Classic & Vintage - Mystery bike

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone could Id this frame.

It is a 27" (wheels as uposed to seat tube), has shimano rear dropouts and is completlely chromed under the paint.

I thought the seat stays might give it away.

Does anyone know how to strip the paint without damaging the chrome underneith?

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee315/minority_01/Mystery2.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee315/minority_01/M2lug.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee315/minority_01/M2BB.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee315/minority_01/M2SS.jpg

Components were a complete mismatch so no clues there I'm afraid!

The fork HAS to be a replacement because the frame quality looks too good. The seatstay caps looks like the beginning of a Masi cap but definitely is not. I have no idea.

for stripping the paint, try aircraft stripped from your local auto parts supplier.

agreed, that looks like very high-quality Japanese (or USA) workmanship, I'd guess it's an Hitachi BB shell...could be some Keirin builder of San Rensho caliber (but probably NOT San Rensho). Oh, I see you're in Aus, so very likely it's Japanese, and whatever make it is, it deserves to be treated to a proper fork, and careful restoration, cause it's a good one.

agreed, that looks like very high-quality Japanese (or USA) workmanship, I'd guess it's an Hitachi BB shell...could be some Keirin builder of San Rensho caliber (but probably NOT San Rensho). Oh, I see you're in Aus, so very likely it's Japanese, and whatever make it is, it deserves to be treated to a proper fork, and careful restoration, cause it's a good one.

Ah! Hitachi, I thought I recognised the logo from somewhere.

thanks for the Info

Chemical paint stripper should work. It wont take off the chrome. Use protective gloves- that stuff burns.

You should leave it chrome. That'd be so sweet!

Ala Rad's chrome pinny.

Because of the under bottom bracket gear cable routing and the pointy lugs, I am guessing early 1980s. I presume the bottom bracket is ISO-threaded, which would lend further support to Japanese pedigree. Overall, it looks like a very nice frame to me.

BTW, does anybody recognize that (tubing) decal sticker on the seat tube with a hang glider pictured and "Super___", seems like I've seen it before, but I can't place it....Ishiwata? Tange? Or is it something completely different, applied by the guy who put that cr*p fork and 27" wheels on this frame?

Looks like there is a hang glider on that sticker. It looks to me like the bike migth be built for 27" wheels. There isnt super tight clearence under that brake bridge.

I disagree: look at that rear brake, the pad is all the way at the bottom of the slot. Plus, it doesn't make any sense for a bike of this quality and vintage to be using 27". That fork is another matter, it probably IS made for 27".

Thats what I am saying though, the brake is at full reach. If you threw a 700c on there you would need longer reach brakes.

d'uh...I stand corrected, :)
but I still think it's unusual for 27" to appear on this frame, could be some eccentric's custom order...and the rear caliper looks rotated UPward, too, but that could be the camera angle. These are short-reach calipers, OP should try some standard reach and see how they work with 700C.

I think that the only original component on the bike "might" be the 27" rear wheel.

The front forks are for 700c, and are a definate replacement, and the brakes have also been retrofitted (or retrobodged might be a better description). The BB itself is also a replacement and the crank was a rubbish MTB item.

I would like to keep it chrome if I can get the paint off and find it reasonable underneath, I just love the shiny bits!:)

Can you throw up a pic of the brake bridge?

...could be some Keirin builder of San Rensho caliber (but probably NOT San Rensho)

I think unworthy1 is on the right track...the seat stays are nearly identical to those of a Nagasawa (http://www.classicrendezvous.com/Japan/Nagasawa.htm) (sans the Nagasawa name, scroll to "2005 Interbike Show") and the circular symbol on the bottom bracket is identical to that pictured in the above link (scroll down to "2003 Interbike Show.)"

More Nagasawa info and photos at Yellow Jersey. (http://www.yellowjersey.org/NAGASAWA.HTML)

Interestingly, this Makino (http://keirinculture.com/gallery_pages/gallery001.shtml) track bike has nearly identical seat stays, again without the frame bulder name.

Can you throw up a pic of the brake bridge?

The frame is stored at work (run out of room at home) but I'll get a pic in a couple of days

Can you throw up a pic of the brake bridge?

Well here are the pics, but it might be academic.

When the brakes were retrobodged so was the BB and I think the left hand thread is totally stuffed!

The other thing that I found was that it was made for 700c wheels not 27" as I first thought.

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee315/minority_01/BrakeStay2.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee315/minority_01/Brakestay1.jpg

This is like watching "House"...... :)

It's made for recessed Allen-bolt brakes, I still can't tell if it's been tweaked so that it points the caliper upwards. Sorry to hear that the BB threads are buggered, but a good LBS should be able to either clean them up to be usable, or help you with the next steps: either mill and re-tap for Italian threading or fit a Mavic "threadless" BB unit. Good luck, I still think it's a frame worth spending some sweat and $$ on.

Yeah, damn that is alot closer clearance in the close-ups than the originals. Sorry unworthy1. :o

That bike is getting more intriguing....

Yeah, damn that is alot closer clearance in the close-ups than the originals. Sorry unworthy1. :o

That bike is getting more intriguing....

Yes, in the original pics it had a 27 x 1.25 rim with 27 x 1 tyre on (with not much air in it), believe me this bike was really messed around with when I found it!

In these pics it has 27 x 1.25 rims with 27 x 1.25 tyres and, as you said, clearance is virtuall non existant. This prompted me to try some 700c wheels and decide that that was the correct size.

It looks to me like the brake bridge has been tweaked a little, although you should be able to adjust the brake shoes to align okay.

This is like watching "House"...... :)

LOL

def. not a 27" or the right fork, the bridge may look tweaked because of the larger radius those big tires turn.

If anyone needs to be stumped more here is an "unsolved mystery"

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=370224&highlight=laing