japollner

So I have this friend and he has a girlfriend. She mentioned to a professor that her boyfriend and his friend look in dumps for bikes and fix them up to ride them. He tells her he has a road bike he hasn't ridden in years and wouldn't mind it going to someone who will appreciate it. Well long story short, I email him and then pick up the bike today. I guess its been sitting in his attic for 10 years or so.

The frame is listed as "triple butted" and according to a sticker has a lifetime guarantee. "Lawee Design" is on the chainstay. Serial Number 0I64773 with "59" stamped under it. I am assuming 59 is the size.

It has a mishmash of parts on it. I doubt it is all original.

Araya Red Label tubulars laced to "Gyro Master" hubs and Sunshine skewers...
Dia-Comp "G" Brakeset (All Black)
Sakae Signature Bars and Crank\
Shimano 600 DT Shifters

The rear derailleur is a Shimano 600 . The front is a Suntour Cyclone (yippee!!)

What is original on this bike? What year is it. Any way to decode the serial number?

PS. Dont ask me what I paid, because I didn't pay anything.

stringbreaker

Photos?

japollner

Its dark out...but I guess I could snap a few with a flash...Gimme a minute.

japollner

Pics

Also included in the deal was a Zefal frame pump, and extra tubular (dry rotted) and an old school cannondale tube sock...which was a bag just big enough for a tubular and tucked behind the rear seat.

Mike552

I have a similar bike, except that it has a full Suntour gruppo on it, and admittedly, it is in much better condition that yours. I actually paid $100 for it though, but it looks brand spanking new.

What do you want to know? Components?

I think there was a choice between the new Shimano SIS or the more conventional (non-SIS, but better quality) Suntour package. Mine has Suntour LePree gruppo, even the hubs are Suntour Lepree. The brakes are also "G" but they are a nice high quality chrome polish look. My crank is "Signature", looks to be made by Sakae.

japollner

Yea, I guess I am just looking for what was spec'ed on it, year of manufacture, etc.

I will try to clean it up. Depending on how it goes, it may get parted out. I really couldn't tell you. I don't really even know what I am going to do with it at this point.

mswantak

My official wild-arse guess is '83 or '84.

roccobike

Great find. For a freebee that's sure a nice bike. I wish I could help with the year, but I usually use the components and, as you pointed out they may have been changed. Still, I'd gamble the front DR is original and use it to determine the date. It may not be correct, but its a guess.

RobbieTunes

This Univega is also "Lowee" designed, whatever that means, has Shimano SiS, and Araya 700c alloys very similar to the 27's they made so many of. I haven't a clue else about it, other than it no longer is going to the landfill. Were Univega's sometimes a collection of what appears to be whatever parts were around?

LordBass

A lovely Univega, OP. I've been searching locally for the right one to buy, but haven't found it yet. Haven't seen a red Viva Sport. I like yours a lot. And it's even in my size. And $0 is the best price of all.

bigwoo

Tip the bike upside down and you should see a set of numbers on the BB, which will include the year. To say that Ben Lawee was good w/ bikes would be an understatement.

"LONG BEACH, CA (BRAIN)--Ben Lawee, the founder of Univega, passed away Nov. 8 after losing a bout with stomach cancer. He was 76.

Lawee spent his entire career in the bike business, acting in every role in the industry from retailer and sales rep to distributor and supplier.

Born in 1926 in Baghdad, Iraq, Lawee immigrated to the United States aboard a cargo ship at age 19. He later attended business school at Columbia University in New York where met industry veteran Harry Manko.

In 1959, he bought Jones Bicycles, which he grew from a one-location shop into a multi-store chain. Disillusioned by the lack of brand options available to retailers, he sold the retail chain in 1965 and began importing European bikes.

Lawee began importing Bianchi and Legnano bikes and became the national distributor for Raleigh and Motobecane. In the early 1970s, he founded Univega.

"He had exceptional talent for spec'ing a bicycle and making it look good. He did this with Motobecane and made it suitable for the U.S. market. He started Univega on his own, and put together a good bicycle with a personal touch," Manko said.

He sold Univega to Raleigh in 1996 and retired from the industry.

"The bike industry was truly his life. It was his reason for getting up in the morning. He enjoyed making products that were extremely attractive, had good performance and great value. His signature was a bicycle that looked and performed at a great price," said his son, David Lawee, who worked at Univega for 15 years.

Lawee is survived by his wife of 41 years, Ariela, David and his daughter Monique."


And no, Uni's were generally pretty consistent w/ their parts groups:
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...hlight=univega

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...hlight=univega

Mike552

This is an interesting bit of info. FWIW, I am pretty sure he was a Jewish-Iraqi whose family (along with other Jewish families) fled the Arab countries in the middle east which they called their home for thousands of years.

The seeking asylum process had been started due to the extermination of European Jewry in WW2, with the fear that the same would happen to what was then a Nazi-Allied middle east. Because they were being turned down for Asylum in practically every country, the majority of Jews claimed what is today known as Israel, while a small chunk were given asylum here in the United States.

I believe Ben Lawee is one of those refugees. Anyhow, I just thought that was an interesting thing to mention as history fascinates me quite a bit.

Flying Merkel

A brown Viva Sport bought in '79 was my first real bike. Loved it, rode it to hell & back. I sold it to someone who didn't appreciate it. Idiot let it rot away in his back yard. I'm looking for another. Even had the same Zefal pump as yours.


Univega had a line of some of the nicest bikes for the price. Sad to seem the name go.

Skip Magnuson

Ben Lawee designed and imported the Italvega from Italy from about 1970 to 1978. When the production moved to Japan the name was changed to Univega. Univegas were produced beginning in about 1978 or 79.

monkeyevil

I just picked up a Nuovo Sport off Craig' s List for $40. Has a flat spot in the rear wheel, and a slightly sloppy cassette, besides that it's in great shape.

robtown

I'm restoring a triple butted Univega Nuovo Sport that has shimano and other lightweight components. It's a 47cm frame with oddball 26 x 1 1/4" wheels - alloy Araya rims. I was impressed with how light it was. It came with city bars and I"m installing some drop bars. Coppertone finish that came out very nice with some auto compounding paste.
It has the Lawee Design on a chain stay.

TL179

keep that spec. Very interesting could ride really well

Exit.

Hahahahaha. Awesome. What a player.

oldbobcat

What made Univega special was that at every price point each model had something special going for it. Just looking and riding showed that these bikes were not developed by someone who dug bikes and riders, not a boardroom.

By the way, here's a (shaky) photo of the Vivatech that I found on a street corner two summers ago. It was under a sign that said "free bikes," so, no, I didn't steal it. All it needed was tires and tubes, cables, handlebar tape, and some remediation of a poorly executed wheel repair.

fiataccompli

hey, fwiw, somewhere in the equation, didn't he go back to Italy & start making Bertoni bikes? I'm far from an expert, but I have 2 (well, one here at the house & one in the mail) Bertonis and from what I see/experience they're wonderful bikes...though not a big name for the name-dropping crowd

oh, and "wife of 41 years" means they were married for 41 years, not that she was 41. I'm usually not big on correcting people on forums, but it's a pretty different connotation the two interpretations give.....

oldbobcat

Thanks for explaining Exit's joke. I thought I might be missing something, but I wasn't.