polymorphself 

Just picked up this 615 locally today from the original owner for only $150. He bought it in 1989 and according to him rode it maybe fifty miles total and then it has sat in his garage ever since. The original saddle was stolen outside of a restaurant on one of those first few rides, but the rest is all original down to the Miyata radial tires and owners manual and there’s nary a mark on the frame. Components have dulled (hard to say if his 50 mile estimate is correct but can’t be too far off) but will look good as new.

The 610s and 615s are really awesome for those who want a sportier touring bike, but why oh why did they leave out the mid fork bosses out on this model when the 615 the year prior and 610s for (I believe) two years prior to that all had them?! And then the 618gt the year after this didn't have them either but it got bar end shifters while the 1000 had downtube shifters.

Not a rare bike but a solid one and I’m a Miyata fan. And finding out you’re buying from the original owner is always fun, even if it’s not the oldest bike. This goes against recent plans for bikes I had but here I am.

The bike


Some extra goodies it came with (straps and clips are MKS).


Inspiration (minus the super long stem and seat post) from Flickr for a similar route I'll go if I keep it.

Wharf Rat

Nice bike. I’ve got an 83 610 and I absolutely love it. The ride is just plain fun. I’ve squeezed about 700 x 36 tires( 38 paselas that measure out to about 36) and fenders into mine. If it fits I’m sure you’ll be happy.

polymorphself 

Dang, that’s even more than I assumed. Throw some pics in! If I keep it around it’ll mostly wear 32s with fenders.

John Nolan 

I have Pasela 36s on my 86 610, but I couldn't quite fit fenders on it with them. 32s would be no problem.

polymorphself 

Hm! Maybe the clearance on yours is different than the above persons 83.

John Nolan 

Yes, wouldn't be surprising.

jlaw

Looks great - and the triple is a more 'normal' configuration (no half-step).

How do you like the Bio Pace? I remember Bio Pace from my first mountain bike - worked well for me off road.

polymorphself 

Havent ridden this one yet and have never ridden a Bio Pace before but the reviews seem very mixed here. People seem to either love it or hate it.

Lascauxcaveman 

Partially due to the different varieties of BioPace. Some are slightly not-round and not all that different from pedaling normal rings, other are a lot less round and can be pretty noticeable, which many (including me) find a bit off-putting. .

polymorphself 

What do you mean by not round?

John Nolan 

I ride bikes with and without Biopace...honestly, I don't really notice unless I look at the chainrings.

jlaw

The Bio Pace rings on my 1989 Trek 950 were noticeably ovalized. I liked this because it gave more of a boost forward on the downstroke which helped me get up and over rocks and roots. With a little practice I could time my effort to make this most effective. The crank was a Shimano LX 46/36/26 Bio Pace.

I would think that the road bike Bio Pace was/is less 'ovalized' and less noticeable.

Miele Man

Some Bio-Pace chainrings were only slightly oval hence the term not-round. Other Bio-Pace chainrings were quite oval in appearance.

As usual, the Late Great and sorely missed Sheldon Brown had an interesting article about Bio-Pace chainrings.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/biopace.html

Fwiw, I love my Bio-Pace chainrings and find them most useful when going up hills.

Cheers

Wharf Rat

I converted mine from the original 27 inch wheelset down to 700. The brakes had more than enough adjustment & I had a nice 700 wheelset. I’m fairly certain this gave me the room. There’s really not much left original on the bike. I commute on it and joy ride on it.

polymorphself 

Wonderful! I love black wheels. Have you done any longer touring on it? Wondering about weight distribution and lack of low rider bosses on the forks. All the 61x bikes in between ours got them

Wharf Rat

No, I’ve never done any touring on it or otherwise. I only ride with the one pannier, so I can’t give you any insight into the weight distribution. Through researching the old catalogs online I found that the 610’s had a slightly sportier geometry then the 1000’s had. Head and seat tubes were at 73*. You should check out the old catalogs. Lots of cool info
https://www.ragandbone.ca/Miyata/miyata_selector.html

polymorphself 

I’ve spent a lot of time in the Miyata Catalogs, I’ve also got an ‘85 310 . As for the slightly sportier geometry where would that put one in the case of weight distribution and need/lack of need for low rider panniers?

Wharf Rat

I have no idea. That’s way out of my wheelhouse. I can say I really get a kick out of mine. Even with one pannier loaded with work stuff. Biased off Miyata’s reputation with touring bikes of this age I’d guess you’ll be good whatever you strap to it. This bike led me to pick up an 82 710 that I’m currently sorting out.

Miele Man

Back when I first got into touring the most common set up was a regular rear rack and a regular front rack. later Jim Blackburn came out with his Low-rider rack design that was said to improve balance and steering. I had a combination of both the regular front rack and the low-rider Blackburn rack because I found the top of the regular front rack to be an excellent place to carry something lightweight.

My current dedicated road touring bike (a modified Miele Uno LS with extra braze-ons) has the same setup.



Cheers

Cougrrcj

While that 57cm frame would be the perfect size for me, a couple of weeks ago I had picked up a slightly smaller same-year/color '88 54cm 615 from a fellow BF.net member for my shorter-of-stature 27-yr-old niece.





I'm in the process of going through it (no disrespect to the BF member) because i want it to be ride-ready for her to take back to the wilds of the PacNorWest. Brake cables/housings are being replaced with bright gold Teflon-lined housing and stainless cables, and I have slick-stainless shift cables in stock for the stock indexed SIS to work flawlessly. Bar tape wrapping will wait until she decides on brake lever placement, but she's insistent on black tape to hide dirt (the yellow bar tape on my '86 710 seems to attract grunge). Saddle? That's up to her since that is a more personal choice... The original rear rack was missing, so I'll be substituting a Blackburn from my personal stash/hoard.

I actually prefer my slightly older '84 Univega Gran Tourismo as a direct comparison to the '88 615. Front fork mid-mounts and friction-shifting (now upgraded with my preferred SunTour barcons), despite the 'handicap' of 27" tires and slightly inferior main triangle tubing...

polymorphself 

Yeah, the no fork mounts is what might keep me from holding onto it. If I want to keep a touring bike around I'd like it to be one with all of the mounting options, especially when it's from the late 80s and more or less expected at that point. Like you said, your Univega GT, the same place in the lineup, had them four years prior! But who knows, maybe it becomes the new daily rider and a light tourer.

Cougrrcj

(Blushing) I'll have to update the photo of the '84 Gran Tourismo one of these days - The '85 610 had them, why did they drop the mid-mounts later?

The '88 615 seems like a solid bike - but in the 'no-shops-within 100 miles' that my niece lives, I want bulletproof or at least roadside fixable/MacGuyver-able. That early indexed shifting worries me if it goes FUBAR in the middle of nowhere. ...or am I borrowing trouble?

polymorphself 

Both the '85 and '86 610 and the '87 615 as well. Perhaps they realized there wasn't enough competition for the 1000 during those years and had to separate the models more?

combover

Wow, what a great find! And I dig that foam handlebar padding, I bought some of that stuff New Old Stock A while back made by grab on, still get it on eBay once in awhile if you're going to replace yours

polymorphself 

You might be the first person I've seen say they love that stuff! But hey somebody has to. I'll replace it with cloth wrap. Either dark brown or black, possibly a shade of gold.