Classic & Vintage - Shimano 600 Arabesque

I saw a remark about a Shimano 600 "Arabesque" while looking at some older posts. The little light bulb went on. I went and rummaged through the take off bin and found this. Is this considered the "Arabesque"? It came off a Takara 12 speed tourer I picked up at the recycling center.

That's the one! My favorite is the down tube shift levers that are part of the set.

Is there anything special about this group? I'm running a set on my Lotus.

Don't know if there is anything special about it, but it is fancy lookin'. The bike it came from (crashed) had the 600 group. The brake calipers are on the Takara 10 (now 14) speed, the brake levers are on the Peugeot UO8, the shift levers are on the Ted Williams-Puch, the rear hub is on the Schwinn World Sport. The crank set is on the shelf with the derailers. A very useful wreck!

I guess this stuff was a notch or two down from the "Duya Race" group. The lower pivot is stamped aluminum rather than cast. The cage spring housing is plastic and cracked on this one. I used it on the Takara for a while but switched back to SunTour.

I believe they were 1 step down from Dura Ace. Not real special but much more ornate than the later Shimano 600 stuff. They were original equipment on my 78 Motobecane Grand Jubile & looks good with the Nervex lugs. Don

i have a shogun 400 frame built up with that same full 600 group. parts came of a salvaged wrecked c.itoh (kabuki) submariner. the cranks are beautiful, and the rear hub is an anodized black dura-ace. unfortunately there was no front wheel with it, so therefore no matching front hub :( ill snap some pics of the 600 stuff tomorrow...

I remeber these derailleurs, and how they looked very much like Campagnolo derailleurs of the same time.

I landed a similar groupo a while back on eBay. Shifters, front and rear derailers. Used them on an old Nishiki I restored for my daughter, and it turned out totally awesome! I just loved the looks of them, and it is really great to keep them in the family!!