Classic & Vintage - Sekai questions

I saw a Sekai it had Suntour thumb shifters and Dia -Comp brakes. The tires appeared to be 26" and it has a triple crank. The front forks are all chrome. Any thoughts what this might be. My search for Sekai bikes don't show any with the 26" tires. It may have been modified.

thanks

It sounds like an ATB, possibly with a replacement fork. Sekai was a full range manufacturer so the level of model could be anything from entry level to high end. We'll need pics and brands with model names for the tubing and major components to tell you anything more.

Hopefully, I will be able to get a look at again later tonight. I will let you know what I find out.

Is this a find or not? I don’t know the year of the bike, here is the information I have.
Sekai Sasquatch, designed by Norco
Tange No. 5 Cro-Moly Butted Tubes
Found front fork Tange Falcon
Sun Tour shifter
Front and Back DR Suntour Mountech
Crank Sugino
18 speed
Dia-Compe Brakes
Araya 26 X 1.75 rims
Serial # 4A9528

Has some rust spots on frame, needs new seat, tires, tubes and cables. I would like to build it up into a touring bike because it has the attachments for racks.
I'll try to add photos later, if you like. My camera battery died so I have to wait to down load the photos.

OK, it's a 1984 model. The main tubes are plain gauge CrMo, the stays and forks are probably hi-tensile. You don't provide the models of the components but I know from the 1984 specs what they are and I used to ride a Norco Sasquatch from the same period, so I'm pretty familiar with the bicycle. Basically, it's a low mid-range ATB for the era and it's one of the old school designs, with real long wheelbase and lots of clearance. A nice enough bicycle in its day but nothing special and quite outdated by to-day's standards. FYI, original cost $299 US.

Thanks. Do you think it would hold up as a touring bike. I would like to add a rack and such. I figure if I like touring I can always upgrade the bike later, and transfer the new rack and whatever to the new bike.

Definitely tough enough for touring.

Here are some photos
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f44/lastimpressions/IMG_7402.jpg

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f44/lastimpressions/IMG_7403.jpg

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f44/lastimpressions/IMG_7404.jpg

That definitely is a replacement fork, so it has probably been in a front end collision. I'd be checking the tubes just behind the head lugs for signs of damage. Look for cracked paint on the top of the tubes and wrinkles in the tubing under the tubes. If you're really lucky, sometimes the forks bend without affecting the tframe or front wheel. If the paint is cranked or chipped, but there are no wrinkles, you're still OK. If the tubing is wrinkled, they have been weakend and may fail in the future. Good luck! I've got my fingers crossed for you.

Here's what the Yellow Jersey says about their heritage (http://www.yellowjersey.org/sekai.html)

Very intersting, but capable of being misread. Sekai, as a bicycle brand survived into the 1990s, though it is possible that the brand name may have bought by another company, circa 1986, like what happened with Schwinn. Also, while Miki and Yamaguchi did indeed make frames for Sekai, they were also sourced from other manufacturers. In this particular case, the OP's bicycle has the serial number format used by Matsu****a on it's National and Panasonic brand bicycles.

If you are going to use it as a touring bike, I would dump the handlebar/stem combo. I had one just like it on a Huffy. It was very heavy, and has no adjustment on the handlebars. You are going to get real tired of one position for your hands, and no adjustment.

You would be much better off with a Nashbar trekking bar, and the appropriate quill stem. It would be much lighter, and infinitely more adjustable.

I did a recent "light" tour on my Trek 950. It worked well.