Kayakwrabit

I have a Concord Freedom SIS, brought new circa 1991 from a small town Ohio bike shop for around $300. I had the bike serviced at bike shops and this Concord has baffled all of the shop owners as it does not appear to be a true Concord. I am thinking of giving the bike to my eight year old daughter, as she wants a road bike. Is this bike too nice for her first road bike or not worth upgrading. The bike has around 3,000 miles and rides like new and looks like new. (It was my first and only road bike, I have MS and no longer ride).

After much research, I think the bike may be a Kuhawara made Concord labeled bike. Is there anyway to identify the Kuhawara made Concords?

Here are the details:
Frame: Tange 900/double butted/4130 Chromoly
Shifters/front/rear derailer: Shimano SIS
Chainrings: Shimano Biopace
Hubs: Says "Sealed"
Rims: Araya 27 1/4"
Seat Stem bolt: Sugino

Many years ago I replaced the off name parts with a little better parts:
Seat post: American Classic
Handbars: Modolo Xtenos
Pedals: RC clipped
Brakes: Forte

Thanks for the help.

FastJake

Post some pictures and we can better evaluate the bike. Tange butted chromoly is good stuff but your component descriptions are pretty vauge.

Sounds like a good bike for your daughter, if it fits. Not many 8 year olds are as tall as me but if it fits her go for it. IMO it's always nice to keep things like this in the family.

wrk101

By 1991, I would bet it was made in Taiwan, perhaps by Giant, just as Nishiki did during that time. Marketing brands, like Concord, were free to change manufacturers as the economics dictated.

There were a myriad of marketing brands back then: Centurion, Nishiki, Lotus, Univega to name just a few.

Google Giant serial numbers, Giant made bikes for Schwinn and others still maintained Giant serial numbers.

Kayakwrabit

Thanks for the reply. Sorry about the blur.

I looked a little more at the components. The hubs are Joytech, and the Shimano components say no more than Shimano SIS (no 105, etc.).

Kayakwrabit

More pics of the drive train....for laughs I threw in a pic of the other optional bike I will not be giving her! I picked it up for $13 bucks at a garage sale ! The Miyata is way to fast and twitchy for an eight year old!

.

FastJake

Those look a lot like the Shimano "Light Action" components of a few years previous which is what I suspected. Nothing special/valuable/etc but it looks like a very good rider in great condition.

However, if you are riding both bikes with the saddles adjusted as shown in the pictures either you have the saddles way too low or both of those bikes are much too large for you.

Kayakwrabit

Still more confusion, I googled the serial numbers, nothing!

Partial Serial number: DS71 (follow by six numbers) on the seat tube, 1 inch from the bottom lug, DM on the downtube 1 inch up from the bottom lug.

Kayakwrabit

Thanks a lot for your info. Yes, the seats are down, I have them on a bike rack (by the frame) and have to put the seats down on both so I can fit them (with another bike, a Miyata 310) in the garage. I haven't ridden in 4 plus years. I just keep them greased to keep the rust off. I checked the serial numbers for the Concord on google - nothing yet.
Thanks again.

FastJake

To answer your original question which I failed to do in the previous post, I wouldn't consider this "too nice" for a first road bike. It seems just right. I would not bother upgrading parts as they seem to be about right, but of course it is worthwhile to do a tuneup with new cables, housing, bar tape, etc.

The best upgrades for a bike like this are a nice saddle and clipless pedals. Both of which can be transferred to another bike later on. My favorite saddle has probably been on 5 bikes I've owned.

Kayakwrabit

Exactly! I became ill suddenly and I parked the bike. I have the original clipless pedals, and a really nice set of Shimano brake levers in a box. I am going to look for a seat. There are cheaper department store road bikes out there for $200-300, which I thought about. But if she fits, I see no reason to waste this ride. It was problem free, even with the lower end components for 3,000 odd miles (per the last reading on my computer). I planned on the Miyata 710 being a project bike, but I may sell it - the bike is pure twitchy..and by the time she has enough experience for it she probably wont want it. Is there a market for the Miyata 710's?

FastJake

Oh yeah, absolutely. I'm not a Miyata expert but if you post what the components are and the frame tubing I could give an estimate on value. It looks to be in very good condition from the one photo. It's worth a lot more than $13! At least 10 times that amount for sure.