treebound 

Saw a rummage sale posted on the local CL close to work so I did a lunch run to see what was there. Out beside a portable shed (aka: a trailer box without the trailer part) they had a couple of roadbikes. Asked how much, said what I had in my pocket, and got the following two bikes for a good price.

The Trek has seen better days, some rust on some parts, paint is a borderline case but I'll leave it as is. Way too small for me anyway so it's either a parts bike or barter/trade material.
Details:
Trek 400
12 speed, Shimano derailleurs (can't tell anything more about them). Shifters on the downtube.
Looks like 700c wheels with probably original tires that are way too far aged. Rims look like they'll clean up though.
Diacompe sidepull brakes and looks like the levers had turkeywings at one time. No screws in the wing post hole, don't know if the screws are really needed without the wings.
Seattube sticker shows something like True Temper T1RC for the material.
Seattube measures about 48cm ctc, and toptube measures about 53cm ctc or so.
I've got no idea how old it is.

Second bike is a Kabuki Bridgestone Skyway.
27" just starting to speckle rust steel wheels, tires might have some life left (but not much).
Paint looks decent.
SunTour Seven derailleur, 12 speed, stem shifters.
Diacompe centerpull brakes with turkey wings still attached.
Seattube sticker says Technart Frame & Fork.
Seattube measures about 58cm ctc, and toptube measures about 57cm ctc or so. One size too tall for me.
I think it had a "normal seatpost clamp, but after doing a quick Kabuki search on the site here I'll have to look again to be sure.

I was busting a sweat out in the parking lot taking the bikes off the rack and putting them inside the car, stopping at a local university tonight and didn't want to leave the bikes out in the open.

I've also got no idea on the age of the Kabuki either.

I've got a Bridgestone 400 at home that I believe is pre-Grant. I suspect this Kabuki is before that one. One of these days I'll find me a Grant defined Bridgestone.

I feel like one of the three bears today, first one is too small, second one is too tall. Oh well, so it goes sometimes. N+2 today, but probably won't have them long.

I'll post some pics in the next day or three since there doesn't seem to be a lot of Kabuki pics on the site here. One neat aspect of this hobby is that there is always something new to discover or learn about.

Looking forward to any comments or info that anyone can garner from my currently pic-less post.

wrk101

Pretty much any steel Trek without serious frame damage is great flip material, and a small one is even better. But I am sure you know that already. I would certainly consider it much better than a donor/trade bait.

Steel Treks around here in ready to ride condition and clean are $200 and up. Nice score!

T-Mar

A Technart frame with center-pull brakes would indicate late 1970s. I haven't seen any Technart Kabuki Skyways that used a standard seat post. Entry level model, about 2nd from the bottom of the lightweight line, depending on the exact year.

treebound 

Market around here is funny. School is back in session, but winter is closing in.

There's a co-worker here at the day job who commutes on a MTB and mentioned a couple weeks ago about someday getting a road bike. The Trek is probably close to his size so I offered it to him for my cost. I've got to be a little carefull with the whole captive audience workplace issue, but as long as it's a no profit for personal gain and isn't solicited then fair game for the most part. Call it a good will karma thing. But if he passes then it will be checked and cleaned up to make it functional and posted in the more cycling active capital city an hour or two to the west.

And, yeah, when the rummage seller gave me his asking price for the Trek I had to restrain myself while pulling the cash out of my shirt pocket. Didn't want to seem too eager with the deal. ;-)

I'm going to look over the Kabuki a little closer when I get home tonight to see how it really specs out.

treebound 

Thanks T-Mar for the Kabuki info. I'll be sure to take some pics of the seat post clamping details. I'm tempted to take a non-smoker smoke break and walk out to the parking lot to confirm what it has, but I'll wait the 90 minutes until quitting time.

I've got a nice Caliente model (I think that's the model name) step thru framed bike at home with the quill-clamp seattube so I'm at least a little familiar with the hassle of adjusting them.

That seatpost style could make for a nice "campus bike" feature.

wrk101

Check what those quill type seat posts are selling for on ebay. They are like gold....Didn't know the Caliente came with one, that seat post is probably worth more than the entire bike (on the Caliente anyway). Slowly kicking myself for passing on one for $10 at a garage sale recently...........

treebound 

I'm going to have to fire up the laptop and check *Bay for those prices. I wonder if there's a sub-market to this hobby of scavenging quill-post bikes just for the seatposts and then converting the bikes over to a standard clamp and post ("drill and slot" the tube). I've read of someone doing that when they couldn't find a replacement post.

And, yep, the bike I got today does have one. I didn't even notice it when I first looked the bike over at lunch.

Fibber

I picked up a light blue Bridgestone Kabuki Skyway earlier in the Summer. They used a very unusual assembly technique - the lugs are cast around capped end steel tubes. As a result, there was no provision for a conventional seat tube clamp - hence the quill type seat post. Adjusting post height requires the removal of the seat in order to get to the hardware.

treebound 

In the past I've been able to get a 12-point box end wrench in there to loosen/tighten the seatpost bolt, but that is totally dependant upon what saddle/seat is on there.

Here's pics of the Trek.

treebound 

And here's the Kabuki Bridgestone. The tires are actually in better condition than I first thought.

treebound 

And looking at it now it does look like it could be a major issue to drill and slot the seattube to use a standard clamp and post.

How do you like the "Cycle Magic" toe clips?

T-Mar

I agree, even if you removed the cable stop, there's not enough lug protruding above the stay ends to properly engage a clamp. However, I would question this approach anyway. The reason Bridgestome did not use a standard cinch bolt and lug design was because the die cast aluminum was too brittle. I wonder if you would just end up cracking the lug, even with a clamp. Mind you, the load would be better distributed, decreasing the stress, but if it didn't work....

treebound 

If I went that route and it failed then I'd just have to turn it into a seatless trendy hipster road style trials bike for the faster urban trials pros out there. ;-) Fixie of course. 8-)

I hung the bikes last night with the digital fish scale. The Kabuki came in at a whopping 31 pounds. The Trek came in at a svelt 24 pounds.

And speaking of the Trek, it is now in the hands of a new owner. The co-worker took a look at it, a bit small for him, but probably about right for his daughter. He's been wanting to get her a road bike and this one will make for a nice winter project for the two of them. I can help with any special tools for the job. All in all a nice deal, passed it along for my cost into it, and brings another youngster into the world of C&V road bikes. The father/daughter project aspect of the deal is just icing on the cake.

I didn't take the time to check it but does anyone have a guess as to the freewheel and if it might be standard or if there's a chance it might be Helio? If it's the latter then I'll have to start shopping for a removal tool since the shop I help at doesn't currently have one.

i-timy

Another bike put back into use that it was designed for. Good job!

Caferacernoc

I just fixed up and sold one of those Kabuki Skyway's. Rode real smooth but it is heavy. 28 pounds with alloy wheelset.

treebound 

Looks like you did a nice job on it.

Does anyone know when Trek went to 700c wheels? My browser is a little limited but as near as I can garner from the Vintage-Trek site is that the Trek above is about a 1985-1986 model. 1984 seems to still have 27" wheels, and the 1987 model seems to have indexed shifting and Shimano brakes. If I can zero in on it then I'll pass along the brochure links to the co-worker here.

treebound 

And the Kabuki will be going to a new home. A relative spent the night with us last night and he was talking about how he doesn't like riding his full suspension MTB around town. I was thinking of swapping his for one of my rigid MTBs but when I walked past the Kabuki on the way to the garage I thought that it might make for a better fit and use for him.

I pumped the tires up some and had him take it for a spin around the block. He was flying. His legs were spinning about as fast as they could spin as he tried different gears. I was thinking that I haven't checked the bike over very well yet for mechanicals and that the brakes weren't adjusted up too well, as I was thinking this he went flying past again in a grinning blur down the street and around the corner. When he got back huffing and puffing he said "man is this thing fast". I just said now he knows why I like road bikes and why I put high pressure road tires on the MTBs. :-)

So I told him I'd give the bike a once-over this week and will bring it with me when I give him a ride home from work on Friday. I also told him to keep his Trek MTB and to just keep the Kabuki, only condition was to give it back if he ever decided he didn't want it anymore.

And somehow in some way I think the Kabuki headbadge will fit in well in it's new home (for a variety of reasons). I think I even saw the headbadge dude smiling a little when the relative raced past one time while he was test riding it.

Happy homes for both bikes.