Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Koga - Miyata .. should I buy?

Someone posted an ad on craigslist so I e-mailed him about the frameset. This is what he responded with:


I still have two of the new old stock cr-moly Koga-Miyata framesets, 58cm. Still in their original packing. They were built in Japan in the mid 1980s. Label says triple butted, hand built.

126mm rear axle spacing, 40 inch wheel base. The wheelbase is long enough that these would make excellent commuting, or sport riding frames or fixed gear also. They don't have eyelets on the dropouts, but you can use rubber backed clamps if you need to put a rack on. Let me know if you are interested and we can arrange for you to see one.

The sizing sound about right. You mentioned 34 inch inseam. I wear 32 length pants and these fit me about right. It sort of depends on what type of riding position you are looking for.

They come with headset and BB installed. I also have new 27.0 seat posts for them, which is included. $290 for each frame. This is considerably less than a Chinese frame would cost today.

What do you think? 290 for a triple butted frameset?

I wouldn't pay that if you were going to convert it to fixed gear.

Koga's are good, but the frame is like a road frame, comparable to a Surly Pacer, but nicer. Basically if you were in the market for a new 58 Pacer, I'd say sure.

I wouldn't pay that if you were going to convert it to fixed gear.

Koga's are good, but the frame is like a road frame, comparable to a Surly Pacer, but nicer. Basically if you were in the market for a new 58 Pacer, I'd say sure.

It has horizontal dropouts.. not a conversion. this is a fixed gear frame.

It has horizontal dropouts.. not a conversion. this is a fixed gear frame.

Horizontal drops != track ends.
Every damn bike before widespread indexed shifting had horizontal dropouts.

You sure? 126 isn't fixed spacing. It can have horizontal dropouts without being a track frame.

I'm not saying you're wrong, it's just the craigslist person didn't mention it being a fixed frame in your first post. If it is, buy it, definitely. Do you have any pics?

You sure? 126 isn't fixed spacing. It can have horizontal dropouts without being a track frame.

I don't think any track frames have horizontal dropouts, my understanding is they use track ends...

I don't think any track frames have horizontal dropouts, my understanding is they use track ends...

oh.. you are certainly right. let me e-mail him and ask him.

Anyway, I think the price is too high, on the other hand those older Miyata frames are pretty nice. I'd say $150 or so would be reasonable. A bit more if it's a touring frame with all the braze-ons and canti brake mounts.

oh.. you are certainly right. let me e-mail him and ask him.

Which doesn't mean however that a bike needs track ends to be appropriate for fixed gear conversions though... it simply means that it wasn't designed for track racing (and even then, track ends don't necessary imply a bike with them is designed for track racing either)

Anyway, I think the price is too high, on the other hand those older Miyata frames are pretty nice. I'd say $150 or so would be reasonable. A bit more if it's a touring frame with all the braze-ons and canti brake mounts.

i've never even heard of people triple butting their frames .. i thought it would have been a great buy.. but i guess not.

I paid $150 for a triple-butted 1986 Miyata 710 in basically perfect condition with a headset and bottom bracket, both of which needed replacing. It had been built up at one point, but not ridden much and had been very carefully disassembled. Miyata's kind of badass because I think they used their own high-quality, proprietary tubing. They knew how to make it because the founder of the company worked as a gunsmith for years, so he knew how to bore out the tubes.

My frame's previous owner must have hung it on a wall or something, because when I got it, it looked brand new. I've put more scratches in the paint in the year and a half or so that I've been riding it than it picked up in the 21 years or so before I owned it. Oh well. It rides great, though, and I think if you could talk those frames down to around $150-200 (since they're brand new, never built up) they'd be worth it. I love mine. It's setup right now as a fast/fair weather commuter (since we have so much fair weather in Santa Cruz), but I think once I finish my utility bike, it's going to get full Ultegra and become a dedicated fast bike.

i've never even heard of people triple butting their frames .. i thought it would have been a great buy.. but i guess not.

Triple butting is awesome. My frame is pretty light for what it is (upper-mid-range mass produced steel), it has oversized (for 1986) tubes and beefy ass seat stays. It's stiff and comfy and has a nice road geometry. Road bikes on the road ftw.

You should ask him for pics and also what frame it is....it sounds like it could be a Team Miyata road frame, which would be about right for $290 if it is NOS. There is an ebay seller who has a couple in his ebay store and he wants $800 for them. It is a ridiculous price but they were excellent frames back in their time. Miyata created their own tubes and they were very good at it.

Auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/NOS-Miyata-Team-Road-Frame-and-Fork-58-cm_W0QQitemZ270226353546QQihZ017QQcategoryZ98084QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638 Q2em118Q2el1247

http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/coronadelmar/Miyata_Team_Blue-White_54cm_01.JPG

I love my Miyata 310, rides like a dream.

You should ask him for pics and also what frame it is....it sounds like it could be a Team Miyata road frame, which would be about right for $290 if it is NOS. There is an ebay seller who has a couple in his ebay store and he wants $800 for them. It is a ridiculous price but they were excellent frames back in their time. Miyata created their own tubes and they were very good at it.

Auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/NOS-Miyata-Team-Road-Frame-and-Fork-58-cm_W0QQitemZ270226353546QQihZ017QQcategoryZ98084QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638 Q2em118Q2el1247

http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/coronadelmar/Miyata_Team_Blue-White_54cm_01.JPG

Oh, yeah! If it's a Miyata Team frame, NOS, it's probably worth $250-$350 on Max's Official Scale of Value (You know, the ol' MOSoV). Those are sweet. A friend of mine had one (too big for me) that he sold to buy a Steamroller. I couldn't believe him.