cyclotoine

I think it was a mid range roadie might have come equipped with something like suntour edge, chromoly main triangle and fork and hi-tensile stays I think.

vendorz

Lost a fair amount of baggage along with the ex... got an odd collection of 27"x1 1/4" wheels now.

Indeed, the Araya front is built around a Suntour hub, but there is no matching rear... so I'll buy your call that the Araya came with the Nishiki. I've got a Rigida rear built around a Maillard hub so I'd guess that came with the Motobecane. I also have a pair of Kin Lin's with no name on the hubs. All are 27"x1 1/4". All are alloy.

I've never destroyed a rim myself. I had a pair of aluminum rims rescued from somewhere (and prolly others), but whatever else I had is long gone.

jeremyb

are you looking at that one on ebay right now? Looks like it has internal cable routing also. Thats my only input

audioel

Probably one of the most complete collections of Nishiki info, pics, etc. online:

https://www.yojimg.net/bike/nishiki/

vendorz

With a bit of assistance on the serial # and such (thx), I am thinking the Seral was the U.S. version of the Continental in the 1983 catalog on Jeremy's site. The rear derailleur would have been the Suntour Cyclone GT (not GL, as I mistyped above). By the time I bought it in 1990 or '91, it had bar end shifters, canti brakes and an aftermarket Avocet saddle (the beat one fiber-taped together in the pic).

And herein lies my personal affliction... common sense says sell it... but looking at those darn pics with a sense of pride and the recollection of the many great rides, at this moment I just can't see a viable alternative to repainting and rebuilding that big beast and riding it some more. I do so love my toys with an air of venerability... toys that are high performance, time-tested and built to last.

BTW, thx to Jeremy for that site and Cyclotoine for the info (and interest)... if I do overcome my desire to rebuild it, I'll keep your interest in it in mind. And yes, Jeremy, I do have an eBay search for Nishikis so I'm sure I saw the bike you mention, but didn't notice the internal cable routing (which this Seral does not have).

cyclotoine

Vendorz, I would have to say that I think the SERAl is 1984 or later. I have never seen an identified 1984 but since it has cantilevers it can't be an 83. It could also be the US version of the continental but I am not sure I have ever seen a continental with cantilevers. I think they did away with the continental and just had one touring bike (the international). It may be that they kept the international name because it sold better due to being slightly cheeper but an excellent value and people probably had name recognition. MY 84-85 international is black and silver and it the exact same as my girlfriends 1985 Norco magnum GT, since norco distributed Nishiki in Canada and I believe had many of their bikes built by Kawamura it makes sense (they are exactly the same afterall my international and my girlfriends magnum). I am guessing the Seral is an 86/87.

PS send a PM to T-mar he has the most comprehensive database of Nishiki serial numbers. If you give him yours he can probably give you the date within a year or two. If you have any of the original components that are datable you should try that too.

Bikeforumuser0013

If you have a catalog, I will pay for you to mail it to me in safe package, and I will pay to send it back to you. I would like to scan them and host the images on my Nishiki Bicycle History website. In addition to just hosting scanned pages, I would also copy the information to fill in the blanks on the model pages.

https://www.stevevance.net/nishiki

Steve

jaknudsen

Did you ever get to scan that catalog? I'm looking for specs on a 1991 Ariel.

dddd

Heh, this is the first I've heard about the Seral. I found one at Goodwill a few years back, and briefly (one Fall season) did a lot of off-roading on that stock bike with big 27" gumwalls!
It came with a Kawamura cartridge bb that's still smooth and all-steel. From 1982 or 83 iir.

This week, I am angling on the purchase of a very-early'70's Nishiki, a pretty nice one in top original condition. I'm hoping to pick it up today for ~140.00, because it's my size (i.e. on the big size, nicely compensating for it's presumeably layed-back geometry).

I should have pic's up later today, so ya'll polish your glasses and adjust your monitors. Date codes for the Shimano HF hubs is first-letter "R" btw, and the derailers are early Suntour with lots of holes in the cages!

I'm getting only a little ahead of myself here, and getting the cash together almost as I type. I was really impressed by the detailed decalry.

I gotta run now, but will try to get a nice pic of the Seral up today as well.

I doubt Vendorz is around now, but if he/she sees this, thanks for the very detailed photos of this obscure model!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pic's to come............

dddd

Here's the photos of the American Eagle Nishiki Kokusai model:

gaucho777 

^What is that crankset? I like those chainring bolts. Are they red jewels like the cobalto brakes?

dddd

The crankset's a forged and swaged Sugino Maxy, 54X48t, 165mm and with "American Eagle" red washers surrounding the neon-orange infilled bolt heads. Whew!

I oiled everything up and took it for a ride. It's an almost unused bike, rims perfectly smooth under braking, and nothing loos or out of adjustment save for over-tight brake cables that had the prev owner riding with the QR's open

The geometry is 72 degrees, more or less, at both ends, and an item-by-item survey shows that this is the very same bike as a Nishiki International.
So I guess this one is transitional, with only a Nishiki head badge and the old name, with both American Eagle and Kawamura decals on the seat tube. What utter confusion!

The stem quill is .833" or 21.1mm, so it has one of those rare, longer 110mm versions of the "Compe Forged" model.

Gearing in back is 14-34t, Suntour 5-speed. Shifting and brakes aren't bad at all, but these bikes are heavy.

Luckily it came with a fresh set of older Cheng Shin tires. These look great, and are labeled both 27x1-1/4 and "28-630", which suggests just under 1-1/8" actual width, but for these 25mm wide rims which splay the tires out to a touch over 29mm.

Seatpost is Taihei Compe 26.8mm alloy, saddle is quilted vinyl over light padding, and the frame has a chrome moly decal.

I am literally afraid to weigh this beast, but it has a rack and perhaps even thorn-resistant tubes, plus it's 63cm frame C-T with a 61cm top tube.

Basically it's Japan's version of a hybrid between Schwinn's Continental, Super-Sport and Peugeot's UO9.
With a normal (and wider) handlebar (and modern chain with narrower-range freewheel), I think I'll be able to ride this one fast.

Kokusai refers to certain martial arts, a sort of Japanese version of Kung-Fu.

I'm guessing this bike is from 1972 or 1973, based on a KS161074 serial number, plus a Suntour freewheel date code letters "O-G" meaning "1972-July" production.

Teon

I just got a 1986 Tri-A in a trade a few weeks ago......nice bike.....rides very nice. Higher end Nishiki bike for that year, from what I have heard from other C&V enthusiasts. Tange 1 tubing, 600 components, internal cable routing just about everywhere, chrome rear stays under the paint. Quick, light, responsive, and an absolute joy to ride.


nishiki_000 by KMTech, on Flickr

nishiboy

Don't want to do a complete double post, but you may want to check out the Nishiki Database thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...l#post16864885

jtyr71 

Hi Steve, wondering if you still have much in the way of Nishiki catalogs, particularly the 70s. The link to the Nishiki section of your website is currently broken.

gravelinmygears 

I’d like to revive this thread. Are there ANY Nishiki catalogs out there to be scanned? The googling reveals very little.

drewfio

+1 Would love to see some Nishiki catalogs. Specifically 1985 if I had my pick!