Touring - 80's Miyata Adventure

hi,

i am looking for a touring bike (or frame) and have been scoping the streets for some nice ones. one bike which caught my eye was the Miyata "Adventure" . It seems similar to to the 610 or 1000 US models - it has contrast headtube, canti brakes, and vertical dropouts, but it appears to be the Euro version - i live in Berlin BTW. anyone have information about the european touring models from miyata? a google search turned up nothing except the newer "adventure" touring models, which are not what i am looking for.

i'll look for more pictures later, but for now here is one of the top tube decal.

cheers.

You might find it here:

http://www.miyatacatalogs.com/

it probably has similar specs to the 1000 and 610 so I'd say go for it. Unless you are tall and need a big frame, I do not think 1980s touring bikes are well suited to loaded self supported touring for large folks... I would ride a 62cm frame (in fact I toured on one) and it was a big wet noodle... yuck...

well, the bike isn't for sale though i wish it were ;) i am just looking for a similar model. i like the contrast headtube and half chrome fork.
i had a look at all the 80s catalogs at that site, but saw nothing similar.

here are more pics.

it probably has similar specs to the 1000 and 610 so I'd say go for it. Unless you are tall and need a big frame, I do not think 1980s touring bikes are well suited to loaded self supported touring for large folks... I would ride a 62cm frame (in fact I toured on one) and it was a big wet noodle... yuck...
Are you just talking about Miyata or in general?

"In General" the factory 48 spoke back wheel on a Tandem hub on my 84 Fuji TIII says otherwise. ;)
http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=108717&d=1245558276 (http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=108717&d=1245558276)

Are you just talking about Miyata or in general?

I'm talking about lugged 1980s and earlier touring bike in general. I find the too flexy for fully loaded touring, too much BB sway for one and the other it the stear/head tube. The handlebars always felt a little unsure of themselves. Going to a 1-1/8" threadless system has been great for me. My friend reports similar characteristics when touring on his 62cm miyata 1000. My particular experience was on a 62cm nishikii international.

The European models often varied widely from North America. Knowing the serial number would allow me to accurately determine the year but the features points towards 1986.

The frame appears mid-range. The tubing decal indicates an FM-2 CrMo triple butted main frame. Miyata had a lighter FM-1 tubeset for higher end models. The forks are lower grade HM-2 MmMo as are probably the stays.

These frames appear to be a modified gran touring geometry with a shorter top tube designed for upright handlebars. Otherwise they were outfitted like grand tourers with racks front and back, lighting systems and fenders.

Components appear to be a mix of mid and upper end. I suspect eh rear derailleur is a relacement just as the brakes obviously are. I wish I could say more but I'm not very knowledgeable on the European models.

I'm talking about lugged 1980s and earlier touring bike in general. I find the too flexy for fully loaded touring, too much BB sway for one and the other it the stear/head tube. The handlebars always felt a little unsure of themselves. Going to a 1-1/8" threadless system has been great for me. My friend reports similar characteristics when touring on his 62cm miyata 1000. My particular experience was on a 62cm nishikii international.

I haven't really loaded the Fuji yet so I truthfully can't comment on how it feels with a full loaded. It was a recent neighbors garage sale find for $8. :D Unloaded it feels as solid as my T700's when cornering hard but the steel does seem to soak up some of the transmitted road surface. It doesn't feel as "sporty" as the T700's as a result but looking at travel times over my typical commute they are about equal. Listed dry weight is within a pound. I am writing that off to the old Steel vs Aluminum debates. I have not noticed much frame flex in it at all but as you point out loaded verses unload are different.

I did some research on the 80's Fuji's and they seemed to be more concerned with weight of riders as the size when up then most manufactures. For instance: most manufactures seemed to stick with 36 spoke wheels front and rear on their touring bikes. That was what was on the Miyata 610 I had as well as the 84 trek 520. Fuji however was running a 40 spoke rear in the 80's. When you jumped up to the 63CM like mine the 48spoke rear was a factory option wheel. I must say that these wheel are original to the bike and whoever had this bike before was doing loaded touring on it. it has plenty of scrapes on it where racks were mounted. It still has some of the truest wheels of any of the bikes I have right now.

... I did some research on the 80's Fuji's and they seemed to be more concerned with weight of riders as the size when up then most manufactures. For instance: most manufactures seemed to stick with 36 spoke wheels front and rear on their touring bikes. That was what was on the Miyata 610 I had as well as the 84 trek 520. Fuji however was running a 40 spoke rear in the 80's...

Miyata was running a 40 spoke rear wheel on their Gran Touring model in the late 1970s and continued to use 40 spokes they switched to the model 1000 in the 1980s. The 610 was a lower model and the 36 spoke rear wheel was a cost concession.