LynxTheWizard

A little backstory:
I wanted to buy a new proper touring bike since the one I am using is a 90's cyclocross bike adapted to touring. It's not that easy where I live to buy one since none of the stores carry ANY touring bikes - that means there's no way to check framesize, try out the bike, etc. I was going to either fly to another country, purchase the bike and ride it home (it would have been nice), or just purchase something online, hoping it's the right size and fit. Then I stumbled upon this bike by accident couple of years ago in a 2nd hand shop. The owner had no clue what he had and was telling me "how great these old racing bikes are". I was looking for a new Trek 520, but the minute I saw this frame, it was clear that we're meant for each other.
It's a '91 Koga Miyata WorldTraveler. It was in a pretty rough shape and I had to basically swap out more or less everything. Normally I travel with 700x47 size tyres, however for this one I had to go with 37's since that was the widest I could fit with fenders and I picked schwalbe marathon plus. Still that's far from ideal for my usual touring style which is also some forest trails and unpaved roads, so I decided to build something more civilised for paved and smooth roads. I opted for springless saddle, and was looking for brooks b17 (since I am used to flyers), but then I noticed a cheap (37€) leather saddle on aliexpress and decided to try ot out. The quality seems good, no issues there, just the leather is much thicker and harder (that's what she said... there was no way avoiding this combination of words...). The measurements are close to those of b17, bit the thickness and feel reminds me of Berthoud saddles. I kept and restored the old Deore DX set, it has the original pump under the top bar and a dynamo generator under the crankset, wheel lock and downtube shifters. I am going to use either Tubus Tara or Ergo front rack.

Overall I am really happy for this bike. Whether or not I will keep the chinese saddle on remains to be seen since I have another brooks flyer lying on a shelf. I plan to make a tour this summer so you are going to see some more pictures of it eventually.

JaccoW

Great looking Koga-Miyata!

I have a 1992 Traveller and 1993 WorldTraveller myself. The paint on yours looks pristine!
You can also find the original specs in this thread though I have yet to scan the 1991 brochure in higher resolution, only the spec sheet.

My own 1992 Traveller looks to be almost the same frame and paintjob.



Original pricing

fishboat

Nice bike & nice story. For me, and others here and there, I place more value on a bike like this as it has some history, before and during/after you. (Nearly) anyone can order a new bike and I'm sure it's a thrill(my last new bikes were 30+ & 40+ years ago..while new-to-me bikes come somewhat frequently). Every one of my bikes has a story to go with it that's more interesting than "I picked it up at the bike shop a week ago.."..if only a 12 hour round trip drive to pick it up(awesome bike though!).

That said..there are some very nice new bikes out there these days.

Good on ya for making something old, new again. I hope you get out there soon on a tour and get to know one another.

LynxTheWizard

[QUOTE=JaccoW;22100302]Great looking Koga-Miyata!
My own 1992 Traveller looks to be almost the same frame and paintjob.

/QUOTE]

wow, thats a great looking bike too! And a nice setup. Is that a custom made rack in the back?

JaccoW

Thanks! I went a bit overboard on it but it rides really well. The rear rack is a Carradice Bagman Expedition support QR. I use it with my Carradice Super-C saddlebag. It's not entirely necessary but it does offer some better stability and better balance.