OldManJones

Hi,

I just came across a NOS 1999 Team Miyata in my size and I'm buying it!! I could go on and on about how excited I am, but there is one piece I'm not thrilled about. The Team Miyata from that year has an aluminum fork. I'm sure some might feel it's lame to think about switching it out for steel or carbon, but it's crossed my mind. So, what would you do?

cb400bill

I have never seen a 99 Team Miyata. Can you post some pictures?

AlmostTrick

Ride it and see if I like it.

jamesdak 

Yep, ride it first and see how it feels. The aluminum one on my 1999 Schwinn Circuit was harsh unless the road surface was perfectly smooth, the one on my Vitus Argal was downright scary at speed because it felt vague and was all over the place. The one on my Bridgestone Mile 112 was divine. Solid and precise yet not too harsh on the rough chipseal.

You can't expect them all to be the same or to ride like junk. You need to ride them and see how it works for you and your style of riding.

OldManJones

First photo is the one I'm buying.

OldManJones

wow i had no idea there was that much variance between those forks, thanks for the input.

OldsCOOL

I have an ‘88 Cannondale Criterium with an aftermarket Sakae FX Litage aluminum fork. On busted up cracked asphalt it is a bit rough but I’m rather used to it. On new pavement nothing compares to the road feel I get, very smooth and controllable.

JaccoW

I'd say ride it and consider adding a carbon fork later. You're the one riding it and I have heard many people enjoy the change on a vintage steel frame.
If they made compatible touring forks with discs I would even consider it on some of my bikes.

tendency

You mean a 1989 Team Miyata? Miyata was outta biz by '99...

T-Mar

Agreed, you really should ride them for an extended period of time to see if you like them. They appear to be from Tange's Fusion series.

C9H13N 

Really?

https://www.miyatabike.com/

ClydeClydeson

WHat exactly is your concern? Miyata is/was a reputable and highly regarded builder who sold many thousands of bikes. What makes you think they made a mistake on this bike?

OldManJones

My mistake. It's a 1993

OldManJones

Just don't see much aluminum on road bike forks is all. Based on steel and carbon fiber being used so much more I tend to think they're better for the task, but I'm no expert on this.

fabiofarelli

Suddenly I had this thought...., maybe heard about 'the death fork'? In that case, do not worry. Only Viscount and Lambert had these, for a short time.

ClydeClydeson

Bikes were primarily steel from ~1880-1995 or so. THis was just the traditional method for constructing frames and forks. By 2000 or so, steel was much less common and Aluminum was more popular in frames and forks, but not long after, carbon forks became the standard. I think this was as much of a marketing decision as anything else - a carbon fibre fork on an otherwise mundane bike seems like an upgrade. The truth was, however, that many carbon forks only had the mid part of the legs made from carbon and the rest of the fork - steerer, crown, top part of legs, and dropouts, were aluminum.

tendency

You may be interested in this: https://www.ragandbone.ca/Miyata/miyata_selector.html
Yep, you definitely have a '93. Very nice Miyata 'STB' tubing with, unfortunately, a crappy aluminum fork that Miyata switched to in the early 90s to save money. Personally I'd try to find a late 80s/early 90s Japanese steel fork to replace it with. You can find out what they looked like in the late 80s miyata catalogs.

JaccoW

Here is the 1993 Koga-Miyata FullPro which, if I'm not mistaken, is basically the same frame. That year came with an Alfrex Alloy 6000 A.P.A. bonded fork with partial polishing.
The scan seam is unfortunately right around the top of the fork but the similar models all have the same fork and look exactly like yours.

Pretty sweet splined triple butted chromoly frames and probably came with 8-speed Dura Ace groupset.
Check out the Koga-Miyata thread for more info and specs.

Now that I have read about the bonded fork I am even more inclined to replace it. It was a cool technology but after almost 30 years that epoxy can have a tendency to fail.
Pretty sweet effect with the polished and clear coated aluminum though. Looks a lot like chrome socks.

curbtender

A lot of the bikes were using aluminum forks in the early 90's. Maybe people just didn't trust the carbon option? I wouldn't hesitate putting one on.

JaccoW

Early carbon was an aluminum tube with carbon fiber wrapped around it. A little lighter but the technology was in its infancy.

The fork on this Miyata is very likely a bonded aluminum fork. At the very least I would suggest checking the sharp edges for cracks in the paint, which can indicate the epoxy failing.

T-Mar

This definitely isn't 1989, as it has the fastback stays and vertical dropouts that first appeared circa 1993. Miyata was definitely still in business in 1999, though they had closed their USA sales/distribution division by that time. We still had them in Canada in 1999 and they were also available in Europe (as Koga-Miyata). There may have have been some USA dealers that were independently importing Miyata.

dddd

I've never seen any statistics suggesting that bonded forks from Tange (I believe the world's largest and most-trusted fork manufacturer for many years) were less reliable than steel forks.
And I've heard of no tendency for good bonded frames/forks from the early 90's to suffer higher rates of failure than steel.
I've re-bent crashed aluminum forks and can tell you that they were very strong in terms of the force required to re-bend(!!!), and that no failure of bonding ensued.

Just like forks made from steel or from carbon or from carbon/aluminum, a fork can be made more or less noodly than an average fork.
Aluminum forks saved about a half-pound in most cases versus a steel fork, hence their popularity!

Miyata certainly knew what they were doing when it came to making quality frames/bicycles, made rather few mistakes over the years though I seem to be recalling one early-90's model, a few of which suffered top tube failure at the rear cable port(?).

noobinsf 

To my knowledge, these were the frames that used internal cable routing along the top tube for the rear brake cable. The openings were not reinforced and would eventually crack. The OP's bike has external cable routing, so it wouldn't be an issue with this one.

OP -- yes, just ride it and see what you think first. I've fallen victim to upgrade fever before, but you're starting out with an excellent bike, so I would start with the bike as designed first.

icemilkcoffee 

I replaced the aluminum fork on my Performance Focus bike with a carbon fork, and it improved the ride significantly.
Having said that, I think the first thing to try would be to switch to 28mm tires (or whatever widest tire will fit in the frame). That will probably soften the ride enough to make it acceptable. CF seatpost and handlebars also help soften the ride.

JaccoW

I don't have any statistics on the forks either but I can tell you that still functional bonded frames by (Koga-)Miyata are rare nowadays. Even in the price range where they should be as common as their steel counterparts. And I have an active search running for the bonded lugged Carbolite models. Quite often the sellers mention problems with the frame and suggest some superglue.
Then again, that's on the frames with carbon/titanium tubing in cast aluminum lugs. The different materials almost always mean some oxidation occurs over time and the frame fails. It's usually the aluminum. Technically the epoxy isn't the bit that fails. It's the layer underneath that it is bonded to.

I think aluminum is a wonderful material but I have broken enough aluminum parts that I am wary about it in certain applications and I sure as hell wouldn't bend it back.
I have had handlebars, cranks and forks fail suddenly without warning. Fortunately the crank was the only one that failed catastrophically but even that one nearly killed me. The handlebar just folded over when I pulled my bike from the rack and I noticed my fork was broken when my wheeel was at a weird angle when I stopped at a traffic light.

Anyway, I am going off-topic.

OP check the fork for frame damage. If it's clear it will probably be a wonderful ride. Otherwise there are tons of excellent options for carbon forks and from what I've heard