5chulzy

I've just been giving what I think is a 3Rensho bike from the mid 80's. A family member gave it to me as he is moving back to New York, that's where he got it from, he knows nothing about bikes so was happy to leave it with me. Once I saw it I fell in love.

I couldn't believe how good the condition was and wanted to find out more about the bike. I've had a little look online and was surprised by the age of parts and am now intrigue .

It has a shimano 6207 brake levers, caliper and crankset

An campalogno nouvo record patent '83 rear deraileur and down tube shifters. Front deraileur I think has been replaced with a tumour mech

Front wheel is f105 with weinman rim
Rear wheel the rm40 with sunrim cr18 rim.

Sakae road champion bars
nikko technomic stem

I take it the wheels have been replaced at some point and will look into replacing them with a matching set

The bike rides like a dream and I will only use it for short trips around city 30km at the most
One thing I've noticed is the stopping power on the 6027 brakes. I have to have hands on the drops to get full leverage to stop the bike.
If riding on the hoods i find it very hard to stop. Maybe I'm not used to older levers. I might replace with 6500 dual pivot calipers and upgrade the lever to 6209 with concealed cables, will it be worth it.

Gonna replace bar tape and saddle with tanned coloured to match new tyres I will be getting with tan sidewall. Took it for a little test ride and had a blown out as sidewall had completely perished.

I'm only new to cycling (9 months) so have limited knowledge about vintage parts, google is my best friend, so any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

5chulzy

Wont let me post pics up

noobinsf 

Wow, what a special bike! 3Rensho was a very high end Japanese marque. Others are very well informed and will chime in, but I know enough to know that it’s a top-end bike and builder. Can’t wait for pics!

branko_76 

5chulzy , you have a very nice bike....if it's the only bike you have and need something to get you around town, I would look for a beater to do that.

3Rensho, main

5chulzy

From what I've read I'm very lucky to be given it. I was gonna originally turn it into a fixie but as soon as I saw it I fell in love with it. Frame has Mark's on top tube where I suspect a chain was wrapped around when being use . Might get it repspayed or leave it as it is and keep character of the bike

noobinsf 

I would not consider fixie-fying it or repainting until finding out more and considering the decision carefully...

EDIT: Don't make it a fixie...

3Rensho, main

On Yoshi Konno, 3Rensho Bicycles and Cyclone, Ltd. at Kashiwa and Abiko, Chiba, Japan (Yellow Jersey)

5chulzy

I have a carbon cube road bike that I use for long rides and was gonna turn this into a singlespeed for town. Will keep this as original as I can and treat my self to a third bike now just for city cente . Just need to find the room to store bikes in apartment

5chulzy

Regarding the shimanon 600 brakes. I know they are single pivot, but what is the performance expected to be like on them. I dont feel confident going over 20kmph on them

machinist42

(Details of the frame are interesting, the components not so much.)

branko_76 

Do you have an empty wall in the apartment for the "San Rensho" ...

I would sell the campy stuff and populate it with 1980's Shimano Dura Ace

machinist42

(New pads, or deglaze the ones on there, new cables, and the brakes should function better. I have these 600 brakes on one of my rides, (maybe two, I forget), and they work well enough, but this early version of the Ultegra is not renowned for its stopping prowess.)

5chulzy

Might have to. 3 spare walls equals 3 bikes to he fair

5chulzy

Paid for premium trial 😁😁😁











serial number underneath A0 15 3

5chulzy

Tried sanding pads down. Read sandpaper between pad and rim. Apply brake and turn wheel. Made no difference so got new pads and still the same

Cables seem ok, as in not sticking but will replace along with housing and see if that helps

machinist42

I use a rasp. Your use of sandpaper will leave silica in the brake pads, and essentially sand the rim. It's not as severe as it sounds, but less than ideal.

New cables and housing for optimal performance of extant braking system. And I'm sure the calipers and levers could benefit from an overhaul? It's been, what, near 40 years?

Could you please post photos of the seat stay cluster?

5chulzy

this is from a '79 3Rensho-Cyclone catalogue
I know some models have 3renso stamp at top of seat stay but frames from his early days didn't.
I've noticed mine has cable guides on top tube and seems but in the picture it shows a stamp on seat stay as well. I seem to have a mixture between the frames in catalogue

5chulzy

ive released cable tension and both levers and caliper feel fine and move smoothly, cable doesn't seem to stick either. Will replace cables though just to be sure.

What's surprised me is the condition of brakes and other components. No rust or corrosion at all.
it makes me wonder has this been restored previously before my bro in law got it? Wi get on to him and find out

TugaDude

Is that a bent seat-stay?

5chulzy

Just some quick digging around and come across these

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...bim-konno.html

Bow from what I understand, 3rensho/cyclone/cherubim frames are all built by 3 brothers from the konno family, so I can imagine the details are very similar amounts different frames

5chulzy

Justs had another look, knew there was a dent and tube is slightly bent. Hopefully not an issue.

Would I be able to get repaired if it is a problem?

TugaDude

I doubt that it would ever fail and cause an accident, but I'm not a structural engineer or frame-builder so take what I say with reservations.

I don't think that can be fixed without taking it off. If you are considering a refinish at some point, that would be the time to do it. Otherwise, just ride it, I suppose.

It looks to me like it was repainted at some point. It surely had decals on it at least. Every other example I've seen has had 3Rensho decals all over.


The craftsmanship of 3Renshos is superb and in my opinion, yours should be restored properly at some point.

TugaDude

The folks over at Classic Rendezvous had this information which indicates that yours probably was sold through Yellow Jersey. Perhaps they could help narrow down model and year for you?

https://www.classicrendezvous.com/Japan/3Rensho.htm

Edit: Yellow Jersey may have replacement decals

noobinsf 

Does it ride ok? The pic you shared of the serial number shows that the rear wheel is strongly biased toward the drive side, which must be a result of the dent.

Even with the dent, this is a special bike, so certainly if you have the means and inclination, you should get another beater bike for around town.

There are some folks who frequent the forums who do frame repairs, so I'm sure several of them will be along soon to give an opinion on what your repair options are.

TugaDude

I didn't notice that, but it is wonky. The frame needs to be evaluated by an expert to determine a path forward.

noobinsf 

TugaDude mentioned Yellow Jersey above, and it may be worthwhile to get a repair evaluation from them.

Bicycle Frame Repair at Yellow Jersey