Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Guess who got a new bike?

If you guess ME, you would be half right. I found a beautiful 80's lugged steel celeste and chrome Miyata Pro frame on craigslist for 50 bucks, and will have it dropped off at my apartment on Sunday morning. Apparently this frame was Miyata's second tier road frame in the 80s. But really, I just thought it was pretty cool looking. Not sure if it's the original paint, as I can't seem to find any reference to a Pro-Miyata in this color scheme, but the chrome portions seem to be consistant with what I did find in the old Miyata catalogs. I just skimmed so maybe I missed it.

Pictures kind of suck, but here you go:

http://images.craigslist.org/3o23p93l5ZZZZZZZZZ94u9258fc97744c12ee.jpg

The frame was advertised as a good for a fixie project, but I'm torn on whether to build a fixed gear or a go fast(ish) road bike. I love my LHT, but I would like something lighter and more lively as a complement to it. I'm leaning towards the road build, using a mixture of NOS or lightly used 9 speed 105 and Ultegra bits. A fixed gear or single speed would probably be easier and cheaper to build, but who knows.

I do have some questions. Should I expect any problems with using 105 or Ultegra components? In particular I was curious about the cranks and chain rings. Also, any good sources for finding New Old Stock components other than perhaps eBay?

Also, what do you guys think, if I do build it up geared should I go brifters or downtube/bar ends. I have bar ends on my LHT and like them a lot, but I wouldn't mind giving this brifter hub-bub a try. Used shifters tend to be in rough shape and new brifters are fairly expensive.

Sweet frame! It looks like it would be awesome with whatever components would make you happy. Just go for it and don't look back.

Congrats on the great find! Can't help with the choice of components as I have no clue, but go with what you want, and I am sure you will like the end results.

I've had good luck with buying NOS from Harris Cyclery. Other than that...

Nice score, or more like a steal for that price.

I would think twice about the fixed idea. Your rear drop outs do not appear to be horizontal, which is the prefered route to go with fixed.

There is nothning wrong with mixing your 105 and Ultegra stuff. Heck, some new bikes come mixed. The one consideration you have is the rear drop out spacing and if it is 126mm or 130mm. If it is 126, it was designed for up to a 7 speed and freewheel. If it is 130 it was built to take a freehub and 8, 9, or 10 speed. Don't despair though, you can either have the rear drops cold set, or do it yourself if you fel up to it, or you can just manually spread the rear drops when you put the 130 wheel on. You are only spreading 2mm per side and it won't hurt anythng.

You would love the brifters on a classic frame. It's actually a fairly common thing, even over on the C&V forum. I have a Centurion Ironman and a nice Italian Rossin both of which will be sporting brifters. Well, if I ever stop running into irritating little road blocks like needing seat tubes reamed and other lovely discoveries like that. That being said, I have two bikes with barends and love both of those too.

Nice score, or more like a steal for that price.

I would think twice about the fixed idea. Your rear drop outs do not appear to be horizontal, which is the prefered route to go with fixed.

There is nothning wrong with mixing your 105 and Ultegra stuff. Heck, some new bikes come mixed. The one consideration you have is the rear drop out spacing and if it is 126mm or 130mm. If it is 126, it was designed for up to a 7 speed and freewheel. If it is 130 it was built to take a freehub and 8, 9, or 10 speed. Don't despair though, you can either have the rear drops cold set, or do it yourself if you fel up to it, or you can just manually spread the rear drops when you put the 130 wheel on. You are only spreading 2mm per side and it won't hurt anythng.

You would love the brifters on a classic frame. It's actually a fairly common thing, even over on the C&V forum. I have a Centurion Ironman and a nice Italian Rossin both of which will be sporting brifters. Well, if I ever stop running into irritating little road blocks like needing seat tubes reamed and other lovely discoveries like that. That being said, I have two bikes with barends and love both of those too.

I had a closer look at the pic then you did ( I love Firefox's zoom feature :D ) The drop outs on his frame actually are horizontal, so fixed shouldn't be an issue. What could be an issue though with 105 and Ultegra is that lineup of the RD and wheel are much more critical on indexed shift systems then friction shift systems, which is why manufacturers moved to vertical dropouts. I also think that older frames look better with downtube or bar end shifters. Actually I kinda wonder, brifters with all the cables coming out of them, kinda look weird anyway, would be a lot nicer if they could route the shifter cable down through the hoods and along the bars like they can the brake cables now and make the bars look nice and clean.

I was actually curious to know how the 105/Ultegra components would hold up under a the stress of a clyde. I notice Shimano trumpeting their "Hollowtech II" 105 cranks as being lighter and stiffer than their (presumably) solid cranks of last generation, but despite the marketing, the idea of a hollow crank arm makes me a bit uncomfortable. Just wondering whether or not my concerns are unfounded.

I'm not certain, but I am thinking about passing on the brifters. The things are just so damned expensive! Although it does look like I could rehab a roughed up pair on the cheap with new hoods and faceplates, so who knows. I have to admit, the no frills-no fuss nature of barcons really plays to my conservative side!

Regardless, I'm really excited to build this up. Should be fun.

I was actually curious to know how the 105/Ultegra components would hold up under a the stress of a clyde. I notice Shimano trumpeting their "Hollowtech II" 105 cranks as being lighter and stiffer than their (presumably) solid cranks of last generation, but despite the marketing, the idea of a hollow crank arm makes me a bit uncomfortable. Just wondering whether or not my concerns are unfounded.

I'm not certain, but I am thinking about passing on the brifters. The things are just so damned expensive! Although it does look like I could rehab a roughed up pair on the cheap with new hoods and faceplates, so who knows. I have to admit, the no frills-no fuss nature of barcons really plays to my conservative side!

Regardless, I'm really excited to build this up. Should be fun.

The problem with brifters is that they contain all kinds of tiny precision parts, and that dirt and gunk can get in there and damage those parts, so a banged up pair might not work properly. A bar end or downtube shifter has very few parts so you can put it in friction mode and continue on, then field repair it at the end of the day, which is why they are popular with touring cyclists.

Well, I got it. It's more of a light blue than a mint green. The paint is pretty rough in some areas, but over all not terrible. I found out from T-Mar in the C/V forum that this is a MX-T, which was third from the top in the 70s, and not an 80s Pro-Miyata. The seat tube says "promodel", which is what the seller listed on craigslist, which is where the confusion came from.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3351/3496886259_52528fa714.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mesasone/3496886259/)

Not really sure how you mount the breaks on this thing...