Classic & Vintage - Miyata

I was wondering what your thoughts are on 'em

Nice, consistently, well-finished production bicycles. I have one of their lower-end touring bicycles, and am satisfied with it. Not the greatest of it's kind, but it is a good value, and a very stable rider.

My beater MTB (which is the coolest MTB ever made) is a Miyata 5000. I would not sneer at any Miyata road bike either.

They are my preferred vintage bikes. I ride a 710 and it handles my considerable 210# girth very well. Also I heard somewhere that they had 7 layers of paint and that the painting was superior to others.

I have one of those glued together (aluminum pressurised adhesive) dealys. I ride it every day and it hasn't let me down. It's not exactly vintage, but I like it.

Their low end bikes are still pretty good; the top of the line Team and Pro bikes are as good or better than ANY production bike. And their propritary tubesets make them a bit different.
I have two in the fleet now, a 512 and a Triplecross set up with drops. Thre's a 612 in town I'm trying to get away from the gent who rides it twice a year.....
And a Team TT frameset in the barn I'm trying to find a Dura Ace 7400 group for:D
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I like my '86 912 road bike very much. I have installed quite big tires on it, and use it as sort of a cross bike. It feels very sturdy even on rough roads and trails. Everything about it feels very precise. Also the paintjob is very sublime. I call mine the Terminator; it has a dark high-tech machiny look to it.

I have one of those glued together (aluminum pressurised adhesive) dealys. I ride it every day and it hasn't let me down. It's not exactly vintage, but I like it.

I think I remember that you were one of the few that endorsed my foolish purchase of my frameset a while back. I got a lot of lukewarm comments.

And now, after 6 months of using it as my in-town assault vehicle, I love it. I am a bit ashamed to admit, as a confirmed roadie, that I like riding this thing as much as any bike I have been on. And I get more comments on the street about it than anything else either, for that matter.

After the apocalypse, it will be the bike I will ride off on, I suspect.

jim

I have a Miyata 912 and it is a great bike. It rides like a dream--
stiff with no flexing in a bad way--but not a jarring ride. . .

My 1981 1000 tourer is fantastic. Enough said.

I have a Miyata 912 and it is a great bike. It rides like a dream--
stiff with no flexing in a bad way--but not a jarring ride. . .
YES probably due to the fact that it's one of the best bikes made between 1978 and 88,the 912 that is,
910s and 914s are great too. 912s are the best, the Team and Pro are "better", functionally ,the 912's right up there.allof this is my oppinion, ask T-Mar too. Ask anyone about Miyata. I have a 710,a notch below the 912,they both had 12 speeds from 79/80 'till 87/88 ? 110, 210 310 510/12 710 910/12/14 ,Pro and Team. The lowest two were HI-TENS. steel the rest were chromoloy, made, drawn, designed by Miyata,they had Pro-racing teams competing through-out Europe,late '70s -earl-mid '80s and beyond in the USA in dirt. Miyata is as old as Bianchi.. 1894,they "invented" tubing which Columbus copied years ago. I have a titanium Miyata and have had others,as well as other brands,none of which were "better".
Miyata is not just a great bike from Japan, it's a great bike by any standards for any given time that they were produced. Well that's a start. USAZorro ,I'm sure will agree that his bike compares favorably to many others,he surely knows bikes well enough to evaluate his Miyata in perspective to other rides.

I have a nine 16 .Waiting for a crank. Looks good. hope it rides as good as it looks.

What are your thoughts on the 210? Were the later examples made of Chro-Moly, or were they still just h-ten steel?

What are your thoughts on the 210? Were the later examples made of Chro-Moly, or were they still just h-ten steel?

Early model 210, circa 1980-1984, were plain gauge CrMo main tubes with hi-tensile forks and stays. For 1985-1986 they rec'd triple butted CrMo main tubes with Mangalight forks and stays. 1986 was the last year of production for the 210.

As for the OP's question, as I've said literally dozens of times before, Miyata were arguably the best of the mass production bicycle manufacturers. They provide excellent design, construction and value at their respective price level, for all models.

...Miyata is not just a great bike from Japan, it's a great bike by any standards for any given time that they were produced. Well that's a start. USAZorro ,I'm sure will agree that his bike compares favorably to many others,he surely knows bikes well enough to evaluate his Miyata in perspective to other rides.
old and new - Thanks for the compliment. T-Mar is the real expert on Miyatas here though. I do like my 210. It is well designed, well finished, and as mentioned, very stable.

The only thing I would consider changing about it is the weight. Mine is one of the Chrome-Moly triple butted ones, but it is still quite heavy. Without any extras, it is close to 30 pounds. I suppose that's incentive to find a 610 or a 1000. :D

T-Mar,

Since you are back I was wondering if you knew anything about the Miyata twelve hundred. I've been riding around on it for a couple of months and I must admit that I now have a fetish for Miyatas. I've been able to find out exactly squat about this model though other than two or three other rider's opinions about them.
It still has the original Sante group, which I would like to know more about as well.

Thanks for any help.

Rob

I have Miyata 1400 as my good/fast/long ride bike (put on the shorts and elf shoes) It was one step below a full race bike. Bought it new and still love it. I had it converted to a triple, but with lower components than the original Ultegra......and it just didn't look right. I am now in the process for conveting to ultegra 9 sp triple, with barcons, add a brook seat and leave everything else original

definite fun bike

I think I remember that you were one of the few that endorsed my foolish purchase of my frameset a while back. I got a lot of lukewarm comments.

And now, after 6 months of using it as my in-town assault vehicle, I love it. I am a bit ashamed to admit, as a confirmed roadie, that I like riding this thing as much as any bike I have been on. And I get more comments on the street about it than anything else either, for that matter.

After the apocalypse, it will be the bike I will ride off on, I suspect.


jim


Cool! I'm glad it's working out for you! Between my bar end shifters, the internal cable routing and strange looking seat cluster/seat stays I get a lot of comments/questions too. I do like my Miyata, yes siree.

After the apocalypse I'll be riding a fire breathing dragon unless it's one of those "God cleanses the earth with fire" type things, then I'm probably ****ed. If it's just a regular apocalypse I should be good to go.

T-Mar,

Since you are back I was wondering if you knew anything about the Miyata twelve hundred. I've been riding around on it for a couple of months and I must admit that I now have a fetish for Miyatas. I've been able to find out exactly squat about this model though other than two or three other rider's opinions about them.
It still has the original Sante group, which I would like to know more about as well.

Thanks for any help.

Rob

The 1200 appeared twice in Miyata's line-up, first in 1982 and then after a long absence it re-appeared in 1988, for a single year. You have the latter. It was positioned just above the 912 and below the Team Miyata. It is very close to Team frame, but not quite the same. While it is full CrMo and uses the excellent Spline Triple Butted main tubes and spline fork blades, it lacks the spline chainstays, investment cast head lugs and Shimano forged dropouts of the Team. The bottom bracket is also slightly lower, but otherwise the geometry matches the Team. Still very good, but I guess they had to downgrade ithe frame somehow from the Team. The Sante group is excellent though not quite up to the standards of Dura-Ace in the long run.

I've never ridden a 1200 but the Team of the era was excellent and earlier Pro was also very good, so there's no reason to believe this isn't a very fine competition model also. The Pro had disappeared from Miyata's lineup the previous year, so I like to think of the 1200 as the black-tie version of the Pro. The Pro was performance oriented and the appearance, while good, was functional in the traditional sense. The 1200 added high fashion, though the look did not appeal to everyone. It's pretty close to the cycling equivalent of James Bond in a tux.

I've got a 1986 Triplecross too.The med metallic blue. Was an early 700C flat bar attempt.New drivetrain except for crank,rather low 22.5" first gear.This one isn't slow either.

I might as well take advantage...

Say T-Mar, my Alumicross is full XCD6000 with 6 speed freewheel.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/timrosenstein/450320440/in/set-72157594546525758/

Could you tell me the year and if you have the info, the geometry specs? I'd appreciate it.


Also, anyone have any opinions on what I should do about a seemingly out-of-true rear triangle on this sucker? The rear wheel is in there are an angle so that at the seatstays at the bb it's a good 5mm or so more to one side than the other. I'd be scared to bend anything on this half alu, half steel, bonded frame.

I might as well take advantage...

Say T-Mar, my Alumicross is full XCD6000 with 6 speed freewheel.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/timrosenstein/450320440/in/set-72157594546525758/

Could you tell me the year and if you have the info, the geometry specs? I'd appreciate it.


Also, anyone have any opinions on what I should do about a seemingly out-of-true rear triangle on this sucker? The rear wheel is in there are an angle so that at the seatstays at the bb it's a good 5mm or so more to one side than the other. I'd be scared to bend anything on this half alu, half steel, bonded frame.

It's a 1989 model. PM me with the frame size (center to top) and I'll respond with geometry, as it varies with frame size.

Regarding the rear triangle issue, I'd verify the dish (offset) in the rear wheel before I try doing anything with the frame. Improper dish is fairly common and far easier to rectify than rear triangle alignment. A good LBS will be able to verify it for you using a dishing tool or a truing stand that automatically takes dish into account.

I've got a 1986 Triplecross too.The med metallic blue. Was an early 700C flat bar attempt.New drivetrain except for crank,rather low 22.5" first gear.This one isn't slow either.

1986 is troo early for a Triple-Cross, It sounds more like a 1989.

Does anyone know what year Miyata switched logos?

I've see some Triplecross with internal rear brake cable routing and some with external (mine, for instance). When did they change?
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Does anyone know what year Miyata switched logos?

Offhand, I can think of at four least logo changes, so you'll have to be more specific.


I've see some Triplecross with internal rear brake cable routing and some with external (mine, for instance). When did they change?
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The change was in place by 1990, but it could have been a running change during 1989 production, so if you're trying to date your bicycle I suggest you submit a picture or at least a good description with the serial number.


Very skillfully produced bicycles. One of the best Japanese manufacturers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miyata

I've always wondered how Wikipedia gets their info. Some of that info comes verbatim from some of my previous posts. Other info is erroneous. It would appear that they just cut and paste from various internet sites? Isn't that copyright violation?

Also, anyone have any opinions on what I should do about a seemingly out-of-true rear triangle on this sucker? The rear wheel is in there are an angle so that at the seatstays at the bb it's a good 5mm or so more to one side than the other. I'd be scared to bend anything on this half alu, half steel, bonded frame.

Post a pic of the BB area from the non gear side and at an angle slightly from the back and I'll tell you what to do with it.

Jim

Offhand, I can think of at four least logo changes, so you'll have to be more specific.

Ah, I wasn't aware of this, apologies.

My bike has a logo like the one seen here: http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2004/d/kris.htm

The other logo I've seen much more often is the one that's currently on the Miyata company page: http://www.gear-m.co.jp/