judeen_buck

Thanks. I test fitted some 700c wheels and I can orient the cantilevers to work. They're too narrow for fitting wide tires so I'm just deliberating over different wheels or upgrade 27" tires. I also have long debates with myself on what socks to wear, what to have for breakfast etc etc

Cycle Tourist

Almost any non-raceing bike can become a beta tourer.

UO-10

Dfrost 

Duplicate post with the one below. Sorry

Dfrost 

Here’s the Gugificazione approach I used to do that with the ‘79 Miyata 912, now as my rain and travel bike. All the work that gugie performed was on just the fork: re-raked for lower trail, braze-on center-pull posts, mid-fork and second (stout) bottom eyelets, custom racks for the rando bag and low-rider panniers, and Mark’s great custom decaleur with inverted tubes for my tall bars and the big Waxwings bag he helped to find. It all works fabulously - better than the engine that powers it!

Fenders not yet reinstalled over 700x28’s, with room thanks to the conversion from 27” decades ago.


The pannier supports are horizontal, unlike what my unfortunate photo angle suggests here:


Last day of the cold Tour of the Willamette with Mark and several other regular C&V contributors.

Cycle Tourist

Wow. Nice upgrades. My earliest touring bike had no braze-ons anywhere. Even the rear derailleur stop was clamped.🤭 Some of my happiest continental crossings were on that ol' Univega,.. of course like you I think the stronger engine was chiefly responsible.
Come to think of it, my current trans continental cruiser could probably be considered a beta.

Dfrost 

I loved a ‘92 Klein Performance for over ten years and 38,000 miles, including innumerable fast-ish group rides, many centuries, and credit card tours across the top of Washington state, SE France and central Italy. They are amazingly versatile bikes! Mine just proved too small as I aged and lost flexibility, but my adult and less leggy son still loves it.

Cycle Tourist

Did you say vintage 610

Swampthing 

This was a bit of a rescue.
rust everywhere and some spray painted areas over the original.
I stripped it down, and built it up to this single speed with new wheels and some parts I had about or picked up here.

trailmix

Picked up this 85 Raleigh Kodiak last night. The bike is cosmetically rough but doesn’t seem to have been ridden much. Still has the original Raleigh 27 x 1 3/8 tires although the rear sidewall gave out on my sorting ride. Now I am not sure what to do with it, do I attempt to fix the cosmetic issues or clean/service it and ride as is?

squarenoise 

There's a lot to love about this bike and I think it would clean up nicely. Have you made any progress on it?

squarenoise 

Here’s my 1984 Miyata 610. The only original parts are the Wheelset (Sealed Bearing Suntour Hubs), Seatpost and Rear Rack. The rest of the build is mostly period correct-ish, plus newer cockpit. I moved a majority of the original parts to another bike ('85 Sekai 2500) and built up the 610 closer to Miyata 1000 specs.

Vintage Parts:
• Sugino AT Crankset (50/36/28) w/ Original Sealed Bearing Bottom Bracket
• Specialized Touring Pedals (as found on the Specialized Expedition) w/ MKS Cage Clips
• Shimano 600 Brake Levers w/ Dia Compe Adjusters and SOMA Hoods
• Shimano Deore XT Brakes (BR-MC70) w/ Shimano LX Kool Stop Pads
• Shimano Deore DX Derailleurs
• Shimano 7 Speed Bar Ends
• Speedic 170GT Saddle

New Parts:
• Tange Levin Headset
• Nitto Technomic Stem
• Nitto Noodle Handlebars
• Sunrace 7 speed Freewheel (13-28)
• Panaracer Pasela Protite 27 x 1-1/4 Folding Tires

Accessories:
Velo Orange Randonneur Front Rack w/ Integrated Decaleur
(Not Pictured) Velo Orange Randonneur Handlebar Bag
Velo Orange Hammered Fenders
Crane E-Ne Bell

Baypathbike

I now have both the 1984 612 up in the string a little bit (#42), and I acquired a similar vintage 1000 at that late summer swap meet in Connecticut (It's available if there is interest, just message me) and I personally think the 612 is the keeper just because of the paint, "Artesian Blue", gotta love that, just need those hammered fenders now, and personally, I dont think the 27 vs 700C wheel size is much of an issue, as long as the panaracer pancelas are available, Todd

trailmix

Unfortunately, no. I did replace the rear tire but nothing other than that. It is rideable but needs some TLC, I think that I have too many projects.

Moisture

1980 Norco Monterey

trailmix

Beautiful bike with great components. Sugino AT + Shimano DX=

RiddleOfSteel

The second/lesser/beta tier tourers I've had consist of a few Cannondale ST400s (1990 pictured below, canti-equipped), which have always been great bikes. With fenders and racks, the ride gets reeeal nice. I love the blue, too. In fact, all the tourers here are or have been (Miyata) blue! I'm a fan of a good red (I mean, who isn't?), but deep metallic blues are another favorite.


This was a 1984 Miyata 610 that came to be with really rough paint. New non-original powder coat color and non-original decal colors (from Velocals), plus some nutty componentry (7900 Dura-Ace shifters, XT shadow-type RD, speedy Vuelta wheels, quill stem conversion) had this one a looker and a rider. Quite sporty, certainly more so than the 1000 (per design brief). Sold the frameset eventually, but man...so hot.


And of course, my recently-finished 1985 Trek 620 in 25.5" / 65cm form. Like saying a second tier Ferrari is slow, saying this 620 is a lesser touring bike is a bit silly. Granted, Trek did not make a 720 for kicks, or with indifference, so, for research purposes, I will just have to find one and compare. 531/501 mix and simply a lovely ride in all ways. My journey is just starting off with it, but I love it so far!

squarenoise 

Hey! I remember seeing your 610 and using it as a reference to confirm if mine was an '83 or '84. Totally agree on the 27 vs 700 debate, Panaracer Paselas are swell tires.


Totally understandable. Tucson summer was extra brutal this year, just like everything else in 2020, so I spent far more time wrenching than riding.

100%! I have Shimano DX derailleurs on 3 bikes now and very pleased by their performance.


DUUUDE! That white frame with black components looked SO GOOD!

loudbay

So much Miyata goodness here... Working on a Triplecross now and lamenting over a 610 that NEEDS to find it's way into my stable.

Here's my 84-ish Motobecane Grand Touring (my apologies for the indoor pic. Sacrilige, I know). This was $70 from a neighbor who used it as her trainer. I added the VO fenders. It's a hodgepodge of parts but rides amazingly well. I haven't toured on it yet, but admittedly, I'm just recently getting back into cycling. I'm not super familiar with the submodels and overseas markets, but this has bottle braze-ons under the downtube which I have personally seen missing on the same exact bike at the co-op...

The Golden Boy 

That's a nice, nice build.

The Golden Boy 

Be careful with that statement- Reynolds never specifically stated 501-
"REYNOLDS 531 CLUB SPORT transfer, a cycle bearing this transfer has top seat and down tube BUTTED in REYNOLDS 531 and head tube, BUTTED steerer. TAPER GAUGE forks, seatstays and chainstays manufactured from specially cold worked chrome Molybdenum tubing. Designed for fast sports and touring."

So, while it doesn't specify 501, it does specify CrMo.

ramzilla

AustinFitz

I think my favorite bike fits into this thread well. It's a 1984 Centurion Elite GT 15. A step down from the famed Pro-Tour model, but with the same frame and fork geometry. While I would absolutely love a Pro-Tour, this Elite GT has been my favorite bike since the very first ride, and I doubt I'll ever part with it!

Cycle Tourist

Just got this. Wait till you see it fixed back up.

This looks good

Needs barends, cantis,

solid wheels and maybe a saddle.

I have some xt's around here somewhere!!

cyccommute 

I think you’ll find this is generally true for most all second tier touring bikes. The differences are usually only in the components, not in the frame. A Miyata 1000 had slightly better parts than a Miyata 610 but they used the same frame. Cannondale has done the same throughout their history.

Many of the other Japanese touring bikes from the 80s to early 90s were probably made in the Miyata factory. Miyata used to be the giant in frame production. Univega, Centurion, Panasonic, etc were likely Miyata frames with different badges.

Kobe 

This Centurion Elite Gt came to me from a fellow forum member as a frame only. What a great platform to build up with modern components.