My church recently had a yard sale. My wife insisted I make an appearance. One item that caught my Eye was a Bicycle exercise stand that I thought I might use with my mountain bike. On the stand was a Univega Activa bicycle, early 90's model I'm pretty sure, for $100. On a whim, I thought the commuter might join my collection. It had set for two days, obviously overpriced, and the sale was ending that evening. I offered $45 for the Bike and stand and got it. Now I need to know what I bought. Does anybody know anything about this particular bike? I don't know if it was a big box bike, or a shop bike. The components look low-rent today, but, mind you, the bike is over 10 years old and doesn't appear to have been upgraded any. The brakes look like older versions of the brakes on my and my wife's bikes, not the cheap-o kind. It has thumb shifters, but they seem to be well made and work well. The bike has a light steel road frame. It wieghs about the same as my aluminum MTB, a little heavy for a road bike, but okay for the commuter I plan to use it as. It has comfort bike handle bars and seat, the latter of which will hit the garbage as soon as I can get a new seat. Any info about the bike would be good. Thanks.
Univega was not a manufacturer. It was a brand name, like Schwinn is now. They bought bikes from mainly Japanese companies and put their name on them. I am not familiar with the Activa. Does it have a decal stating what kind of steel it is. This is usually on the seat post and/or the fork. Most of their bikes were pretty decent quality, but not outstanding. Sounds like you got a great deal. Ride it with pride
mezza
06-13-07, 09:37 PM
If its got thumb shifters and it rides well then I don't see any problems. Sounds like a bargain.
Unless its 27inch wheels and not 700c. Then you may run into a few headaches...
Tom Stormcrowe
06-13-07, 09:57 PM
Even with 27" wheels, it's not a bad bike! I still run 27" because I can even get tires at Walmart if necessary, or another dept store or even Western Auto if I have catastrophic tire failure in the boondocks.
The only issue you'd really run into if 27" is a limited selection of higher quality tires.
Univega is likely a Panasonic Frame, by the way. It's not a bad bike and if in decent shape, at $45.00, it's a good buy!
root11
06-15-07, 05:39 PM
Hey I got one of those!! Activa 200. I mainly use it to ride back and forth to the gym or work on the weekends because I put a clamp on seatpost rack on it. It's a pretty good hybrid, but I usually get on the road bike when out for exercise rides. It's more likely a mid to late 80's model (that's how old mine is). Is it 80's neon green??? I tend to run it without the index shifting because it seems to lose "indexing" quickly (I really should replace the cables). Does it have the Biopace chainrings? It was a bike shop bike back in the day (but not a high end bike shop).
Mike
Mr. Beanz
06-15-07, 10:00 PM
And the steel label is on the seat tube, not the seat post!:D