Cycle Tourist

[QUOTE=squarenoise;21838556]Here’s my 1984 Miyata 610. The only original parts are the Wheelset (Sealed Bearing Suntour Hubs), Seatpost and Rear Rack. The rest of the build is mostly period correct-ish, plus newer cockpit. I moved a majority of the original parts to another bike ('85 Sekai 2500) and built up the 610 closer to Miyata 1000 specs.

Vintage Parts:
• Sugino AT Crankset (50/36/28) w/ Original Sealed Bearing Bottom Bracket
• Specialized Touring Pedals (as found on the Specialized Expedition) w/ MKS Cage Clips
• Shimano 600 Brake Levers w/ Dia Compe Adjusters and SOMA Hoods
• Shimano Deore XT Brakes (BR-MC70) w/ Shimano LX Kool Stop Pads
• Shimano Deore DX Derailleurs
• Shimano 7 Speed Bar Ends
• Speedic 170GT Saddle

New Parts:
• Tange Levin Headset
• Nitto Technomic Stem
• Nitto Noodle Handlebars
• Sunrace 7 speed Freewheel (13-28)
• Panaracer Pasela Protite 27 x 1-1/4 Folding Tires

Accessories:
Velo Orange Randonneur Front Rack w/ Integrated Decaleur
(Not Pictured) Velo Orange Randonneur Handlebar Bag
Velo Orange Hammered Fenders
Crane EHard to call that a second tier touring bike. It's nearly perfect from my viewpoint. Ride on!

Unca_Sam

Is this what T-Mar says?

Cycle Tourist

[QUOTE=RiddleOfStee
And of course, my recently-finished 1985 Trek 620 in 25.5" / 65cm form. Like saying a second tier Ferrari is slow, saying this 620 is a lesser touring bike is a bit silly. Granted, Trek did not make a 720 for kicks, or with indifference, so, for research purposes, I will just [i]have to [/i]find one and compare.

Love the 'dale touring bikes. I couldn't afford one back then. Tall bikes need stiffness and triple butted bikes never made comfortable touring bikes for me. Rebuilt third tier touring bikes were the only kind I could afford and I found the straight gauge tubes stiff enough to provide a stable ride. I hated the 720 much to my surprise. For riders that don't carry as much s--t as I do I can understand the love though.

dddd

[QUOTE=Cycle Tourist;21844481]
Miyata used Triple-butted tubing on their 912 and it was heavier and stiffer than their equivalent DB road frames. The Triple-butted downtube was really stout and featured an extra-long butt up to the head tube.

The Trek 720 felt like a Cadillac "noodle" to this lightweight rider when I tried riding it on one of the Griffith Park morning rides in the 90's. That tubing was light and even the steer tube flexed enough to dislodge the lower Stronglight headset bearing race once when I rode it off road!

Cougrrcj

Miyata 1000 and 610 of the same year did NOT necessarily share frame/fork. Yes, some times the three main tubes of the 610 were the same tubing as the 1000 (and other times NOT), but the seat stays, chainstays and/or fork were often of 'lesser' grade. Double-butted vs straight gauge (or triple vs double, or splined vs not...), CrMo vs Mangalite vs hi-ten, etc...

The other brands might have contracted with Miyata to build the frames, but they were built to the BRAND specs, but not necessarily the same as what Miyata used. Univega spec'd out their frames (and components) of their bikes built by Miyata. For instance, my '84 Univega Gran Tourismo is closely aligned with the same year Miyata 610, but not only do some of the components differ, but my Uni has mid-fork braze-ons that the same year Miyata 610 did not! The rear rack mounts on the Univega are on the inside of the seat stays, the Miyata is on the outside of the seat stay... so --- they are clearly NOT the 'same frame with a different badge'...

A closer example of which you speak is my '84 Univega Viva Sport. Other than it's 27" wheels vs 700c, and it's SunTour BL derailleurs vs SunTour Cyclone, it is nearly the same as a same-year Miyata 710. Same double-butted CrMo frame, Mangalite fork (but sized for 27", not 700c), hubs, brakes, bars, shifters,etc.

As for the other brands? I don't have any of those to compare...

Then there is Fuji... Fuji built bikes at several facilities...different facilities often had different spec parts... The same thing happens with auto manufacturers... A Japan-built Honda CR-V differs from a US built Honda CR-V! (a windshield from one does NOT fit the other -- ask me how I know!) A Ford Taurus made in Dearborn is different than one made in Chicago or StLouis....it is maddening!!!!

squarenoise 

Thank You! Honestly, I've been greatly inspired by yourself and many other forum members to make sure I get it right. My 610 has been pure joy to work on and now to ride. Everything is dialed in nicely and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.

loudbay

[QUOTE=dddd;21844544]
Hehe

uprightbent

Looks like I found a twin to my 84' 610, right down to the VO hammered fenders. This one is mostly original.

squarenoise 

I totally remember seeing (and loving) this one! I originally had my VO fenders mounted on a surly Cross Check, but as soon as I acquired my '84 Miyata 1000 I just HAD to mover them over, then when I acquired the '84 610 I HAD to move them over once again, haha! There's just something about this frame color and those fenders that were "meant to be".

dddd

That's insane, the same bike!

At least now you can relegate one of them to "high risk" duty. Urban theft or off-road insanity now can't leave you without a six-ten.

I think this is the same year as mine, my gravel bike since about 2006 or so. Before it I had a 1977 Gran Touring (1000?) model in the lighter blue color, it had steeper angles and higher bottom bracket as I recall, but was used as an off-road bike anyway. It was like an extra-fast mountain bike from the rigid old days.

Mogens

If a Trek 520 is a beta tourer, does that make my Trek 420 a gamma tourer?

tkamd73 

I’ve only got a couple of bikes with a touring geometry, this is my favorite, definitely not top of the line though.
Tim


1988 Trek 400t

mkeller234

I love the color. The brake housings look great with it too.

tkamd73 

mkeller234 Thanks! I’m pretty happy with it. I’ll be rooting for the Browns, until, and if, they play Green Bay.
Tim

polymorphself 

I was never able to get my VO rando rack to sit that low on my voyageur. Most other people's seem to sit pretty high as well. Looks good.

squarenoise 

'Same Bike', different owners. It would be nice to have two in the stable though ; )

Very gentle/slow bending to get it there. The initial installment was too high and too close to the handlebars.

polymorphself 

Yeah this is where I was at...so I ended up going with a Nitto rack with struts attached to the fork eyelets. I've since sold the VO rack. Oh well!

rossiny

in grey . Not "top of line". I had some pretty decent components from a donor. Still needs some pedals and touring seat

boneshaker78

1989 Miyata 618GT

Smokinapankake

1984 Univega Gran Turismo as harvested Memorial Day weekend 2023. Looks to be all original save the tires, cables, bar tape and saddle. Not sure what to do with it...
I have some 700c hybrid wheels on a CODA labeled hub, 8/9/10 speed freehub..... Shouldn't be too difficult to spread the stays from 126 to 130.

RiddleOfSteel

1984 Trek 620 - 25.5" - As fully renovated. Frame, fork, headset, and crankset are original. Everything else is from parts I had. 600-level 531/cromo frame mix that is nearly as light as the full 531 frames on 700-level bikes. That was a very nice discovery. Rides very well. Beautiful bike.




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retlaw53 

I picked up a Cresta for <$10 last winter. It sat in the backyard until the summer when I decided to tackle it. It's nearly finished - fitted with 10spd drive and 700x40. Then I latched on to a Cresta GT and the first project stalled, lol

Pompiere

I bought this Cannondale ST400 a couple years ago at the Memory Lane swap in Bowling Green, Ohio. It had been ridden hard and put away wet, but it cleaned up well. The serial number says 1989, but the specs match the 1990 catalog. I also have a set of Blackburn racks for the front. I understand that all three Cannondale bikes used the same frame. Only the components and colors changed as you went up from the ST400 to ST600 and ST1000.



As for the ride, it reminds me of this old ad campaign from Ford:

1972 Ford ad

Smokinapankake

A blue and white Cresta GT is one of my unicorns....

dddd

Not quite a "beta" level touring bike when it wears an original Sugino AT crankset at first thought, but some mild down-spec of the balance of the components perhaps makes it less than top-of-the-line?

I bought this Nishiki Seral from Goodwill as a back-up bike, and because it's crankset was worth far more than the a$k. I had already secured a Six-Ten as a replacement for my earlier ('77) Miyata Gran-Tour that I had been hammering off road for some years so needed to retire (I donated it).

The Seral handles difficult trail riding about as well as the Six-Ten, helping to keep my CX skills current year-round.
Like the Six-Ten, the frame geometry seems to lean toward the Sport-Touring end of the spectrum (the Six-Ten has 73-degree frame angles versus the 72-degree angles of the Two-Ten and the 1000). A Centurion Pro-Tour is yet more sprightly (subs for a road bike quite frankly, in a good way).

There was a period of a few years around 2006 when touring bikes flooded into our local thrift stores, with good examples selling for between $20 and $40.
The flood of road bikes had been in the years prior, as many baby-boomers moved up to my hilly foothills region from the bay area but obviously didn't take to riding their old bikes in such hilly terrain.

One can quickly gauge a bike's design intent by measuring how many fingers fit between the tire and the seat tube, more than two and it's a real touring bike (or it's a UO8/9/10), less than two fingers suggests sporting intentions, i.e. a road bike.

These "beta"-level and "sport-touring" bikes usually came with a rear rack, which I find greatly enhances their off-road prowess in terms of weight distribution, with climbing traction helped further by their modest (about two fingers) chainstay-length dimensions.