Porschefan

Hi,

Here's something that just popped on ABQ CL.

Inquiry to the seller yielded: "Frame size looks to be 53 cm, model is Roadace RX7, components are shimano rear and front derailers (0riginal to the bike) and Sakae SA crank,"

Preliminary research on these forums found a link to a Maruishi catalog. Also, a thread on Bike Forums had Bianchigirl saying "of course now I want a RX-7"--which piqued my curiosity more. The catalog description doesn't mention the Ishiwata 022 cro-mo tubing that some of the others have, so I'm assuming that's a negative? Seller info on Shimano derailleurs agrees with catalog description of 105 group.

Wondering if this is a suitable "project" bike to practice cleanup and flipping skills with? Or no?

BTW, researching this led me to one thread, pages long, comparing Ishiwata 022 to Reynolds and Columbus tubing of various sorts. There certainly is an amazing depth of knowledge on this board!

TIA for input.

STP

bargainguy

Maruishi is still around - now known as Jamis. Very well respected marque, both past and present. I had a Maruishi Emporer and still remember the ride - smooth and buttery.

I believe these had Ishiwata EX or EXO, triple or quad butted cromoly.

For flipping, though, not sure how much more than $160 you'd get out of it. Because the marque is not that well known by the public, tends to fly under the radar. If it's your size, I'd buy it and keep it.

Porschefan

Thanks Bargainguy. No, not my size (56-58), so it would just be a project in the end.

STP

3alarmer 

...from what I can recall, the RX-7 was not a particularly high end Maruishi, like the Record, Comp, or Professional.
Combined with the somewhat limited name recognition, I wold not expect to make a whole lot of money trying to flip it.

LOOK here for the catalog order of hierarchy.

oddjob2

Honestly, fuggedaboutit as a flip candidate. As others have said, no name recognition and no snob appeal either. Think; how many times a day the entire US population is jonesing for a Maruishi or can even spell it correctly? And you live in New Mexico, so that means it is entered in CL about once every three years.

Porschefan

Thanks very much for the .PDF of the catalog. Very helpful and I'll keep it for further reference.

One thing the catalog clears up is the tubing used in the frame. The previous link didn't have the detailed specs--just the marketing blurb at the top of the page. The higher-end models mention the Ishiwata 022 tubing and that's conspicuously absent in the RX 7 description. The specs in the catalog you sent says the frame is cro-mo Tange. I'm not anywhere near up on all the frame materials, but it seems that Tange is desirable, but not as desirable as Ishiwata 022. Do I have that correct?

As far as flipping goes, at this point in my "career" (ha, ha!), I'm just looking for something that is interesting and that I wouldn't lose $$ at. Of course it would be best to find something that had at least little potential to feed the bike acquisition fund. I got started on this not long ago when I found a very nice 1989 Schwinn Circuit and snapped it up because it looked gorgeous, had a fantastic "feel" riding it around and the price was more than right. That bike is going to be a little too small to keep as a rider, but it is also completely (or very close to, AFAIK) original condition, so I don't think it would wise, or even the right thing, to do much to it other than maybe take it apart and clean, maybe replace cables, I don't really know.

Thanks again for the reference. I hope to keep accumulating bits of info. This forum has been, and I hope will continue to be a great source for tips, advice, etc.

STP

3alarmer 

...Tange is swell tubing, and I have some bikes from it that ride fine. Ishiwata has more panache, and certainly at least one of the bikes I've had made of it is a very fine riding bike. The company that made Ishiwata is still doing business under a different name, but most of their tubing stays in Japan, I think, at this point. So yeah.