37KNUCKLEHEAD

Someone just gave me a SUTEKI today & I know nothing about it.
It seems in perfect shape except for the tires being weathered.
It has curled handlebars with safety levers., & a quick release front wheel.
It looks exactly like the one in the ads from Sears, of years ago.
On the handle bars it reads "SAKAE CUSTOM" on one side & "ROAD CHAMPION" on the other.
Can anyone tell me about this bike, it`s worth, it`s vintage?
Thank you for your cooperation.

wrk101

1. Post pictures.

2. As you mentioned, sold by Sears in the 1980s (I've seen some catalog scans on line), value is somewhat limited.

DavidW56

I have a dark red Suteki I pulled out of the trash, minus the front wheel. It has some nicer components. There is just one Suteki thread on the forum, in which its history was discussed; it was a better-than-average bike for a department store. Made in Japan, and it retailed at Sears for $499.

Here is the thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ghlight=Suteki


And here is the site it references:

https://www.touringonbikes.us/suteki.htm

wrk101

$499? Nope, that was someone's recollection from 28 years ago. Typical memory fade. Scan further down the page, and you can see the Sears catalogs, where bike sold for anywhere from $199 to $259. A $499 bike from that era would have been quite a bit different.

It was a pretty basic bike with some nice components: high ten steel frame, turkey levers, stem shifters, claw derailleur hanger, swaged crankset, nutted rear axle, steel seat post (I think).

m750rider

I had one a while back and it was a nice bike. It had Shimano 600 components and rode pretty well. I read they were made for Sears by Panasonic but don't quote me on that. In nice riding condition with good tires and all, probably a $100 bike.

37KNUCKLEHEAD

I shall post a few pix tomorrow.
It looks brand new & has been hanging in a garage for over 30 years.
Thank you all for yourresponses.

JoeNMass

I can tell you for a fact those bikes or a certain model of those bikes were indeed over $400, but not too sure of the exact price maybe closer to $449 and was sold at Sears at the North Dartmouth Mall (in Massachusetts) back in 1984.
How do I know? I bought one for “around” that price and to this day I still have it in near mint condition. It never stayed outside and has always been kept indoors when I was done riding it.
I was 22 years old when I bought the bike in 1984, I know the year because that was the year I started a new job (which I retired from this year, 2022 :-) ) .
I had started working there in February and in June I bought it for summer vacation. I needed a bike to go with my friends to bike ride in Martha’s Vineyard.
It rides great, and is fast. The only thing I never really cared about on this bike was the petals, but I will never change them as I want it to always be original.
These were well made bikes and a joy to ride, even today. If you find one use it and ride your heart out with it.

wrk101

This is a catalog page from Sears, 1984, and it clearly lists the price as $199.


https://christmas.musetechnical.com/...tmas-Book/0431

J_Chickles

those mountain bikes are pretty neat !

TugaDude

Post some pictures of your bicycle. We'd love to see it. No need to have 10 posts, just upload pics to the gallery on your profile page.

TugaDude

If the bike had Shimano 600 kit on it, it was not similar to the one mentioned in this thread. The subject bike is apparently a lower-end, hi-tensile steel bike, 600 would not have been spec'd on it.

wrk101

I've actually found a lot of high ten steel bikes with Shimano 600 arabesque on them. Ross did it a lot, as did several Japanese brands. They can be a great source of 600 arabesque parts if you are looking for them.

In the case of the Suteki, it came with SOME 600 parts. The crankset was not, and in the world of Arabesque parts, the crankset is worth about half of the total. When I am looking for 600 arabesque bikes for parts, the crankset and headset hold a lot of the total value. The Ross models often had a Ross headset, but did have the arabesque crankset.

TugaDude

Good to know and I trust your experience on this. I haven't seen any hi-ten bikes with nicer components locally, but that doesn't mean they aren't out there!

thinktubes 

12-yo thread lol!

JoeNMass

Hi, I tried to upload images to the gallery, but it looks like the website's server is throwing an Error 500 message. :-(
I tried to edit my post with pictures, but it says I can't because i need to most at least 10 messages. :-(

TugaDude

So long as new information is shared, it really doesn't matter how old a thread is. In fact, had it not been resurrected, my chances of seeing it were exactly zero. Old information is still good information, and sometimes even better!