Originally Posted by
sd5782
A couple observations about the later Miyata 1000LT that Golden Boy has, and my 1000LT from 1989. Perhaps by that at date Miyata wasn’t really trying to compete with the real purpose built heavy duty tourers. I think I saw that the LT was for “light tourer”.
Comparing 1988 to the later LT from 1989, the fork offset decreased from 65 to 60mm. Specs list a tall 11” bb height too. My 89 measures 11 1/4” with 35 Paselas. I’m not saying it’s sporty, but without a bunch of accessories on it, I was a bit surprised that the ride wasn’t boatish as I was expecting. Was Miyata aiming for a wider audience?
I'm kind of stunned that anyone would consider the 89/90 M1000 as "light" anything. LT stood for "Luxe Touring." Compared to the Voyageur SP, Trek 620 and 720- the M1000 is a brute and a tank. It's heavier, with thicker tubing, but much more stiff- WAY more confidence instilling. Where the earlier touring bikes were more "elegant" and "gracile," they rode great on their own and with a lighter load- but doing 20-25 pounds you can feel the bike squirm from front to back doing even ordinary stuff- and I never really weighted down the front. By the late 80s, the obsession with having a touring version of a premium racing tubing had faded- strength and stiffness mattered, cachet and weight were secondary. The Miyata splined triple butted tubing was perfect- other companies just used regular CrMo on their top, or only touring bikes. These bikes still have a long wheelbase with 45cm chainstays- I look at 43/44 as the cutoff for sport tourers.