Gashepherd

I am currently looking at a 1991 miyata 914 SE priced at $120, I'm just wondering about how the suntour edge components compare to the original shimano ultegra group, thanks for your help, in advance -Gerry

Hiro11

Edge was a lower tier group for SunTour, probably the equivalent of something like Claris today. Sprint 9000 (which was great stuff) was SunTour's late 80s / early 90s Ultegra equivalent.

I used to have an '87 or '88 Miyata 914 with came with 600 SIS, is that the original componentry? I think Edge is a bit downmarket for the 914 which was a fairly high end bike. Really nice Ishiwata-made splined triple butted tubes.

Gashepherd

The 91 catalog says the original group was shimano ultegra, seems to me someone upgraded something else, and the miyata ended up being the victim of a downgrade

Gashepherd

They took the shifters, derailleurs, cranks and brakes, apparently they left the wheel hubs, I'm not sure about the bottom bracket and the headset

mstateglfr 

Assuming that insane seatpost and the stem arent stuck, i would absolutely get that bike. Once overhauled and updated, it would be a fantastic road bike. I had an '87 912 that was updated with a 9sp Ultegra/Tricolor drivetrain that I loved for years, but ultimately sold because it was a bit too small.
Stiffer lower half than other similar style upper level steel road bikes from the same period, but still plenty comfortable.

$550 total and that would be a modernized road bike that would be cooler and nicer than much of whats available new for almost twice as much.

mstateglfr 

Miyata produced the STB tubing.

Gashepherd

Were they still using the tri-color group in 91, is that what the shimano ultegra sis group was called

cb400bill

Thread moved from General Cycling Discussion forum to Classic & Vintage forum.

Hiro11

It was certainly Miyata branded but according to what I've seen online, almost certainly sourced from Ishiwata.

Lemond1985

* C&V jaws drop in stunned silence *

mstateglfr 

Yes 600tricolor was around then.

mstateglfr 

Interesting As I've only ever read the opposite- that Miyata drew its own tubing and that was part of its appeal- they advertised it back before stb tubing too.
https://www.ragandbone.ca/Miyata/miyata_selector.html
1st page on right.


It'd be interesting to get some historical stories and confusions straightened out from 1st hand people.

TiHabanero

I got it straight from Mr. Miyata's son that they were drawing their own tubes at that time.

Hiro11

That's really interesting. How many other manufacturers drew their own tubing? Seems like that would be rare. Late eighties Miyatas were awesome bikes for the money.

TenGrainBread 

Miyata was probably the only one in Japan who did that. The rest used suppliers such as Tange, Ishiwata, and sometimes the European tubing manufacturers for the high end bikes.

The only other notable example I can think of of a bicycle manufacturer who manufactured its own tubing was Schwinn rolling tubes in the Chicago factory for the electroforged bikes.

Gashepherd

Well, much to the annoyance of my wife, I went ahead and purchased the bike, settled on $100 now just need to track down the original shimano components and get rid of the suntour stuff, one more project.