garryg

My neighbour owns a bike shop and someone who used to race dropped off this bike,just gave it to them. Campagnolo hubs , shifters and derailleurs. Modolo brakes Dura ace cranks,pedals steering stem, tubulers.Oh and a nice red silica pump, my size

SurferRosa

That's a nice one. And is that an early Super Record rear derailleur? Probably worth quite a bit.

But, I thought we all agreed that the rear aero brake cable is routed on the non-drive side. We all agreed!

gaucho777 

That is nice indeed. Lots of nice & unusual features, such as the seat stay treatment, and the windowed brake bridge reinforcement. I wonder who built it. Are those Lotus flowers on the head lugs? I like the color scheme and graphics package, too. Paint and decals in surprisingly good condition for a racer. Phil BB? First order of business: new brake levers.

bikemig 

That bike is beautiful. It's interesting how some of these top end Japanese bikes were spec'd with campagnolo, not dura ace or superbe. BITD people just thought campy was better. Campy stuff lasted. You could get small parts for campy and that was not so easy for the other manufacturers. The hubs were great and the brakes very good. The rear derailleurs were built to last but their shifting is so so.

T-Mar

This is really interesting. The serial number has the NP prefix used by Kawamura's high end shop. Normally, we see it on the Nishiki ONP but the ONP typically used integral sloping crowns, vertical dropouts and didn't have fastback stays or top tube cable tunnels. I've seen some ONP with horizontal dropouts but I don't think that I seen this exact combination before.

I don't think the Campagnolo is OEM. It's probably similar to the ONP, in that it was offered as a bare frame and built up.

Edit: Also interesting is that it has actual Tange decals. I'd appreciate a photo of the decal hiding behind the pump.

unworthy1

No those lug piercings do resemble the Lotus holes, but they are different. Did Miyata/Univega also use this lugset for certain frames or am I imagining things (again)?
Very nice frame, BTW!
Re: those lug piercings, maybe NOT, there are these from Miyata (1978 or is it '82 catalog) which are probably what I was thinking of and they are different still: more of a "W" (see the small detail shots at the top of this image)

bOsscO

Very generous of the previous owner to provide this bike to your friends shop; there are good people out there.
garryg when you say 'my size' does that mean your friend in turn gave the bike to you?

garryg

I wish!!! I do not know what his plans are for this bike.

T-Mar

The lug cutouts used on some of the upper end Nishiki remind me of those used on some of the mid-range, Japanese sourced, Piaggio era Bianchi. However, they're not the same when you compare them, side by side.

xiaoman1 

None the less a beautiful frame with some very interesting features....
Best, Ben

unworthy1

Side-bar question: has the contractor (s) who built the Japanese Bianchis ever been conclusively ID'd? If so I missed that thread or wasn't paying attention.

Eric F 

That's freakin' beautiful!!!

Eric F 

Kawamura. Many of the details are typical for the top-end Kawamura-built Nishikis of that era. That said, I don't recall seeing that seat stay design before.

This is what I'm most familiar with from my own ONP...

Steel Charlie

In the early 80's I recall seeing a Nishiki Pro with the seat tube nicely crushed in a repair stand by a child pretending to be a mechanic. Fortunately not my bike. It was just in for it's first take the slack outta the cables visit. I heard that the owner was upset.

gaucho777 

I had to look up ONP and came across this webpage spotlighting a similar Nishiki Pro frame (video, notes, and photos -- apparently winner of one of the Eroica show competitions). Some notable differences (fork crown, most obviously), but a lot of similarities, too. Horizontal dropouts, same lug cutouts, Tange tubing, "N" drain hole, brake bridge reinforcements, etc.. Interesting notes on the website below the video, too. Would be interesting in hearing your comparison.

https://www.pacelinebikes.com/nishiki-onp/

T-Mar

Unfortunately, I have been unable to uncover the identity of Bianchi's prime Japanese source.

So, you didn't miss anything.

T-Mar

Yes, I seen the paceline ONP and perhaps a dozen other Nishiki ONP. The only variance I've seen in known ONP are the dropouts. As stated previously, the dropouts are typically vertical but I've also seen horizontal. A 1976 magazine review indicated that both criterium and road versions were planned, so the difference in dropout styles is not unexpected. More curious is one sample that I've seen with a one Shimano rrear dropout and one SunTour rear dropout!

Regarding the Professional that is the subject of this thread, the major variances with typical ONP are the semi-sloping, traditional grown versus the fully, sloping integral crown on the ONP, the fastback seat stays whereby the stay tops act as the cinch bolt retainer, versus the ONP style with more traditional, separate cinch bolt ears, and the presence of top tube cable tunnels versus the the need for clamps on the ONP.

There is absolutely no doubt that the subject Professional is a legitimate Nishiki from Kawamura's high end shop and based on the ONP but the feature mix is unique (to me). Given that the bicycle is located in Canada, I suspect that this is a Canadian version. Some members may suggest that this is a repaint with added top tube cable tunnels, given the lack shift lever braze-ons but this is a known trait on some high end Canadian market models, which adopted top tube tunnels prior to their USA cousins. The livery has also been used on known high end, Canadian market models.

I should also mention that the headset on the Professional appears to be a Tange Levin. This further supports the Italian components as being previous owner additions, as the Levin and the seat post binder bolt were the only components included on the ONP frameset. The Levin was also the standard headset on the complete bicycle version of the ONP, which was called the Superbe and offered with high end SunTour, Dia-Compe, Sugino and Sunshine mix.

garryg

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