Classic & Vintage - What can I do to this 70s/80s Takara?

My friend just gave this Takara... looks like its in mediocre to ok condition
-The front brake is not hooked up...
-Shifters/Derailleurs work fine
-Crank/BB has no freeplay--good

What I would like to do:
-replace brake units, and levers
-get indexed brifters
-convert to single front
-get used derailleur in better condition
-remove funky fan-thing next to lowest gear in cassette
-get diff non-rusted cassette

now i dont know much, if any, about road bikes, so i dont know if some of those fixes are even possible. for example, i dont know if there are brifters that will work with this 5-speed rear. also, i heard the frame of older road bikes is that modern brake units will not fit unless i retrofit a 'step-down-bolt'

please suggest what type of components (brands, models) i should seek, and whatever else fix i can do to the bike, to make it more rideable. thanks :)

Nice looking bike, very nice detailed pictures!

Here's what I would do:

1. remove safety levers from brake levers.

2. connect front brake

3. ride it and enjoy it.


If everything works, you'll have a nice original bike to ride. If things don't work, replace with similar vintage stuff from e-bay or swap meets. The upgrades you are looking at would be very expensive and I'm not sure if they'd be big improvements. I ride a friction-shift Bianchi, don't see any need for index shifters when everything is working. The rusty casette can be easily cleaned and oiled

thank you for the suggestions, pinerider!

i think i will just replace all the cables to (hopefully) make the shifting smoother.

my friend also has a similarly old peugeot with some side-pull brakes that seem to operate smoother, so i think i will throw that to replace the fronts for now. hopefully it'll have more mechanical leverage.

if i wanted to replace some irreparable parts, what should i look for? what are some of the differences in these older bikes vs newer bikes that makes part-replacement difficult?

You should also replace all the bearings and regrease them. With a five speed rear freewheel, it's likely the spacing on the rear droopouts is 120mm. To go to indexed shifting, you'd need at least 126 spacing. Since it's Japanese, the bike may take an old JIS headset. This means the fork crown race is likely 27.0 mm instead of the BSC 26.4mm (now standard). Another point of contention may be brakes; the older bikes were often set up for fenders, and the brakes had longer reaches than modern brakes.

Most old bike problems can be solved by scavenging.

I probabably wouldn't do much aside from a quickie tune-up and replace the cables. It's a decent derailleur, rust on the cogs is mostly cosmetic, upgrading to brifters is cost-prohibitive given the overall quality of the bike. get rid of the idiot levers, keep the centerpulls. They have more mechanical advantage than any sidepull that will work at that length. If you switch to downtube shifters you may get slightly crisper shifting, but on the other hand you may get the same results with SIS housing and cables, and bar-cons are soooo nice... ride it for what it is.

Probably the best thing on the bike are the barcons so don't mess with changing out shifters.

At your LBS when getting your new cables get 2 sets of KoolStop orange brake pads. That'll bring your braking up to acceptable standards.

Aesthetically I've always disliked those big pie plate spoke protectors. If the freewheel comes off anytime soon I'd probably not reinstall the protector.

Overall, I join the chorus. Repair and ride it as is.

I agree with everyone else. Clean & lube everything, replace cables as needed, add the kool stops & maybe a better set of pedals with toe clips, polish the frame then ride ride ride. Don

Agree; correct a little and ride alot! ;)

Tony

i just replaced the rear brake cable and now it is really stiffy feeling... it makes a lot of noise, too. is it normal, or should i have lubed the cable jacket before replacing the cable?

not to disagree with what everyone is saying but....

i think you should convert it to a SS or fixed gear.

Lubing is usally good; lube the brake pivots and make sure they're tight while you're at it. Also, check for jagged edges on the housing. Trim or file as necessary.

Last thing: If you adjust the saddle, make sure the housing stop still makes a straight line to the brake.

hmmm.....
replace the components w/ the new 04 DA gruppo.. You'll love it! (just kidding)

I have noticed corrosion on the frame and components.
1. remove fork, seat post, crank, BB and brakes, and rear der.
2. Spray in frame saver inside yout frame Via Seattube, headtube, holes in the chain stay and seatstay.
3. regrease all bearings (hubs, BB, headset, pedals, brake pivots, der springs and links, etc.), replace worn out bearings.
4. remove Rear derailer rollers and regrease.
5. replace all the cables... you don't want it to fail on you.
6. assemble the bike!

And RIDE!!!!

Just do the obvious.....convert it to a fixed gear.

George

actually, my friend and i have been wanting to make a fixed gear project

what all would be involved in this? all i know is that i have the normal drop-outs (instead of horizontal) and so its not the best candidate?

its got semi-horizontal drops. It'll be allright as a fixed gear.

Sorry, that chainring pants protector is too hideois to leave the garage. Give the bike to your paperboy/girl

hey, that front brake looks like the u-brake on my bmx. you should be able to get the little saddle component to hook it up from someone who deals with bmx stuff if you haven't done that already.

I second what the fixer says.

1) Lose the spoke protector.
2) Lose the brake extension handles.
3) Lose the chainguard.
4) Find a 6-speed "ultra" freewheel on eBay, loosescrews.com, or Harris Cyclery / SheldonBrown.com. If you do not need the ultralow bottom gear, get something like a 14-26 or even 13-24.
5) Keep the barcons, which are fantastic for riding in traffic or for loaded touring or commuting.
6) Replace the brake pads w/ KoolStops.
7) Replace the brake cables and possibly the shift cables, as well.
8) Replace the chain if it has stretched by more than 0.5%.
9) Replace the tyres if they are cracking or starting to rot.
10) Keep the centerpull brakes.
11) Keep the SunTour derailleurs.
12) Add toeclips and straps. Consider replacing the pedals with Kuokoto, MKS, etc. road quills.
13) Instead of losing one of the chainrings, keep both and get a tighter freewheel, instead.
14) Potential fixed-gear conversion is your call, of course. Since I do lots of hill work and have to deal with traffic and 53-year-old knees, fixed gear is definitely not my thing, but others in this forum really seem to like it.

1) Lose the spoke protector.
2) Lose the brake extension handles.
3) Lose the chainguard.
4) Find a 6-speed "ultra" freewheel on eBay, loosescrews.com, or Harris Cyclery / SheldonBrown.com. If you do not need the ultralow bottom gear, get something like a 14-26 or even 13-24.
5) Keep the barcons, which are fantastic for riding in traffic or for loaded touring or commuting.
6) Replace the brake pads w/ KoolStops.
7) Replace the brake cables and possibly the shift cables, as well.
8) Replace the chain if it has stretched by more than 0.5%.
9) Replace the tyres if they are cracking or starting to rot.
10) Keep the centerpull brakes.
11) Keep the SunTour derailleurs.
12) Add toeclips and straps. Consider replacing the pedals with Kuokoto, MKS, etc. road quills.
13) Instead of losing one of the chainrings, keep both and get a tighter freewheel, instead.
14) Potential fixed-gear conversion is your call, of course. Since I do lots of hill work and have to deal with traffic and 53-year-old knees, fixed gear is definitely not my thing, but others in this forum really seem to like it.
thanks john. here is what i have done so far:
1. dropped the spoke protector
1a. in fact, i got a new set of vuelta airline 2 wheels from a 99 trek 1000 :D
2. brake sissy bars gone
3. chainguard + big ring gone (1x8)
4. new 8sp 12-25 freehub cassette for new wheel
5. kept right (rear) barcon... left side gone for single ring
6. trying to get KS Eagle 2... apparently it wont work, and i'd have to go with something else
7. brake cables replaced, cable boot trimmed to right length & curve
8. same old chain
9. new maxxis 700x23 tires
10. kept
11. kept and adjusted
12. got cool alloy toe clip cage...
13. got new 225mm*120mm stem (im 56cm bike is 54cm)
14. new seat

im just waiting for the cassette and stem to ship, and then gotta find a new set of brake pads... its riding great so far! sooooo much faster than my MTB even with 26x1.35" semi-slicks! :D

it wouldn't be the first takara fixie, either. i turned a similar takara frame into my first fixie a couple months ago (i have a pic up in the ss/fixed gear forum if you wanna check it out...). your frame looks like it's even in better shape than mine was/is, though...

well guys, the project is complete... basically what i did was strip most-everything...

it looks soooo much cleaner! its got a set of wheels w/ 14-28 6sp freehub cassette.. which is good. the bike is too small for me, so im giving it to my friend's little brother. its got a good final drive for climbing, and the kid wont ride tooo fast on it to top out (39T-14C).

all in all it was a fun project to clean and disassemble.. now i have a new free 87 Trek Elance 400 to work on :D