barnfind

First off, this is my first post here, I've been reading for years, finally signed in.
I'm pretty familiar with bikes in general, but nothing past the early 80's or so.

Well, anyway, I went the other day to look at a used boat motor, and came home with a free bike.
The bike is in pretty nice shape, and even my size but I've never run across the brand before.
Who made Mikado bicycles? There's a Taiwan decal on the seat tube and the model says Sportster on the top tube.
There is no tubing decal but its not super heavy and looks to be a decent mid grade bike. My guess would have been a $200-250 bike back in the day.
Most of the components are 1979-1980ish, Shimano 400 5 speed gears, Sugino Maxy crankset, Ukai convex?? alloy 27x1 1/4" rims, Sunshine large flange hubs, springer Cycle Pro padded saddle, Long white wheel reflectors, and Dia Compe center pull brakes. Even the old gumwall tires are still nice, showing no real age and still with little nubs on the tread.
When I asked about the old bike hanging in the rafters the guy said "Take it, it ain't been ridden since his kid graduated high school in 81".
It looks like it never got ridden at all. The rims have no brake wear, the only rusty spots are on a few dry chain links, and the paint is 95% perfect or better. Best of all its my size. I pumped up the tires and took it for a ride, every last bit of it works like a new bike. It shifts perfect, rides perfect, etc. The worst thing I found so far is that the little plastic nuts on the reflectors are dried out and cracked.

It looks a lot like any other Asian import from that time and reminds me a lot of the import model Schwinns or Raleigh bikes from that period. There's a number on the bottom bracket that reads OC504028.
I've got a few other same era bikes here and it really looks like a same era Nishiki Sport or Custom Sport, it don't match any of the Giant built Schwinn bikes, the lugs, chainstay style, and general fit and finish is better than say a Schwinn Traveler or similar.

If it had no badging on it, I'd probably have guessed it to be one of the later Asian built Raleigh bikes or a Nishiki clone.

One more detail that stands out, its got what appears to be Stainless Steel reflectorized rat trap type pedals, pretty much like the type that came on just about every run of the mill bike back then but in stainless steel. There is no branding on the pedals anywhere that I can see, but they do have removable dust caps and serviceable bearings.

randyjawa 

I have owned a couple of Mikado road bikes - a Cadence...



and a Gaspe, a full touring steed that was ridden one time, from the Canadian east coast to the west coast...



They are Canadian made and, from what I have seen, pretty good quality...

barnfind

Mine has a Made in Taiwan decal at the base of the seat tube.
Maybe they outsourced some of the lesser models?
Looking at this bike I would have never guessed a Canada connection.

Mine has a rectangular, 3d, gold and black headbadge that looks pretty cool, but there's nothing on it but the name "Mikado".
The decals appear to be screen printed on clear water slide.

ham

Mikado was a brand created in the late 70s for La Cordee, a Quebec outdoor equipment store that's still around today. From what I can tell, frames were made in Japan until the early 80s, then Canada/Taiwan until they folded in the early 90s.

The brand existed again under new ownership from the late 90s to sometime in the mid 00s.

They're pretty decent bikes, though I've never seen a Taiwanese one in person.

barnfind

Here's a pic of the head badge, it appears to be all metal.
Who would have been in Taiwan back then who they may have been buying bikes from?
I was thinking Giant but all the Giant built bikes I've seen had the serial number on the dropout, this is on the bottom bracket towards the rear.
To me its sort of a mix of parts, but I guess that wasn't too uncommon in those years.
The Cranks are dated 48-9, or 9/1974, the brakes are 10/78, the hubs are 01/79, the Shimano 400 rear derailleur has a CJ date code, and the Shimano 200 has a CI code.

The earliest component is the crankset, the latest the hubs.

Can anyone give a date when Ukai had this style rim? Its as wide as the common Araya W/O but with a raised spoke bed area.

zonatandem

Ukai made some very nice rims ; the Fuji Professional (top of the line in the mid-70s) had Ukai sew up rims.

barnfind

This is a far cry from having sew ups.

I was always under the impression that Ukai and Araya were the same company, just for different markets?
They both seemed to always have identical rims but with brand names.

The rims on this bike are most like what Araya called the 16A.
I seemed to remember more Ukai rims on mountain bikes and BMX bikes back then, they weren't as common on road bikes.

When I think lower end bikes back then, I think of things like Tourney cranks, Shimano Eagle gear changers, and steel Araya rims, but this is a step up.

For what its worth, I hung it on a scale for kicks, my meat hook scale I've got reads 27.8 lbs, which isn't too bad for a run of the mill bike back then.
Not that I figured weight was a big concern on a bike like this, but somehow its only a a couple pounds heavier than my Raleigh Super Course of the same size. The gumwall tires alone could account for that.

Regardless, its a great riding bike, I suppose its a keeper, its not often you run across a freebie that's completely ready to ride.
Knowing who made it and how old it isn't all that important, but I have to say I'm a a bit more than curious as to who they contracted with to make this.

ionikos

That head badge is so similar to my Koga Miyata badge.
Looks like it has not been ridden much, will shine after a wash.

Null66

Yeah, I remember them.

They were very nice looking bikes! Still are.

Nice barn find!
Kinda like finding a '65 mustang with a couple hundred miles on it.

barnfind

Was Mikado ever imported to the states? Here in New Jersey its a totally unheard of brand.
Usually when you find something unkown like this its pretty low end from any one of the many discount chain stores.
I suppose this had to have some riding time on it but most likely adult riding, there's some ever so slight signs of road dirt on the bottom bracket and under the fork crown, but nothing that don't wipe off with a damp rag.
I pulled the wheels and started checking bearings tonight, everything was perfect, clean green grease in both hubs, the bottom bracket, and headset. Even the seat post tube was greased inside the frame.
I am most surprised to see that there's absolutely zero greasy spots anywhere on this thing, even the freewheel cogs are immaculate down in between the teeth.
The chain is so clean that your hand only gets a bit oily touching it. If it was ridden, it wasn't more than a dozen miles or so. Even the old vinyl bar tape is still perfect.
It does have a steel seat post, but its only slightly longer than needed, with not much room for raising the seat, maybe an inch or so.

There's a pretty significant resemblance between the Mikado and Miyata badges but I don't recall any Miyata bikes from Taiwan back then?

A local shop owner here said it looked like one of the Raleigh imports from the late 70's to early 80's by Merida but I see similar points on that compare to many different brands, so I can't say any one detail would conclude to who made it. Its probably got the most in common with the late 70's Letour or Traveler type bikes from Schwinn, or a Nishiki Sport, both of which I believe were Giant built bikes, but the location of the serial number is wrong for a Giant built bike.
Every Giant built bike I've seen had the number on the rear dropout. This one is on the rear/lower side of the BB.

Dan Burkhart 

Mikado ended up as a part of the Procycle group, and became one of the discontinued lines along with Peugeot, Oryx, Quetzal and a few others.

Poljazz

I own a Mikado Cyclotoureur triple that I purchased in 1983. The frame is Tange crmoly and I was told is the same as a Norco frame. It cost over $400 at the time as it had Shimano Deore components. The Mikado company was based in St-Nicholas near Quebec city. All their bikes were well made and good quality.
I am looking for a replacement 6 speed rear derailleur long cage for my Mikado as the spring in mine are now not strong enough for quick shifting. Any suggestions?
Thanks

randyjawa 

What do you have on there, now? I have a couple of Shimano 600 and a few Suntour Vx offerings in very good condition. Got a Crane (first gen Dura Ace) and that's about all that comes to mind.

Poljazz

It is a Shimano Deore bolt on

jacksbike

I sold Miyata bikes in the mid 80's for about 4 years. As far as I remember, Mikado was their low end made in Taiwan entry level bikes that fell way below the Miyata 100 model. I got them from the same distributor in NJ that I sold Miyatas from. They were basic $150-175 bikes. This was a similar scenario to Raleigh having their Rampar line, Schwinn in the early 70's having the 'World' line, etc.

bikamper

My wife had a Mikado Mixte in the early eighties. Nice gloss black and decent enough components for the price. She gave it to my sister, who gave it back to me and I gave to a friend for his daughter to use at college. To the best of my knowledge, she is still riding it. IIRC, it was standing right next to the red Miyata 710 I bought.

Ekaadhityak

How to check the serial number?

T-Mar

Since this thread has been resurrected, I thought I'd take the opportunity to clear up some misconceptions. The Mikado brand seen in the USA is not a Miyata brand, though there was an association. That Mikado brand was created circa 1978 by Toyoda, a Japanese trading company who imported and distributed Miyata during the 1970s. Consequently, there is a family resemblance and a good chance that many of the Mikado models were also manufactured by Miyata. However, Toyoda was free to source the bicycles from other companies.

The Canadian Mikado brand with which I familiar, was owned and manufactured by Procycle of Quebec, who manufactured Peugeot under license along with their own Velo Sport brand, prior to obtaining CCM and several other Canadian brands.

tomtomtomtomtom

I bought a Mikado TR300 CADENCE here, in paris France. The bike come from Canada Quebec.
I painted and restored. All composantes are original.
I succeeded to save few originals stickers.

I listed all component : Derrailleur Back SACHS HURET NEN Soccless

Derailleur Front SHIMANO 600 ? I don't know...

Crank Takagi Tourney XT

Free wheel Shimano 600 MF-6208 Sealed Mechanism Japan VIA

Original Saddle Tube Sugino SP-KC 26.4 millimètre diamètre

Saddle Royal Made In Italy
Brakes Shimano 105 Golden Arrow Series BL-Z306
Bike Tube, CR-Mo SEAMLESS Tubing, Tange 2, Double Butted Tubes, Mikado Low-Flex Down Tube, Tube Oblique (31 8mm)

Gear lever Suntour
Original Wheel Back Weinmann 516 a 129/ 27x1 ¼ 630 Weinmann AG A129 "Super" Concave (hard annodized) 27" (630 mm);

Original Hubs SEALED BEARING Moyeu

tomtomtomtomtom

I would like to share photos, but i'm new and i can't add photos.

T-Mar

Well, it certainly being thought the wringer with modifications, as the components are a real mix of brands and levels. It's hard to say what might be OEM but it's sounding like a mid-1980s model. Given that it came from Canada, there's a good probability that itis the Canadian Mikado brand manufactured by Procycle. Pending photos, the serial number should tell us the year and whether its the Canadian or Japanese Mikado brand.

tomtomtomtomtom

La Cordée is a shop in Montréal was selling this bike.

tomtomtomtomtom

I contacted La Cordée in Montréal. Mikado was running by a family in la Bauce regional county municipalities of Beauce-Sartigan, near Quebec City.

T-Mar

Procycle is in Saint-Georges, which is the county seat of Beauce-Sartigan. Having said that, it is possible that Mikado was a local brand which Proccyle bought, as they did have a reputation for acquiring Canadian brands after they started to struggle. Such acquistions included big names like CCM, Miele and Rocky Mountain but also lesser regional brands like Velosport, which Procycle built into a national brand. It's even possible that Procycle was contract manufacturing Mikado before they bought the brand. This might explain conflicting stories on the ownership. It's quite common for brands to change ownership over time.

tomtomtomtomtom

Thank you for these informations !