Originally Posted by T-Mar

Well, at least it doesn't appear to be the infamous Araya 631. Looks to be circa 1982-1986.

Originally Posted by T-Mar

Araya did market bicycles under their own name in Japan, so I supsect that the frame was manufctured for Vista by Araya. I'd guess that ARY= Araya in the ARYL963661 serial number.

The question then becomes whether the tubing is actually manufactured by Araya or simply rebadged Tange or Infinity, like some manufacturers did. I have seen other Vista with Araya tubing, though not 631. Given that Araya extruded their own rims, it would not be much of a stretch for them to extrude their own tubing, though I have nothing to substantiate this. Most sources indicate that Miyata was the only Japanese manufacturer to produce their own tubing.

Yes, it is true that some manufacturers hung Shimano 600 on a lesser grade frame, as it was the components that attracted most customers. There was a Vista Silver Shadow in the late 1970s that used Shimano 600 derailleurs, hubs and brakes, but not the crankset. It had a double butted frame. Given the 600 crankset and 700C wheels, it seems likely that your model is a newer and slightly higher version of the Silver Shadow. In which case, it is probably a CrMo butted tubeset.

The bicycle appears early 1980s. I suspect the marketers were likley counting on the similarity of Araya 631 to Reynolds 531, to lure some customers. During the same period, Fuji had a butted CrMo set, which I believe was 331. Some of the Araya brand bicycles marketed during this period did use CrMo, butted tubing, so the possibility is defintely there, but you won't know for sure until you get the bicycle and have a good look at the tubing decal. If it's inconclusive, the seat post diameter is a good indicator of tubing grade.