thook

hey folks,

i had a very clean metallic grey all original gran turismo gifted to me this past weekend. i have an original rear rack for it from my first turismo and am hoping to find a front to match. i've seen them on the web images, but neither the rack i have or images/info i've located on the web say the company that makes them. probably safe to assume it's either blackburn or nitto. just the same, i'm hoping someone here can help in my search. any pointers would be gladly appreciated. thanks!!

Salamandrine 

The Gran Turismo didn't come with racks. If you wanted a rack, most people would have bought a Blackburn. There were not a lot of other choices then. Lawee (Univega distributor) may have sold some sort of knockoff imported rack, but I never saw one at the LBS where I worked at that time. Avenir clone Blackburn racks were still a few years away, IIRC.

bikemig 

It's hard to go wrong with Blackburn racks on a vintage touring bike.

L134 

Is this what you are looking for? I pulled it off a Univega Sportour but don’t know that it was OE. It is a Jim Blackburn.

thook

my first GT had a rack of the era when it came to me, so i just kinda assumed "OE". fair enough

i did some more late night pokin' around and saw a couple of bikes not univega on ebay that had front racks matching my intention. one was identified as a blackburn, so, yeah....i guess i'm indeed looking for a "blackburn". i did find a uni' specialisma pic that had the same rear rack as i, but it's front rack was a nitto low rider. not what i'm after

thanks for the info!

thook

you really can't....lol. i've got a vintage jandd that i either want to strip and polish silver or recoat it black. it's nice, it's functional, etc., but it just doesn't have the same flair as a blackburn. i also have a rear blackburn that actually says "jim blackburn....made in england", but the chainstay braces are broken off. need to find someone around here who can/will weld aluminum!

bikemig 

Jandd racks look good on a vintage touring bike too:




1982 Trek 720

thook

that would be the likes of what i'm after!! would you be selling? trade?

thook

oh, absolutely! i had my jandd on my first GT for years beat up looking as it was. supports panniers very well due to the squarish shape of the side braces. yours looks exactly like mine.....only cleaner...lol! all the coating is flaking off on mine :/

cannonride15

@thook, if you can't find a Blackburn the Soma Mini (not very mini!) is a very close copy, and might be available in noir. I have one on my Uni Specialissima. BTW, aluminum can be soldered without need for a welder, check the interwebs.

thook

oh! thanks! price ain't too bad, neither

well, i do know a guy talented at welding enough to weld a soda can. he's an acquaintance since i know his dad. iow's, if i can contact him at a point i'm ready to fix it, i could probably save a little without shipping and all. failing that, i'll keep your suggestion in mind

cromagnum

tHook I actually have a gran tourismo Univega Grey and it has both the front and rear racks. It did come with the front rack because there are bolts into the frame forks for them. I will try and send pictures later tonite

Salamandrine 

I really do remember. My after school job in high school was pretty much assembling Gran Turismos (and Sportours etc). I must have put together hundreds. They didn't come with racks. Selling a rack or two with the bike was a good way for bike shops to make a little profit, especially if the customer bought a helmet, pump, a water bottle and cage, etc. Lawee knew this.

Just because a bike came with double eyelets doesn't mean it came with racks. Genuine touring bikes always had double eyelets. Back one is for fenders, the front/top one is for a front rack. Lowriders were still a couple years down the road.

thook

eye candy!!! thanks!

thook

duly noted

say, you wouldn't happen to know if these '83 frames were double butted or straight gauge would you?

Salamandrine 

As I recall the main frame was in fact double butted cro-mo, and the stays were high tensile steel.

thook

thanks, once again!

cromagnum

Thook here are the pictures and yes the racks both front and back are Jim Blackburns Notice the bolts on the forks for the racks

cromagnum

I had taken the rack off the front and now have to figure exactly how they go back on. Its not a standard rack.

fietsbob

Your front rack shown in 18, uses the through bolt wraps around, and mounts on the back of the fork crown..
(so any brake was fine )
the one in 4 uses the front of the fork crown... it came later ..

Salamandrine 

That is a lowrider rack mount. Those came later. This is a slightly newer Gran Turismo than the OP's . '86 perhaps? Looks to be still a Miyata made product - possibly the last year. They may have come with an OEM lowrider rack that year. I don't know, but I'd guess not.

Certainly the 83 had only eyelets for 'standard' front rack and did not come with racks of any sort.

cromagnum

Just checked the serial number ( T-Mar ) and the bike is an 84 based on the Miyata discription

thook

that's super nice! thanks for sharing. univega made some nice improvements from '83 to '84 apparently; two sets of bottle cage bosses vs one, the low rider mounts, and the rear rack mounts inside the seat stays vs posterior. plus, an upgrade on the running gear; that sugino has a true granny gear vs the 36t max on the SR custom 118bcd. then there's the barcons vs dt levers, and the canti's are leveraged higher. sweet ride, man. you should fix that cable and get'er rollin....

Salamandrine 

Maybe it was made late '84 for the '85 year. The '84 didn't have lowrider mounts yet. The 1984 Univega catalog confirms. So I'm going with '85... Not like it makes heaps of difference...

The first couple years after Blackburn Lowriders came out (1983?), we'd typically to use P clamps to install them.

The Gran Turismo was always a very good bike for the money.

cromagnum

I just pulled it out of the garage and took a quick look at it. The gears are not shifting properly, almost not at all, so I was going to fiddle with it but ran out of time and haven't even cleaned it yet. It was an estate sale pickup for $20 no pedals and the tires were shot so I put new ones on now just have to get back to it. Hopefully this week the weather has started to improve so it's time I take them all out approximately 50 and then cut down the herd. Its a disease much like being a Jet fan!