Terzot

hard to say

Sudevan

I will be picking up a Bridgestone Kabuki Submariner in a couple of days, when it has been checked out by the mechanic who is working on it. The parts on the bike are a mix -- I think the Sakae 2 ring crank and the Suntour derailleurs appear original but the shifters are Shimano and the brakes are APSE and Lee Chi. The seat post and stem may be original. I am wondering if anyone has access to the details of the factory-original components for this bicycle. I have searched the net but have not obtained anything like a definite description in a manual. If anyone has such a list, I would greatly appreciate it. I'd be happy to pay for a manual with such a list included, provided the cost is reasonable. Since I don't have the bike yet, I do not know the serial number. Once I pick up the bike, I may want to change some of the components, and perhaps restore it with the factory-style or period-accurate bits and bobs. Thanks in advance!

Kabuki12

the Submariner changed a bit through production years but pretty much used SunTour derailleurs and shifters, Sunshine hubs laced to Anaya 27” rims. The cranks were Bridgestone marked(sometimes) but made by SR like the stem . The seat post was a “quill” type as there is no seat post binder bolt on the bonded seat tube. It would have had stem shifters. The brakes , again, may say “Bridgestone” but are Dia Comp. They are heavy bikes but ride reasonably well . My wife bought one new in the late seventies and loved it but it was promptly stolen. I bought a used one years ago and flipped it . The main three tubes are stainless steel bonded to cast “lugs” . I hope this helps. They were not cheap for what they were when new.

Sudevan

Thanks very much indeed, Kabuki12. Very useful information.

Sudevan

The Submariner I acquired recently has a serial number on the BB that is F543752. I am wondering which year the bike was made, and if the individual numbers or the letter F has any significance in terms of the bike's provenance or structure. I did not find any other numbers on the seat tube, head tube, or derailleurs. As far as I can tell, there does not seem to be a webpage for checking serial numbers. Maybe Forum members who are better informed about Submariners can suggest some ways to check the serial number. Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.

Pompiere

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...ber-guide.html

Sudevan

Thank you, Pompiere . Based on the link you sent (posted by T-Mar) and looking at the first two characters in the serial number (F543752) I think my bike was built in the 11th or 12th week (F) of either 1975 or 1985 (5). As T-Mar suggests, further narrowing down of the decade (70s or 80s) will have to be based on other cues the bike provides. I shall be looking into this.

Sudevan

An Update: My LBS chap worked on my Submariner and changed both the brake levers to NOS Tektro and the mismatched Shimano shifters to NOS Shimano downtube shifters - I could not find Suntour, but the Shimano ones do the job well, I also replaced the seat with a nicely patina'd Brooks Professional saddle with beautiful copper rivets. The bike looks very neat and quite lovely with the clean stainless steel frame and the light blue painted fork and stays. A handsome bike which I will enjoy riding. Today I did test it out for a few miles and I am happy with the ride quality.

One puzzle that remains: My LBS man did examine the seatpost and said that it was a regular seatpost and not a quill type post. The top of the seat tube has a bolt on it that can be loosened to adjust the seat post height, which we had to do when we installed the Brooks saddle.So I am wondering if this was a one-off type of seatpost installation. Or perhaps something bad happened to the original quill seatpost and someone changed things to accomodate a regular seat post -- Is that even possible? Any information on a similar seatpost situation would be welcome.