Narhay

I've seen a few of these on craigslist over the years but never managed to get one as a flip until about a month ago. I finally finished with it this evening and took it for a short spin. It was covered in filth but mechanically was really quite excellent once it had been all cleaned up.

Components:
Cr-mo frame, 19.5"
Suntour VX front and rear derailleur
Sugino Super Maxy crankset with 40/52 chainrings and red fill
Atom freewheel
Suzue hub wheels, araya 700c rims, very nice Vittoria Rubino 700c x 25 rear, 700c x 23 front tires.
Dia Compe G brake calipers
Dia Compe brake levers
Slightly flared in the drops randonneur handlebars
SR Laprade blue filled fluted seatpost
Avocet Touring WI saddle
Fenders
Suntour power downtube shifters
Quill pedals with toe clips

Before:

Narhay

After:

gugie 

Nicely done, another C&V save.

cyclotoine

lovely. these are great rides, but PLEASE tilt the saddle so the nose is slightly up.

Narhay

On the list when I go back out to the garage...I tried riding it the way the saddle was and...well it wasn't comfortable.

Prowler 

Nice bike, @Narhay. I'm also a fan. I obtained mine about 2 years ago, did a frame up overhaul, touched up a few nicks and put er back on the road. I've probably logged 1000 miles since then and really enjoy it. You may see that mine has the USA head badge which is different from your decal. Does that mean yours was built for the Canadian market? My Sugino cranks have black fill on the arms which matches the Suntour Cyclone RD nicely. I painted the flutes on the seat post to match the saddle and tape. I added a few other bling bits of yellow (stem bolt hole, BB spindle ends, brake bolt ends) just for the ellofit. I think the yellow picks up on the yellow/gold in the decals nicely too.

Anyway, I think these are great bikes. Mine is a 1980 for the US market - Tange 2 DB mains and straight blades and stays. Nice components and it rides great. I'd like to compare this ride to a Raleigh SuperCourse some time. I see that the SC gets lots of love but I suspect that the Nishiki Int'l is just as good or even better (given the component mix on them). There, that should draw some flames. These bikes almost justify their own "Ultimate Nishiki International" thread. Oh, maybe not.......

wrk101

Nice work. I've flipped a ton of them, they are pretty common around here. I have a couple in the project queue right now. Once I get through the entire moving/relocating process, I will be able to get back to wrenching on bikes.

Narhay

That looks really quite elegant. As I was going through it I was admiring some of the details like the lug lining and lugs themselves. The bike does have a Canadian bike shop sticker on it so it may have some differences for the Canadian market....I also have the gold bands on the seat tube.

I've only ever had two nishikis but their paint has always been a notch or two above other bikes. Maybe Ive just been lucky with the ones I've gotten. .

Thanks @wrk101. Is your new place better for flipping? You should post more of your flips here...we need more pictures of bikes.

cyclotoine

Very Nice. Although in spec the Nishiki is more comparable to the Super Course I'd say it is more comparable to the Raleigh International in geometry and intended use. The step up would be the continental which would be more on par with the Raleigh International in terms of quality. These two models did morph into fully loaded touring bikes in the early 1980s with cantilever brakes, but they were always touring bikes. I had a 1984 continental last year and sold it. It was hard to sell such a nice bike, but I just have more than is reasonable and don't really do much sport touring. For full loaded touring these old tours just don't cut it, but they make excellent distance and light touring machines.

arex

That's a beautiful bike.