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A "coffee" bike I know little about

Old 05-08-18, 04:56 PM
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Rapidrob
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A "coffee" bike I know little about

In the late 80's Montgomery Ward went out of business. The main store in downtown Baltimore was closing it's doors that evening I went to see the last minute sales.
I saw this bike which was marked for a tall person ( six foot and above) and it had been slashed down so many times you could not see the price they were asking.
I rolled it over to the cashier and asked what it cost? No idea was the answer....there is no box,no tools,no manual, not sure who made it, was the floor walkers answer. I offered 50 bucks and they took it.
I know nothing about the bike, let alone who made it? It rides well and for its day is fairly light weight. The derailer is very smooth to shift and the brakes work well enough that you better have control of the bike if you really set them.
I'd like to know any helpful info about the bike, who really made it, and any value it may have?
Thanks.
Rob.





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Old 05-08-18, 05:27 PM
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Monkey Wards near me were around until the late 90's.

Looks like the handlebars were swapped making it into a town bike.

Badge is reminiscent of a mid 80's Panasonic.

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Old 05-08-18, 05:50 PM
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The serial number may tell us the year and manufacturer. Tange Mangaloy forks, chromed dropout flats and cables running above the BB shell, but clamp shift levers suggest circa 1982-1985 and lower mid-range. What is the decal at the top of the seat tube? Components suggest it was frankenbiked (i.e SunTour Power shifter with mid-1980s Shimano Z-series rear derailleur and very late 1980s Shimano 600 Ultegra front derailleur).
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Old 05-08-18, 05:56 PM
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Looks Adequate, probably need a secure lock on it, for while you are having that coffee in a Cafe/Bistro.
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Old 05-08-18, 07:14 PM
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Thank you for the replies. I did change the bars out a few years ago to make it a little easier on my spine.
I tried to get a photo of the upright sticker.
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Old 05-09-18, 05:31 AM
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Tange 900 was a seamed version of Tange #2 . Using seamed tubes brought butted tubing down to a lower price level. A seamed, butted CrMo main triangle with lesser grade CMn stays and forks was a practice that started in the early 1980s on lower mid-range frames. The Tange 900 & Mangaloy combination was common in the mid-1980s.

The frankenbike nature is likely due due to the policy of robbing components from one one bicycle to repair another for a customer. This was was fairly common in the retail chains which did not have an in-house bicycle shop and did not stock repair parts. It was quite common to see warehouses with a row bicycles that had been partially stripped of components for this purpose. Every few years they would order parts to rebuild the bicycles and dispose of them on sale.

I've just noticed that both quick release levers for the wheels appear to be improperly adjusted. The rear does not appear to be in the fully locked position while the front appears to have been fastened by tightening the nut and not using the cam action of the lever, as the lever is pointed in the wrong direction.

Did you get the serial number? I'd appreciate it, so that I can add another brand to my serial number guide. TIA.
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Old 05-15-18, 05:21 PM
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The number is 60 80438
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Old 05-16-18, 07:23 AM
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Curiously, the serial number format is not consistent with M-a-t-s-u-s-h-i-t-a (hyphens added to circumvent auto-censor) who owned the Panasonic brand.. The two numeral prefix is characteristic a Taiwanese manufacturer named Dodsun but they typically also stamped the bottom bracket with DS or DSBM and I would expect a longer string to main body of the serial number. If it is Dodsun, it would indicate August 1986 manufacture. It's a bit later than I expected but not unrealistic.
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Old 05-21-18, 07:08 AM
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Thanks for the info. I know nothing about bike makers nor their markings.
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Old 08-18-18, 05:08 PM
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Same bike in Florida!

Hello there, my husband and I recently purchased the same exact bike from a pawn shop in Titusville, FL. It has Shimano everything.
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Old 08-19-18, 05:37 AM
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Old 08-19-18, 07:11 AM
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Originally Posted by T-Mar
Curiously, the serial number format is not consistent with M-a-t-s-u-s-h-i-t-a (hyphens added to circumvent auto-censor) who owned the Panasonic brand.. The two numeral prefix is characteristic a Taiwanese manufacturer named Dodsun but they typically also stamped the bottom bracket with DS or DSBM and I would expect a longer string to main body of the serial number. If it is Dodsun, it would indicate August 1986 manufacture. It's a bit later than I expected but not unrealistic.
-----

Thanks so much for all of this great information T-Mar!

Much appreciated here.

If a Dodsun product they had certainly come a long way from the bottom ender department store fare they were producing at launch.

​​​​​​​-----
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Old 08-19-18, 12:04 PM
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Originally Posted by juvela
....If a Dodsun product they had certainly come a long way from the bottom ender department store fare they were producing at launch.

Still, they hadn't progressed anywhere near as far as two other Taiwanese manufacturers who had started out the same year year - Giant & Merida. By the late 1980s both were producing for major brands (Schwinn and Raleigh respectively) and were about to introduce eponymous brands that that would become two of the leading players on the world's stage.


Hopefully, @Lulu3251 will post their serial number, so we can progress beyond a sample of one and confirm Dodsun as the manufacturer. If so, then I can add yet another Asian brand to the serial number guide.
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Old 08-19-18, 12:19 PM
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Originally Posted by T-Mar
The serial number may tell us the year and manufacturer. Tange Mangaloy forks, chromed dropout flats and cables running above the BB shell, but clamp shift levers suggest circa 1982-1985 and lower mid-range. What is the decal at the top of the seat tube? Components suggest it was frankenbiked (i.e SunTour Power shifter with mid-1980s Shimano Z-series rear derailleur and very late 1980s Shimano 600 Ultegra front derailleur).
That's a nice frame for a Dept store rebrand! The front derailleur and crank look like 6500 series? At least the front derailleur is 9 speed Ultegra
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