bark_eater 

I'm picking this bike up next week. Its a Soma Prestige, and not a lot of info is coming up web searching. I was was wondering about the quality of the bike. The Champion #5 tubing is low end and the wheels have steel rims, but it has bar end shifters? Any thoughts or history?

T-Mar

Soma was the brand of Mitsui, a Japanese trading company based in Osaka. They also marketed bicycles under the Mitsui brand. Soma first appeared circa 1976. The bicycles were contract manufactured and most that have surfaced were sourced from Kuwahara.

The Prestige was a lower mid-range model, typically 4th from the top of the line. While the tubing is only plain gauge CrMo, the Prestige generally did not scrimp by utilizing lesser grade hi-tensile steel in the forks and stays. I think the wheels are replacements. All the Prestige I've seen have used small flange hubs laced to aluminum Araya 16A rims. Bar end shift levers were typically standard equipment. The brakes appear to be the OEM Dia-Compe 500G, though it looks like there is a missing nut on the front brake pad. The brake levers are missing the original hoods and were moved down on the handlebars when the it was re-taped. I can't positively identify the drivetrain components from the non-drive side picture but the pedals appear to be nylon replacements. It appears to be very late 1970s and, if so, these were generally equipped with Sugino Super Maxy cranksets and SunTour Vx derailleurs. The saddle is also a replacement and the stem is almost certainly well above the safe insertion mark.

With a set of wheels equivalent to the OEM spec. it should weigh around 25 lbs. It was marketed as being suitable for racing or touring but it didn't seem to fit either very well. Front end geometry leaned towards race, while the back end was biased towards light touring. Strangely, these typically surfaced with fender eyelets on the front but none on the rear.

When you get the bicycle, I should be able to determine the exact build date from the serial number, assuming it is Kuwahara manufacture.

bark_eater 

Thanks for the info.

Here's another picture. I have more from the add but am having problems uploading.

I figured as much about the wheels being non original. For the price I'm getting a set of bar-end shifters with a bike attached. It sounds like the bike is idiosyncratic enough to warrant a tune up and some road time though.

exmechanic89

Looks like it would ride well if some adjustments were made..

T-Mar

This one is definitely a Kuwahara product, as I can identify their proprietary headset in the additional picture.

bark_eater 

bark_eater 

Pictures uploaded better today. I'll have more pictures next week if all go's well.

bark_eater 

One last of the steel rims.

bark_eater 

Picked up the bike this morning. Surprises include a 21.1 mm stem, the front rim is aluminum with a dimpled brake track, GNUTTI skewers and there's a screw through the seat tube to secure an undersized seat post. The frame looks to be 73 degrees square. Seat tube is 23" to top and top tube 22 1/2 center to center. The fork rings like a bell. I'm not sure that is a real indication of quality, but at least it will make a nice wind chime. No real plan for the bike at this point, but it definitely came free with the shift levers. I do have clean replacements for all the rusty Suntour bits and a wheel set, if I can convince myself it's worth the time. Here are some more pictures:

bark_eater 

bark_eater 

bark_eater 

noglider 

I sold these in 1980-1981. The quality was good. This one is in rough shape but might be worth fixing up.

The Gnutti skewers are from Italy and not original. The bike originally came with two aluminum rims.

bark_eater 

Are there any equivalent bikes you would group this with? Or any reason this bike would stand out against any sport-touring bikes of the era?

noglider 

I guess it's like the Fuji S-12S. At the time, I was selling Peugeot, Nishiki, and Soma. The Soma seemed more generic to me, but that doesn't mean it's bad in any way. I think it was priced a bit lower since the brand didn't carry any caché. So no, it didn't stand out against the competition. It was designed to be just like the rest.

T-Mar

That serial number is incomplete. All it tells us is that it was the 56,655th frame manufactured in January. There should be another group of two numbers, in front of the '01', that indicates the year.

It's nice to see that Mitsui eventually got smart and spec'd rear dropouts with eyelets. As previously suggested, the wheels are definitely not OEM. The SunTour Vx derailleur and Sugino Super Maxy crankset are OEM.

Regarding other comparable bicycles of the era, I'd agree with the Fuji S-12-S and also include the Miyata 310 and Nishiki (Olympic) Royale.

bark_eater 

Took another look and I missed the year which is "81" I was interested in your early comments about frame geometry. Do you think this frame has those characteristics?

bark_eater 

Poking around the internet, it looks like this bike shares a number of construction details with the Kuwahara produced Nishiki Olympic of the same vintage.

T-Mar

The Nishiki of this era were manufactured by Kawamura, not Kuwahara. They are completely different companies. As previously mentioned, the Nishiki Royale of this era was direct competition for the Soma Prestige, using a very similar tubeset and component mix. The Royale was basically an Olympic with an upgraded crankset and bar end shift levers. In fact the Royale was originally designated Olympic Royale when it debuted in 1978.

bark_eater 

Thanks for clearing that up. I was looking at the 21.1 stem and the seat stay concave details. The basic geometry looks similar but that's hard to gauge.

curbtender

I'll post this here for a little more info. This SOMA Prestige came as a single speed but is still in relatively good condition. No tubing sticker. Serial# 79 11 44293. SR seatpost is 26.8 with 126 rear spacing. 59cm seat and 57cm top tube. Nitto Technomic stem and Nitto Olympic bars.

bark_eater 

Mine's been filled away in the "archive" and off the project list. I'd be interested to hear about how it rides for you.

tanyalouise

speaking of their competition, T-mar do you have any info on the Soma Competition? Just got one and can’t find any solid info.
thanks!!

T-Mar

The Competition was in the Soma line for many years and the specs changed a bit, so I'd need more info. Photos and the serial number would help me to determine the year and level. Once I have that, I may be able to provide specific information. I seem to recall reponding to query from you regarding a Norco Monshee?