Classic & Vintage - Today's Find - 1992 Bridgestone RB-2

Today on my normal thrift store run I picked up this

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x281/Dhorn33/bikes/bridgestonerb2rear.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x281/Dhorn33/bikes/bridgestonerb2.jpg

I believe it is a 1992 Bridgestone RB-2 56cm. It is in beautiful, original condition. It is a pretty sharp looking, lugged steel bike made it Japan under direction of Grant Peterson (Rivendell fame) using Ishiwata triple butted tubes and using a mid range Shimano drivetrain (Exage 400/500), Sugino crankset and Diacompe Blaze brakes. It has Araya 700c rims and some larger than normal semi-slick tires and a crappy suspension seat. I found this info online:
Read up on Bridgestone here - http://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgestone/index.html (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgestone/index.html)

So - since I have been searching for something to replace my 1992 650c wheeled Paramount PDG Series 7 I wonder if this may fit the bill? Is a 56cm frame too big for my 5'-7" frame and 30" inseam or is it doable?

I realize I could turn around and sell this bike - along with the other 2 that I have (1984 Bianchi Alloro, 1992 Paramount PDG Series 7 650c) and I could pick up a pretty darned nice ride I think. Hmm....

Score, score, score!!

Size is probably a little too big for you, but I would try it for sure. Worse comes to worse, clean it up, sell it for a nice profit, and that will fund your next bike.

I ride a 56 quite comfortably. Both my bikes are between 55-56. I'm ~5'8 and an inseam of ~31. I'd definitely give it a try.

I was pleasantly suprised to find out these Bridgestone's were somewhat desirable road bikes - and bummed that it wasn't a 54 cm. Damnit. I put my Bianchi on the block today and I will probably do some adjustments to the Bridgestone, put on my old ti Flite saddle, Speedplay pedals and a computer and take this one out for a 20-30 mile ride tonight to see how it fits. I think with my road shoes on it may actually not be too bad - but we shall see....

If it works out I will probably swap most of the 92 Shimano 600/Ultegra STI stuff to this bike and sell the 650c wheeled Paramount off on CL. I love the juggling of classic bikes - good times.

Am I nuts for thinking these Japanese lugged steel frames are nicer than the Italian Columbus Tretubi on the 84 Bianchi I am selling? Is that blasphemy?

Anyone else have any feedback on the RB-2?

You notice how high the stem is set on this thing right now? I will definitely look a little better with a proper seat and the stem at the correct level!

I ride a 56 quite comfortably. Both my bikes are between 55-56. I'm ~5'8 and an inseam of ~31. I'd definitely give it a try.

And this shows why it does not work to use overall height to fit bikes. I'm ~6' and wear 30" inseam pants. Tigerprawn has long legs relative ro his torso, I have a long torso relative to my leg length.

In any case a very nice thrift shop find.

And this shows why it does not work to use overall height to fit bikes. I'm ~6' and wear 30" inseam pants. Tigerprawn has long legs relative ro his torso, I have a long torso relative to my leg length.

In any case a very nice thrift shop find.

Your pants inseam is not the same as your bike inseam.

I am really hoping I can make this work - the 54cm frame that I have been riding has quite a bit of seatpost so I have to image this will equate to 1" less -and probaby a little top tube length? Hmm...
Sorry for the goofy lights, etc - I ride a lot at night. This is my 92 Paramount 650c wheeled bike that I have put about 1000 miles on so far that I am looking to replace....
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x281/Dhorn33/bikes/paramount.jpg

And this shows why it does not work to use overall height to fit bikes. I'm ~6' and wear 30" inseam pants. Tigerprawn has long legs relative ro his torso, I have a long torso relative to my leg length.

In any case a very nice thrift shop find.

Indeed. My actual inseam (not pants) measures ~31. Feet a few inches apart and measuring from the bottom of my foot up to my crotch.

Your point is still valid though. Height isn't always a determining factor and has more to do with torso and inseam

If you sell it, sell it to me......I've been jonesing for an RB1/2 in about that size (or a tad smaller) for quite a while. Just let me know a little bit ahead of time so I can choose a bank to rob....er, I mean, get a loan at :)

Tom

Out of curiosity, why are you looking to replace the Paramount?

Out of curiosity, why are you looking to replace the Paramount?


The only reason is that is has odd sized 650c wheels and that just bugs me! Tires are expensive and somewhat hard to find so I would very much prefer to have a standard 700c size. If I could find this exact bike with 700c wheels I would be all over it - and in fact I should have bought one I found a few weeks ago but I balked and missed out. In the meantime I have picked up the Bianchi and this Bridgestone so at the very least I can sell them all and start searching for my replacement. The issue I have had is that I really like riding the lugged steel bike with the brifters and these types of bikes very seldom, if ever, come across CL for a reasonable amount of money. (and I haven't stumbled on anything yet during my hunt!) If this Bridgestone ends up fitting me then I may swap the 600 stuff from the Paramount to this bike, put the lower end stuff from this on on it to sell. Some may think I am nuts - but I am pretty confident that I will get $350 for the Bianchi and similar money for the Paramount - even with the downtube shifters.

650c would be a deal-breaker for me too. Was wondering if it was that, or something else.

From the way you have the Paramount set up, I think there's a good chance that RB-2 will work for you.

I should know tomorrow if it fits and how it rides with the stock stuff on it. ;-)

I don't know. The setup on the Paramount suggests you could do with a larger frame but at the same time not only are you going to a larger frame but you are increasing the wheel size as well. You are a little smaller than me but have a similar inseam size and I could tell you right now that Bridgestone would be at the absolute peak of what I could ride and in fact would probably simply be too big for me.

My main bike is a 53cm Bleriot with 650B wheels so that Bridgestone would be a whole heckuva lot taller than that.

Also...those 650B wheels aren't original to the bike are they? Those Paramount Series all used 700C, correct? If so you could easily just get new rims put on and convert the wheels to 700C for not alot of money.

Damn. One of those on local craigslist for $600(!)

Also...those 650B wheels aren't original to the bike are they? Those Paramount Series all used 700C, correct? If so you could easily just get new rims put on and convert the wheels to 700C for not alot of money.

This bike came from the factory with 650c wheels on it - and you cannot convert a 650c bike to 700c because there is not nearly enough frame clearance. Hell - there isn't enough frame clearance to put 650cx28 tires on this thing! If it was that easy I would have done that a year ago....

Supposedly the 650c wheels were faster, lighter, etc - and they very well could be but it just looks wierd to me.

Yeah I just looked into the history on these and see that they are 650C triathlon wheels not 650B like I was reading it as (my mistake). Very interesting.

So the move up to 700C wheels will be even a bigger difference standover height-wise as 650C are the smallest "650" wheels out there. Especially with skinny tires like that. The frame is 2cm larger and the wheel difference is close to 10cm so you could be looking at a 4" difference in standover when all is said and done.

If you get a chance I would be curious to see how those measurements come out in the real world as things like differences in geometry will effect all of that.

I rode the Bridgestone 22 miles last night. Sweet bike - but definitely too big for me. I just couldn't get comfy on it. The real standover height was slightly more than 1" more than the 54cm Paramount and the top tube was about 1/2" longer too. I am sure it as partially the stem - but the cockpit was just too big for my build I think - especially considering I also had in my garage 2 perfect fitting 54cm road bikes. Anyway - I got a wild hair up my keyster last night and stripped it down to a frame/fork/headset/bottom bracket and put it on the block for sale. Sorry guys - but I needed the wheels and some other parts for another project. I also did the same to my Paramount - but because the 650c wheelsize I am selling it with the wheels, tires and tubes. My experience tells me that whomever buys these bikes will turn them into single speeders or fixies anyway since that has been the case on every single road bike I have sold for the past 2 years. If I can't sell them as is - I will probably put the Paramount together with the Exage 400/500 parts and the Diacompe Blaze brakes from this Bridgestone.

I now have a 1984 Bianchi Alloro that will have mostly Shimano 600 Ultegra stuff on it - blasphmemy to many I am sure but I wanted the brifters and the modernish brakes for now. I will keep all the original parts in a safe place just in case I later change my mind and sell it - or convert it back.

That just shows you how math makes no sense to me :)

650C wheels are 571mm and a 700c frame is 622mm. If they are both riding the same width tire that is a difference of 51mm. Since it is a round wheel only half of that would effect the height so that would be roughly 25mm or 2.5cm. Add to that the 2cm difference in frame height and convert over to inches and you get a 1.8" difference in standover.

So that is about right on with what you are saying the real world measurement is yet last night my math came up with a huge difference. I am just not that smart :)

Regardless it is good to hear you have a plan but I am still sad to see too fairly rare bikes getting stripped and parted out most likely to the single speed crowd.

Here is the Bridgestone frame as it sits today:

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x281/Dhorn33/bikes/Bridgestoneframe1.jpg

My wife thinks I am nuts and that I started some sort of bike factory in the garage. I call it a bike triangle! I wanted the 600 Ultegra stuff on a bike because I really like the brifters. Had the Bridgestone fit me better I would have transferred the 600 stuff from the Paramount to it - but it didn't. It was late at night when I got back from my test ride and as I said - I got a wild hair up my rear and started tearing things apart - until 4 am in fact. Here is my reasoning - the Paramount with 650 wheels is the oddball that I think will be the most challenging to sell for what I consider to be an acceptable price. This is also the nicest, lightest bike of the 3. I know I can sell the Bridgestone with a quality lugged steel frame to almost anyone looking to build a sweet bike so I decided to try that. I listed the Paramount as a frame/fork/wheels - but last night I started to install the Exage 400/500 and Diacompe Blaze parts on it to sell it as a complete bike with downtube shifters and 7 speeds (I swapped freehub bodies from the Paramount to my rider - now the Bianchi - so I could have 8 speeds on it). Anyway - the saga continues....

The RB-2 will be hard to turn into a single-speed or fixie because of the drop outs.

I agree with you one the brifters. They are addictive. Once you get used to them...

The RB-2 will be hard to turn into a single-speed or fixie because of the drop outs.


Not sure why you say that - this has semi horizontal dropouts like every other road bike that I have sold over the past couple years and every one of them was bought by someone planning to turn it into a single speed? Damned urban hipsters!

Not sure why you say that - this has semi horizontal dropouts like every other road bike that I have sold over the past couple years and every one of them was bought by someone planning to turn it into a single speed? Damned urban hipsters!

You can turn pretty much any bike into a fixed one but many with drop outs like yours might need a tensioner to work properly and lots of people feel that hurts the aesthetics. Horizontal is the absolute best way to go for a fixed conversion.

Update:
I sold the frame Saturday on Craigslist for $180 to a gentleman that planned to turn it into a single speed. I knew that would be the case....

You can turn pretty much any bike into a fixed one but many with drop outs like yours might need a tensioner to work properly and lots of people feel that hurts the aesthetics. Horizontal is the absolute best way to go for a fixed conversion.

Single speed with a tensioner - Yes. Put the idler on the bottom of the chain where it experiences no tension.
Fixed gear with a tensioner - No. Say goodbye to your tensioner, wheel, and face. There's force on both sides of the chain that no tensioner can handle.

FYI, so you don't try it. :)

Not sure why you say that - this has semi horizontal dropouts like every other road bike that I have sold over the past couple years and every one of them was bought by someone planning to turn it into a single speed? Damned urban hipsters!

I have an RB-2 frameset (hence the interest in this thread) and have built a couple of single-speeds, one of which was recently converted to a fixie.

The RB-2 has horizontal dropouts only if you stand the bike vertically on its ass... :)

Having said that, you can make a single-speed out of it as long as you use a tensioner. A fixie will not work: you don't have enough runway to tension the chain.

Anyway, congrats on selling the frameset.

Single speed with a tensioner - Yes. Put the idler on the bottom of the chain where it experiences no tension.
Fixed gear with a tensioner - No. Say goodbye to your tensioner, wheel, and face. There's force on both sides of the chain that no tensioner can handle.

FYI, so you don't try it. :)

I totally meant single speed not fixie but I get confused with the hipster talk :)

Yeah - I am ********. The dropouts are vertical but regardless -the guy that bought it will use a tensioner I guess.