Koga Miyata Road Ace
#1
South Seas Correspondent
Thread Starter
Koga Miyata Road Ace
Greetings from Aotearoa.
Found this classic dutch city bike at the local dump a week or so ago for $40. All it needed was a clean up, three new rear spokes and some gear changers for the Sachs Pentasport 5 speed hub (couldn't find the correct changer on this side of the world, so ended up using a couple of old Shimano XT rotary shifters...cool!). It had a Brooks B66 which was too wide for my butt, so I've put on a lovely softened Brooks Flyer instead. Pretty much zero chance of ever finding a chainguard, so I'll have to stick to riding in shorts.
Brought over here from Holland (see dutch anti-theft registration mark in the pickie), brazed to the extreme, heavy as a not-so-light bike, and just a whisker too tall for my height, I am enjoying our daily ride to the shop.
Looking back through the catalogues, it seems to be a 1992.
Yo
Jeff
Found this classic dutch city bike at the local dump a week or so ago for $40. All it needed was a clean up, three new rear spokes and some gear changers for the Sachs Pentasport 5 speed hub (couldn't find the correct changer on this side of the world, so ended up using a couple of old Shimano XT rotary shifters...cool!). It had a Brooks B66 which was too wide for my butt, so I've put on a lovely softened Brooks Flyer instead. Pretty much zero chance of ever finding a chainguard, so I'll have to stick to riding in shorts.
Brought over here from Holland (see dutch anti-theft registration mark in the pickie), brazed to the extreme, heavy as a not-so-light bike, and just a whisker too tall for my height, I am enjoying our daily ride to the shop.
Looking back through the catalogues, it seems to be a 1992.
Yo
Jeff
Last edited by jeffieh; 02-13-12 at 06:37 PM. Reason: typo
#4
Senior Member
The thumbies alone are worth more than what you paid. Interesting build. No original spec. The number is probably postal code + house number. I we would have had the 1st digit, we could have located the place of the original owner.
#5
aka Tom Reingold
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
Posts: 40,502
Bikes: 1962 Rudge Sports, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, 1971 Raleigh Pro Track, 1974 Raleigh International, 1975 Viscount Fixie, 1982 McLean, 1996 Lemond (Ti), 2002 Burley Zydeco tandem
Mentioned: 511 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7348 Post(s)
Liked 2,460 Times
in
1,432 Posts
Clearly a bike lover's bike.
And why do you think you can't find a chainguard?
And why do you think you can't find a chainguard?
__________________
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
#6
rain dog
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Northern PA
Posts: 772
Mentioned: 4 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 16 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 8 Times
in
6 Posts
$40, that's a heck of a deal! Looks like a perfect city bike. I wonder how such a nicely outfitted bike found its way to the dump in the first place.
I'm not too familiar with Koga Miyata's hardlite tubing, is FM-3 lower or higher in their hierarchy than FM-1?
Also, is this coaster brake only? I'm guessing that's a generator or light mount on the front forks, but what are those mounts on the seat stays? Some sort of lock?
I'm not too familiar with Koga Miyata's hardlite tubing, is FM-3 lower or higher in their hierarchy than FM-1?
Also, is this coaster brake only? I'm guessing that's a generator or light mount on the front forks, but what are those mounts on the seat stays? Some sort of lock?
#7
South Seas Correspondent
Thread Starter
We have a recycling section at the dump (no pun intended). It was all above board, honest!
#8
South Seas Correspondent
Thread Starter
Hi Tom. Yeah, although it doesn't feel as if it's had a huge amount of use. I think this would have been one of the last high spec dutch bikes before the Shimano tsunami arrived. Although it does have SR pedals and a Shimano 600 headset.
As for finding a chainguard, Dutch bikes are more of less unseen in these parts. We're more of a Raleigh/BSA/Phillips tradition. Maybe next time I'm in Holland.
As for finding a chainguard, Dutch bikes are more of less unseen in these parts. We're more of a Raleigh/BSA/Phillips tradition. Maybe next time I'm in Holland.
#9
South Seas Correspondent
Thread Starter
Yes, there are vast number of brazings all over the bike. Sme I can figure: others, such as the three threaded bosses running down the underside of the downtube... beats me what they'd be for. The lock mechanism is missing, as is the rear dynamo and light (well spotted btw), carrier and skirt guards on the rear mudguard. And yes, hub brakes front and rear. Never thought I;d like them but, well...they kinda grow on you, and you can be loose with the WD40 without having to worry about the rims.
#10
Senior Member
I think they put less effort in saving weight and that it was used by the most traditional Dutch bike kind of bikes within the Koga line up only. My fathers RoadGentleman from the same year uses FM-1 already. That model is a little bit more sporty.
#11
Overdoing projects
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Rotterdam, former republic of the Netherlands
Posts: 2,397
Bikes: Batavus Randonneur GL, Gazelle Orange Excellent, Gazelle Super Licht, Gazelle Grand Tourist, Gazelle Lausanne, Gazelle Tandem, Koga-Miyata SilverAce, Koga-Miyata WorldTraveller
Mentioned: 58 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 784 Post(s)
Liked 1,238 Times
in
686 Posts
Just wanted to add some info since I have one of these bikes myself. Mine is a 3-speed 1989 model.
According to the German Koga-Miyata wikipedia page:
They are fairly lightweight compared to similar bikes of the day but they were built with durability in mind over light weight which can be seen in the rust-treatment before paint.
With some new wheels and lighter tyres they can be fairly zippy bikes.
According to the German Koga-Miyata wikipedia page:
FM-1 - triple butted, spiral reinforcements (highest quality grade, roughly comparable to Columbus TSX or Reynolds 753)
FM-2 - double butted (comparable to Reynolds 531 or Columbus SL)
FM-3 - non-butted, wall thickness 0.8 mm for seat tube and top tube, 1.0 for down tube and head tube. (simplest grade, comparable to Columbus Cromor/Aelle or perhaps straight gauge Reynolds 531)
FM-2 - double butted (comparable to Reynolds 531 or Columbus SL)
FM-3 - non-butted, wall thickness 0.8 mm for seat tube and top tube, 1.0 for down tube and head tube. (simplest grade, comparable to Columbus Cromor/Aelle or perhaps straight gauge Reynolds 531)
With some new wheels and lighter tyres they can be fairly zippy bikes.
Last edited by JaccoW; 07-01-19 at 08:53 AM.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Unagidon
Classic and Vintage Bicycles: Whats it Worth? Appraisals.
8
01-01-13 05:54 AM
asoralvin
Classic and Vintage Bicycles: Whats it Worth? Appraisals.
2
04-18-12 08:44 AM