Classic & Vintage - can you tell me anything about the bikes i bought?

hi there, i'm new to the whole biking scene, but i've registered here specifically to get some info on a pair of bikes i just bought.

my boyfriend and i have recently moved to colorado and have decided to start taking advantage of the beautiful weather and many bike paths in our neighborhood. being newbies, our bike search began and ended at yard sales, where we found a great pair of road bikes, but can't find anything about them online or elsewhere.

has anyone ever heard of a brand/style called numano? i assume they are vintage or classic, they're not new either way, but google searches yield no results. (or results about loafers and doctors, actually, nothing about bikes). the wheels are pretty big - 27" each. the pictures don't show it, but they're both in really good condition. the strangest thing is the brake system on the men's bike - it uses a weird (to me) cable system to lever the brakes up and down. i can only assume that they are either very rare or very crappy bikes, and i am sure that whoever manufactured them is no longer in business either way.

here's some pictures:

http://a845.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/59/l_a8e2db5512b2a2c9e7bb163c9c89fd34.jpg

http://a110.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/46/l_5246e91fa1f671c531941e73bd9dcbb5.jpg

http://a123.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/94/l_72e558a79eca7f5ff4c19cccc6bfb572.jpg


if anyone could tell me anything about these bikes - where they were made, a website, etc... it would be appreciated.

edit: crap, i meant to put this in the classic/vintage forum. my bad.

The steel pedals, wheels, cranks and seatposts all point to low-end bikes. The safety levers are also lower end.
Both bikes have the seat post clamps backwards for some odd reason? Maybe the owner had stubs for legs.
Anyway, both are steel framed which can be either good or bad depending on the material. closer pics of the frame decals are needed.
What is interesting is the Canti lever brakes on the mens bikes. While not uncommon these brakes were usually found on touring bikes.
You should post this in the classic and vintage forum.

The brakes on the man's bike are cantilever, typically used on touring bikes. Both bikes look to be low to mid level 70's era bike boom bikes. Clear close up pictures or names of the various components would possibly help better ID them.

Aaron:)

You should post this in the classic and vintage forum.

yeah, i thought i was in that forum, but obviously...i wasn't. i've asked a mod to move it, if possible.


thanks for the info! i assumed they were low-end bikes, which is fine for us since we're just starting out. here are pictures of the decals-

http://a101.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/110/l_3dd2f996fd24f421dc8f5efc72fce8cc.jpg

http://a262.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/51/l_5747b6c283d4bd0e171ec156761aa42d.jpg

beneath 'numano' in the second picture it says 'safety tested'.

Canti brakes on an old low end road bike?

Its really cool you got a pair. The tyres look good to go, so after turning the seat post around and then turning the seats be good to test ride. I'm geussing japanese, but thats just from the name

Take a good look at the rear derailleur on the ladies' bike. The chain shouldn't be so slack.

Canti brakes on an old low end road bike?

are you saying that's what i got or asking why they're on there? :)


Its really cool you got a pair. The tyres look good to go, so after turning the seat post around and then turning the seats be good to test ride. I'm geussing japanese, but thats just from the name

that's what we thought, and exactly why we bought them! we had to replace the tubes and tires - the old ones were so old they literally crumbled when we took them off.


Take a good look at the rear derailleur on the ladies' bike. The chain shouldn't be so slack.

i probably did that when changing the tires out, actually. my first time doing that and it wasn't as arduous as i thought it would be - i'm guessing just need to move the derailleur back to tighten it up?

...i probably did that when changing the tires out, actually. my first time doing that and it wasn't as arduous as i thought it would be - i'm guessing just need to move the derailleur back to tighten it up?

Perhaps. The springs should take care of it automatically, but it's possible that just putting something in a more proper position will take care of it.

are you saying that's what i got or asking why they're on there?

I gather that he's rather surprised that a lower-end frame would have cantilevers, for canti's are usually found on higher-end touring machines. Can't go wrong with the canti's though - nice feature.

-Kurt

More photos of shifters, derailleurs, brakes, hubs, etc.!!!