Nishiki Olympic
 

Laid out $50 for this bike, feels like I got a great deal. I have been buying and turning several bikes the last few weeks. This one is a keeper!https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...686693b37d.jpg
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Tried to fix miss-spelling...sorry

This one isn't adding up for me. The decals and paint scheme say 1986 but I wasn't expecting the top mount boss for aero shift levers. Might this be a foreign market model? Serial number? TIA.

68 g1185 5740073 Tiawan

Yikes on that seatpost clamp bolt

Good old American ingenuity!

One brief mis-match that occurred in the late 1980's was bikes having SIS-compatible rear derailers but equipped with friction levers.

Raleigh 460 and a few others had such a setup. Perhaps the SIS rear derailers were simply economical enough to be the best choice and also made for future indexing upgrade at much lower cost, which might have been part of their sales pitch(?).
Indexing or not, once the production of post-patent slant SIS derailers commenced, it made little sense to keep making the technically-inferior older friction models even if a bike's price point didn't allow for indexed levers.

I believe there was an indexed lever set for this bike's downtube aero mounting boss.

The Olympic sure came a long way from it's humble, cottered-crank and steel rim origins of the early 70's!

So I don't get it, is this bike legit? Sounds like maybe it is....

This is a Giant manufactured frame, so it doesn't reveal the intended market. However, it was manufactured in November 1985, so it is a 1986 model, as suggested by the decals and paint scheme. A quick database check quickly surfaced other 1986 Olympic with top mount levers owned by USA based members, so it would appear to be USA market.

There is this example on the interwebs of a 1986 Olympic with top-mount levers and a Light Action derailleur. The person who posted claims it was from the original owner and had only been ridden a handful of times. Shifters look to be index, but hard to definitively tell.

Damien B?s 1986 Nishiki Olympic | Old Ten Speed Gallery

Other samples in my database show a Light Action friction lever set. The other concern is the rear derailleur, which is the L523 version. In 1986 the only Light Action derailleur which was listed as being SIS compatible was the L525-SS. SIS compatibility is not mentioned for the L523. Clearly, it was designed for SIS compatibility, as later versions are rated as SIS compatible. However, the 1986 version is not listed as featuring the Centeron pulley, which would have been critical to proper indexing. I'm wondering if Shimano was penny pinching on the L523 until they got feedback on the popularity of SIS at the entry price range, via the L525-SS? So, while the 1986 Nishiki Olympic may not have been SIS compatible, it would have been easily upgraded. This would explain the aftermarket New 600EX SIS levers on the OP's bicycle.

Is it a keeper? For me that question, aside from storage space, comes down to the following:

Does it fit?
Do I like how it rides ?
Does it put a smile on my face?

YMMV Regardless $50 for a solid mid tier bike is a nice place to start. You can get legit seat post binder bolts on Amazon (Action), I had a similar hardware store solution on a Novara Randoneur I refurbed this summer
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Nice score! I’d say it’s a keeper. My first decent road bike was an ‘89 Olympic 12 (for 12-speed). It came with the Exage/Light Action indexed groupset, which has held up well over the past 31 years. Mine is blue/white with a Cro-Mo frame and high tensile fork. I consider mine a good rider, but it really flexes at the bottom bracket. Some riders like that. Me, not so much. But I still get a kick out of riding it from time to time. I’ll have to post a picture sometime. I like your fork better. By ‘89 they had switched to unicrown forks.

Nishiki would have done better to keep the old headbadge, MHO...

Agreed, but at least the bikes themselves kept improving. This is far better than an early 1970s Olympic.

Nice vintage stereo system. :) We have a Sony receiver from about that era in my wife's art studio, along with EPI100 bookshelf speakers and an M&K subwoofer.