Hexenmeister

I posted this in the MTB and it was suggested I should post it here. (Should have guessed that in the first place.)

I'm going to look at this bike later this evening. When I talked to the guy on the phone, I swear he said it was a "Bridgestone Wildwood" but I can't find any information on that particular bike. I also checked the catalogs on Sheldon Brown's site and didn't see such a model.

Does anybody know what this is? I just like to know a little something about a bike before I check it out in person. (Stupid grainy CL photos don't help much).

https://kansascity.craigslist.org/bik/394489683.html

Grand Bois

It looks a lot like my '88 MB-2, but with a replacement fork.



Maybe you can find it in one of these catalogs:

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgestone/#catalogues

There were expensive and still are.

Hexenmeister

Yeah, that fork was throwing me off.

I looked through the catalogs earlier but couldn't find a match.

Hexenmeister

Well, a guy on the MTB forum just told me I should offer $50 for it, and that it wasn't of any real value.

Grand Bois

It's obsolete. It has no suspension and it's made of steel.

solveg

OK, I am really* not good at identifying bikes, but could it be this NB-26?

https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/bik/385462343.html

PS: if they totally don't look the same, could you tell me why? I know the fork is different, but we discussed that. I know the bars are cross and not mountain. But the Crank looks the same, and the geometry looks the same to me, too. Tell me what I'm not seeing if I'm all screwed up.

Hexenmeister

Well, mystery solved, seeing as I own it now.

It's a "Bridgestone Wildwest." It's definitely a lower end bike. Supposedly the original owner had it imported from Japan. I may have overpaid at $85, but it was clean and everything works properly.

I'll probably just use it as my "MUP bike" for pulling my daughter around in. It's got a different front wheel because the one it came with wasn't quick release, so I put one on from my old mountain bike.



The "Wildwest" decal is pretty cheesy. That might have to go.



The fork worries me a little. It doesn't appear to be original and it seems cheap.

solveg

Did you ask him why* he imported it from Japan?

Hexenmeister

No, the guy I bought it from was the second owner, not the one who imported it.

I should've asked that though.

JunkYardBike

It appears it may have been a Japanese model only, so importing it from Japan would be the only way to get it here. Not much on the internet. Here's a Japanese site with one:

https://tenjin.coara.or.jp/~norihiko/Bicycle/MTB-1.html

There are also a couple references to the Wildwest on the iBOB listerve, but not much info:

https://search.bikelist.org/?SearchSt...e=internet-bob

Does it have Deore components? If so, it's not entry level...but higher up on the pecking order.

solveg

I'll bet it's Altus.

Hexenmeister

It has Shimano Exage 300EX components. Also, it's interesting because the front shifter is not indexed while the rear shifter is. The brakes are also backwards, the rear brake is on the left. I wonder if that's a Japanese thing.

I saw those same Japanese sites that you found. I even tried translating them via Google, but it didn't make a whole lot of sense.

solveg

LOL! Dang! I typed in Exage, but then changed my mind. I am so bad* at looking at photos.

Well, have you ridden it yet? What do you think? I think it's kinda cool!

Hexenmeister

It rides nicely, shifts smoothly. It's a bit small for me, but then my road bike is too big. If I had a bike that fit me properly, I wouldn't know what to do.

I need to transcribe the little paragraph that's next to the Wildwest decal. It's kind of funny and strange, in other words, very Japanese.

fbagatelleblack

Nice, clean B'stone. $85 well spent if you ask me...

- FBB

Hexenmeister

That's good to know. I'm still pretty new to bikes. I've read so many stories about people scoring killer bikes for $50 or less that I guess it has skewed my thinking a bit.

solveg

That fork is creepy, though. It looks like something you'd get at a carnival!

dcee604

Hey, I have a Bridgestone WildWest too! But mine has Deore XT components on it. Might be the only one in Canada!
https://i220.photobucket.com/albums/d...t/IMG_1509.jpg

RaleighSport

Zombie thread wants brains!

Grand Bois

Why do newbies do that?

jeshii

I just scored one of these. Also an import from Japan. Still has a Japanese bike registration sticker on it.

It's got so many different things going on. There's some weird pointy braze ons on the seat tube that look like they once held something. What, however, I can't figure out. Anyone figure out what those are for?