Tstelko

One owner 1989 Nishiki Ariel MTB 20”. 26” tires. Shimano Deore DX. 21 speed. Black with blue and purple splatter. Great condition.

Clang

Try to create an album in your profile and someone can fish out and post the pics of the bike for you.

Tstelko

I’ve tried to add pics via my profile settings but can’t figure it out. I will try to get to the status that lets me add pics but may not have the patience.

T-Mar

FYI, the subject bicycle is a 1990 model, not 1989. In 1989, the Ariel used Deore II with thumbshifters and did not have elevated chain stays. Photo assist...

Tstelko

I located the serial number on the bike. It starts with w90. I then assume that the 90 stands for the year of manufacture. I was in college at University of Florida then and was biking the trails around Gainesville. Lots of fun memories from those days! My son went to UF in 2016 and I made him take my bike. He rarely used it. It somehow avoided being looted of damaged. However one day a homeless man told him “he needs a better bike” and that was the hilarious to both of us. The bike is special to me but not him. I’m tuning it up now and giving it new life!

Tstelko

Still curious on what the value is of this bike. It is not for sale but it's value will help me determine just how much I am going to invest in making it better. I already ordered a new SHIMANO DEORE DX right shifter controls via Ebay from a bike shop in Germany. They look brand new. Can't wait to get them installed.

bikemig 

It's your bike and it has a lot of memories. No one can put a value on that. This is a really good MTB. I really liked the Nishiki Ariels. MTBs make great all around bikes good for pavement and gravel. You might want to do something about the handlebars. Straight bars get fatiguing after a while. I like butterfly bars as they give you lots of hand positions. Plus it's an easy change since the existing parts will work fine on those bars.

https://www.amazon.com/UPANBIKE-Trek...30640507&psc=1

Get some nice wide slicks and have fun. The Maxxis DTH 26 x 2.10 are nice tires.

Also that saddle may be too high. The saddle should be level. If you need to angle it down, that may mean that you have it set too high.

This is a fine bike. I'd enjoy it without worrying about the "value" since it is not replaceable. That said, quality vintage MTBs pre COVID were a good deal and could easily be had for under $200 with a bit of diligent searching. Prices have gone up and depending on location your bike could be worth $300-$400.

T-Mar

FYI, it was 2nd in the Nishiki ATB lineup in 1990 and had a west coast MSRP of $699. though it may have been slightly higher on the east coast. Personally, I'd value it lower, as hard tail, elevated chainstay models are passι and relegated to conversation pieces, at least in my region. There's little interest, unless it's top of the line, like one of the Alien variants. My maximum would be around bigmig's minimum.

bikemig 

Anytime you confuse me with Big Mig, I'm good with that, , I'm confident that Miguel Indurain is a light years better bike rider than I am but I'll bet I own more bikes than he does . . .

DMC707

Nice bike!

I like the elevated chainstay design strictly from an aesthetics standpoint. They were quirky. Nishiki utilized Richard Cunningham ( MAntis bicycles and later a magazine editor for Mountain Bike Action ) for design input on these -

This would have a valued spot in my collection, were it mine, i would outfit it with the Panaracer Dart/Smoke combo which is still available, a Turbo style saddle and some real pedals . DX if you can find them or Odyssey Svelte was another good one -- with clips and straps .

The bike is clean enough to justify whatever you want to spend on it , but i would not make any attempts at all to "modernize" it -- period correct is where its at.

But from a speculative value standpoint , i think 3-400 is ballpark

tiras32

pics would be bettter. easy $100-150