fantastic job on the lug lining, dood

Clean, beautiful build - like all of yours

DD

RaleighSport

RaleighSport

We miscommunicated my friend I did a horrible lug lining on the Turbo, these beautiful lines were done in the frame shop in 81 and not by me! I wish I had that kind of talent. I also realized half my problem with the turbo is lumpy/too thick powder coat ruins tracing the lug lines.

Drillium Dude 

Gotcha! And yeah, you're right, if the shorelines are crap, the lining will be crap, too. I learned this the hard way with my Raleigh Super Course 12 bitd. Still, the 4000 is a sweet-looking bike

DD

Hudson308 

Sekai is one of those great bike brands that slip under the radar. I had a 2700 for awhile and loved it. To get back to @phtomita 's question... were you actually able to fit 700x38's? Was the bike originally specced with 27's?

RaleighSport

Pics above in the response to phtomita's questions show the tons of clearance left with the 38's I think if I wanted I could put on fenders (I don't want), a 2700 started my personal Sekai obsesession. I won't speculate as to whether it was meant for 27's or 700's but being a high end 81 frame it really could be either but @T-Mar might know the actual answer.

since6

Lovely bike I too built up an early 70s Nishiki Professional with 32mm tires and 700c rims Velocity Atlas for Eroica and hope to ride it there next year, if another body part doesn't fail between now and then.
Congratulations on the find and enjoy.

phtomita

Glad it got sold - I've found a Sekai 4000 frame for build really cheap on OfferUp and was thinking on pulling the trigger .
It was 2 to 3 cm larger than my size and since I had the Sekai GT2700 on the same size before and always had that feeling of 'a bit big for me'.

Anyways, no space in the garage for n+1...... and already have 3 bikes for one body

RaleighSport

Oh this isn't the one that's been for sale forever up your way.. just the same color scheme, I do believe that guy is still trying to sell his.

T-Mar

I'm not sure what was OEM spec in 1981, as it 27" in 1978 but 700C by 1983. The 1978 photo shows lots of fork clearance, though it's hard to tell on the rear.