LifeNovice1

Kind of looking for a vintage steel Ten Speed. I can get this one for $60. Reading on here, it could be a solid commuter. But the rust on Chain....should I even bother to go see it?

LifeNovice1

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...0788271310575/

LifeNovice1

Here's a closeup. Doesnty look that bad to me.

LifeNovice1

Also would it be easy to trim the brake cables? They look a little wonky

Mr. 66

That actually looks to be free of rust. I think it just looks like a little bit of dirt caking with dried grease. That all should clean up very well. If there is rust it's very light, it should all come off the chain with the dirt using a light wire brush. A solvent will take all that off and would be safe on the chain rings as well.

$60 is a good price for you as well. It will probably need service on the bearings most likely from age of the old lubed.

Looking a little closer, the chain may be worn. The gear 1 cog looks pretty used, the teeth appear pointy. I can't really tell from the pictures. The chainrings look alright though the small has wear.

LifeNovice1

Cool. I'm out of town but hope to pick the bike up Monday.

alcjphil

My only question is: How tall are you? That frame looks pretty big, for someone over 6 feet tall. It is too big for the current owner, the saddle has been pushed all the way down as far as it can go

LifeNovice1

Yeah he was vague on size. I'm no expert but it looked big to me too. I'm 5'10 so maybe I'll pass

LifeNovice1

There's a clean old Schwinn letour but the owner won't go below $150 which seems a little high but maybe I'll take it

Paul Waque 

Why do you never answer how tall you are in any of these threads that you create? it should be in every thread that you start about potentially buying bikes.

jdawginsc 

He’s 5’10” tall.

repechage

The Nishiki is a solid bike for the money and way too big for a guy 5'-10"

jdawginsc 

Seconded... I am roughly 5’11” and my sweet spot is between 56 and 57. 58 is doable.

LifeNovice1 : unless you are getting into retailing and restoring, 56-57 should be the ones to search for!

Hope that helps...

LifeNovice1

Ok thanks

Paul Waque 

Thank you for giving your height. I don't know how I missed it. This bike is described as a 27", and it looks like the seat tube is that long. Confusingly, it may also be that it has 27" wheels. A 56" frame will typically have a head tube that is about 6" long. If you are looking at a mountain bike try for one that is about 19" or "large".

Phil_gretz

That bike is a 59cm. Too tall for the OP?

zukahn1 

The frame is 23.5 inch 59cm I have 59cm Nishiki with the same geometry i'm 6' with long arms and it is almost a bit big on me. So yes this bike is to big great price though the nicer components are worth more than the asking parted one could get $150 or so not counting the frame or wheels. which are what the 27 in refers to.

rustystrings61 

Depends on leg length - I am 5'9" and leg length sufficient to stand over a top tube 33" above the ground, which works out to 58-60 cm to top frames. But I like French fit.

Eric F 

I'm 5'-9" (32 inseam), and generally ride a 54 with a slammed 120 stem.

rustystrings61 

The old Fred DeLong cycling book from 1974 or so had a line drawing of three men of the same height superimposed to demonstrate that different leg and torso proportions would dictate different seat tube lengths and stem extensions.

Harold74

I just finished a refurbishment on the same bike I think. Stuff that I learned:

a) Mine had lots of rust but it was just surface rust, nothing structurally concerning. I steel wool'ed it off for now. It's not a bike worth painting IMO.

b) I love the ride. It feel like a relaxed, almost touring kind of frame.

c) I like the non-QR rear wheel for a commuter. That much harder to steal the wheel.

d) I replaced the freewheel with a cheapo sunrace one that shifts much better, presumably because of modern ramping etc.

e) The cable routing on that derailleur is a huge hassle in my opinion. I switched to a Microshift R7 derailleur for this reason. The change also improved shifting a bit. It's a shame, really, since the original derailleur is beautiful and feels high quality to me.

f) 27" tires (not 700c) limits your options for tires a lot and can make tires expensive. I went with Continental Sports. I've been happy with them so far. I'd price out some new tires and factor that in.

g) I believe that the seat post size runs smaller than 27.2 so you may struggle to find ones that fit if you're not happy with the original post.

h) I switched out the brakes for some nutted, Tektro, dual pivots. The new ones are awesome but I felt that the original Dia Compes were satisfactory as well.

Eric F 

For sure. It turns out that humans are stuck together from parts with pretty sloppy tolerances.

My black Nishiki...

Harold74

Damn... that is a fine looking Nishiki. Makes me wish my paint was good.

A pet peeve on mine is that the downtube decal was installed about 15 degrees off kilter, rotated about the axis of the tube.

Eric F 

My bike needs new paint. In real life, it doesn't look nearly as good as it does in pics.

Velocals has Nishiki decals available.

zukahn1 

As for brakes properly set up the diacomp centers will work fine with nice pads with classic, areo or strait levers and should allow for 700c or 27in so no need to change. Paint can be touched up with nail polish and wax to look great. Plus these are ISO/JIS compliant so you can use nearly any vintage or new parts you want. Here's a pic of my salvage build Nishiki Custume Sport.