Originally Posted by
mkeller234
Tmar, as always, you are a wealth of information.
Since your post seems like you may not be 100% sure either way, let me ask this. What is more likely, that Lotus spec’d unusual Taiwanese parts on an unusual bike, OR that the owner swapped out better equipment for Taiwanese items from the same period?
I know for sure that this is a 1 owner bike. I can also say that it does not look like it was ridden much. Also, if they spec’d the usual equipment, wouldn’t they have called it out in the catalogs? It seems to me like the catalog was purposely vague.
When I got involved in cycling in the in the late 1960s, catalogues were very vague. Things got progressively better as cyclists became more educated. However, things could still be vague, particularly at the lower end. There are number of possible reasons for this;
1. The manufacturers didn't want the consumers to know they were cutting costs by listing low recognition brand names
2. The lower end consumer didn't care as much about the components. They tended to judge the bicycle by the rear derailleur.
3. The manufacturers were always looking for better prices on components for the lower end models, where margins were smaller, so components at this level were more likely to change during the model year.
Regarding the subject saddle, hubs and seat post, there are some things to increase confidence level.
1. Saddle: Other Pacific Cycles built Lotus of the era were spec'd with Viscount saddles, so this would be what I what I'd expect.
2. Hubs: Joy-Yu stamped their Joy-Tech hubs with a date code, format M-YY. On the rear hub, I can read K 8?. So that would be November 198?. The last numeral looks like it may be a 2 or 3. If it's November 1983, that would be very appropriate for a 1984 model.
3. I've seen a few other Pacific Cycles built Lotus of this era with Kalloy seat posts. However, Kalloy is probably one of the most common replacement seat posts, so that means little. Again, I'd be looking for a date code. Kalloy posts are typically open format, YY MM, all numerals. If the post is from late 1983 to early 1984, there's a good probability that it is OEM.