Road Cycling - Does anyone know anything about "sekine" road bikes?

I bought a frame today at a not-for-profit bike shop here in Vancouver. Its a "sekine" made in canada. Previously I have never heard of it. It is pretty light though, at 7lbs including the fork and bb. I am not sure how accurate this weight is though as I used a regular bathroom scale. The fellow at the shop said it was a good quality frame and that he thought it was made from Tange; a Japanese steel tube. The best part is the price; only $20 cdn. plus its exactly my size at 58cm. Does anyone know anything about "sekine" road bikes?

:) :) :D :D :confused: :)

I know I owned one when I first started riding.

I didn't know a thing and it fell apart from lack of care but if I'm remembering right, it was a low quality, department store brand with steel rims for the wheels and gas pipe tubes in the frame.

$20 is probably what it's worth.

I'm still riding on a Sekine 80's mountain bike. The frame is Cr-Mo. The bike is mid-low level (payed $400 at the time), with alloy rims but no quick releases on the wheels.
I've been slowly upgrading various pieces on it because I'm fairly happy with the frame.

I have an old Sekine ten speed up in my brother’s barn that I paid $10.00 in new condition from the Goodwill. It had some good parts on it and I thought I would use it for a city beater. They are common out here in Manitoba and a dime a dozen meaning no one will pinch it. If I recall correctly, the company was owned by a Hong Kong resident and they were made or assembled on a native reserve in Rivers, Manitoba. This company produced low-end stuff and probably only good as a city beater. Keep looking around I am sure you will find something better. Also when looking for a frame, if it is made from good quality steel, it will have the company’s sticker on the frame. Here is the web site for the MEC swap in BC you may have some luck here for parts of a complete bike.

http://www.mec.ca/Apps/outdoorGearSwap/gearswap_listing_Cycling.jsp

Here is another good site for used.

http://www.buysell.com/results.asp?id=1091&i=398&r=9

Gordon p

I weighed the sekine 58 cm and it was 5lbs. Can a low-end frame be that light?

You think that 5 lbs for a frame is light????

My 54cm GT, only weighed 2.5 pounds my current road bike frame weighs abotu 2.7 pounds.. I just picked up a jamis MTB frame to build up my son a bike it weighs 4.1 pounds, just to give you a idea of what frames weigh.

My steel '02 Scapin TIG welded Columbus Nivacron weighs 3.14 pounds and my '87 Paramount lugged Columbus SLX weighs 3.9 pounds. Both are 54cm.

I was curious, so I did a little research on Sekine and found some info. The company was a small Japanese bicycle company that tried to enter into the North American market. Apparently they had no luck in the US and started up a factory in Rivers, Manitoba with the help of the local Ojibwa council. I found some anthropological info on the use of Japanese industrial practices combined with native labour traditions, but nothing on the quality of the bikes. I also found out that Norco makes a Sekine model and found reference to a radio bicycle, a touring bike and the common department store type of 10 speeds.
The one I have has bottom end Shimano parts and is too heavy to be used for much other then a beater.
Hope you find this of interest.
Gordon p

My first good road bike was a Sekine. In the early 70s a Sekine with a double-butted chrome-moly frame cost $160, and the buyer could choose between having it outfitted with clinchers or sewups. The drivetrain was all SunTour except for the SR crankset, and it shifted beautifully. Though I'm a big fan of French bikes, at the time the Sekine was a much better bike for the money.

Hello, i just bought a Sekine bike for $10.00 at a thrift shop and i saw it was special, it has a cateye reflector on the right fork, i have never seen that before, the bike has the metal badge just below the handle bars, and the rear wheel hub has a metal plate with the name Sekine in see though.

This bike is too big for me but after i put a big butt gel cushion seat on it i will ride in comfort, the handles on this bike are the old type that came on bikes when i was a teen, there is one lever that you push to move the chain though gears, the bike has no finders and i love fenders, well that is my bike but if i find a special bike with finders i will ebay the Sekine, cheers B.Tunnelton

All you guys stating frame weights - I'm assuming that's NOT including the fork?

Are we talking apples to apples?

55/Rad

I got a hold of a Sekine which had been stored for two decades in an attic. I tore it apart and reassembled it using almost all of the original parts. I replaced the back wheel which had rusted spoke threads and took it on a tour of Canada, coast to coast in 2007. I didnt know anything about bikes when I started and was told that a Sekine wouldnt get me to Winnipeg (from Saskatoon). Not only did it make it to Winnipeg, but it made the whole 7000km trip and is still in excelent condition. The only problem I had on the trip was with the aloy wheel that I bought. It had to be replaced twice! To this day i still ride it around Saskatoon with the original parts and have little to no trouble with it.

Sekine produced some very good bikes and there is someone around here that used to work for them and knows a ton about their different models... who was that ?

We just built up a fixed gear on a Sekine frame that was built with double butted tubes (Tange methinks) and it is farking gorgeous.

Their finishes hold up very well and a good part of their frame weight must be the 200-250 grams of paint.

I'm remembering it was my first bike that fell apart from lack of care and the Sekine was on loan from a family member, so I took care of it but it still was a low quality bike.

That doesn't mean it didn't work all right, but I did replace the wheels so they would stay in true much better than the old, steel ones I replaced did. I also bought a new Shimano 105 derailer and freewheel so it would shift better too.

I returned it 2 years later in better shape than it was in when I first borrowed it.

Holy old thread resurrection... :)