PaintItCeleste

**CORRECTION 1985 Miyata 210**

Background
My wife recently began commuting to work, making a 8-10 mile round trip each day depending on the route she chose. Initially she was riding a Specialized Sirrus hybrid bike, her first adult bike. And while there's nothing wrong with this bike and racks could have been a simple addition, I have never built a bicycle up for her. Yet I've built several for myself, one for my mum, and even another friend. Also, we both agreed it would be neat to get her onto a bike with drop bars and integrated shifting. A real road bike. Also, we've begun exploring the idea of doing some weekend trips (I've been doing a lot of reading over on the touring forum). So I decided I would hunt for a solid touring frame to begin with.

Well the moment hit and a Miyata 210 Touring bicycle was listed on the local CL for $100. It was perfect. The sale went swimmingly. The seller was a very nice guy who, it turned out, owns a local restaurant I like. I didn't know much about Miyata before this bike, but I did some homework before purchasing it and based on others' experiences, these bikes are great machines. After getting my hands on this one, I fell in love with the craftsmanship. Very beautiful, understated elegance.

The Conundrum
Immediately, my mind is racing as I plan the build. The question becomes: OK, so how far do I get to go with this build? The conundrum is that I have built my mum a stellar bike (and the wife knows this). And even though she says "Don't worry about me, just make it work. It doesn't have to be amazing" we all know it has to be amazing. Who wants to be the guy who builds his mum and even a friend a great ride, then plays it safe on his own wife's bike?! NOT ME! Budget be damned.

Process and Product
Overall the bike was very clean for it's age. The serial begins with an M and thus my understanding is that this frame is from 1984*. I ran into a few bumps along the way and I will share them here.

• Narrow Cantilever Posts - The first inclination I had, once I had decided to splurge on this build, was to order Paul Components Touring Cantilever brakes (Polished...mmmmm). To my surprise, I discovered, and confirmed on postings here, that indeed the cantilever posts are closer together than more modern canti posts and thus, the Paul brakes simply wouldn't fit, no matter how angled one attempted to angle the pads. I ended up using the original Dia-compe brakes.
• 700c Conversion - The Miyata 210 is originally designed to run 27" wheels. I wanted 700c. Can't say I have a great reason other than it is familiar territory. Come to thinj of it, it's possible the combination of the 700c conversion and attempting to use the Paul brakes could have been why things didn't fit. Perhaps those brakes would have fit the 27" rim. I never tried.
• Cockpit - I really liked the randonneur bars that came original to the Miyata 210. I recently picked up a 1982 Univega Gran Tourismo as possibly my next project, also has these. While they look and feel great, their narrow dimensions don't leave a ton of room in the cockpit for other accoutrements. Adding cross levers only crowded things further, though the wife seems to love them.
• Fenders - I've not got a ton of experience with fenders. I went with the Velo Orange Zeppelin fenders. I found the fenders to be wider than the spacing of the rear stays nearest the BB as well as under the fork. Hardly a dealbreaker as all it needed was a little pinching to fit, but I find it worth noting again, that this bike has some narrow dimensions.
• Rear Rack and Bag - This was one of the most challenging aspect of the build. I was looking for rack with an integrated bag. The wife carries quite a bit to work so she needed something that had significant carrying capacity. Also, I wanted the flexibility for her to be able to simply "click" the bag on and off the rack. Many of the trunk bags seemed to have velcro this and that and having seen the integrated systems, it seemed like a no-brainer. To top the want-list off, for continuity, I became obsessed with the idea that the rack HAD to be silver. But all the integrated systems seemed to be black only. Enter Topeak Super Tourist DX rack with the Topeak MTX Trunk Bag DXP. This bag features a fair amount of space is expandable, and comes complete with pop-out side panniers on both sides. So far, it's a hit.

The bar tape is Fizik's Honey Brown. Seemed to be an inexpensive alternative to the Brooks tape (Okay, maybe I cut a couple corners!). She's not sure about the saddle just yet, though we both read about giving these Brooks saddles some time to break in. Time to just lay down the miles! We've had it out for a few rides and so far she is really loving it.

*As pointed out by revcp, it's likely this is a 1985 model. I need to have a look at the serial again, which is located beneath the cable guide on the BB shell. I can see the beginning of a letter, either an "M" or an "N", probably is an "N". Also it sounds like Triple Butted Tubing wasn't used until the 1985 model. Thank you, and others who noted this for the info!

Now some images. First, the before. I realize, it wasn't a bad looking bicycle at all, but what can I say, there are a lot of things I like about modernity!



And after!















Questions and input welcome!

jpaschall

Wonderful build! The STI's look seamless on it.

JReade

Just IMHO, I put the Cambium c17 on my touring/ commuter, and it was comfortable on day 1. Very good in the elements too.

PaintItCeleste

Thanks all, I'm very pleased. I forgot to mention: The ONLY seller, who carried the Super Tourist DX rack in silver, was a shop called Chain Reaction Cycles out of the UK. Good people, but I missed changing the shipping address (only saw the billing address, which was my current address). The shipping address was set to my old apartment. Fortunately, I'm in the same city so I ended up having to go through the landlord to get in touch with the new renters who then kindly worked with me to retrieve the package. Oi Ve. Haha

Did you get the "carved" model? Have you any idea how women feel about this saddle (Or are there any women that can weigh in on this?)

Clang

Whoops- now it's too nice to commute on! Better luck with your next build :]

3speedslow

You did that bike proud ! I hope your wife rolls a many miles on this. Kudos to her making the decision to commute !

Another milestone will be when she takes charge of further changes to the bike as she becomes a long time cyclist.

revcp 

Breat build. A couple years ago I bought a 210, same year, color and size, in even better condition (once I got all the garage grime off everything) for $15. I too built it up for my wife, but she's not so comfortable on drops. I sold it a few months ago for $200 to a young man who purchased it for his girlfriend. He was ecstatic. One of the better bang for the buck bikes around.

JReade

Nope, just the regular, sorry

SteveP223

Great job--the bike looks great!

bikemig 

It's always great finding an old, quality bike with a paint job in this good a shape. You did a first rate job on the build. Now you and your wife need to go touring.

The bag looks like a real winner. I may have to look into it for my commute as my commuting bike has a topeak rack.

How did you like the conversion to threadless? I have a trek 950 sitting in the build queue and I'm thinking of going drop bars and threadless on it.

badger_biker 

Excellent job PaintItCeleste! What quill adapter and stem did you use on it? Normally I don't particularly care for those on vintage but the polished look goes very nicely with your bike.

I picked up the same year Miyata 1000 this spring and am enjoying it. It rides much lighter than it actually is and I'm impressed with my first Miyata. The Topeak rack is a good choice and I did not know they were available in silver. I have a black one and the squared off back end tubes really helped stabilize my panniers and took care of a shimmy issue I had with a Blackburn rack with the angled tube.

PaintItCeleste

Thank you! The quill stem adapter and stem are both Velo Orange. They make some beautiful components. And I agree, I often see quill stem adapters used in more of a utilitarian manner, but when attempting to keep in the spirit of C&V bikes, you can't go wrong with these polished-finish components. I believe I was also considering offerings by Soma and Nitto, though both were far pricier!

oddjob2

Lots of bling, well done! You might tip the nose of the saddle down to make it dead level.

mstateglfr 

What stem, crank, and derailleurs did you use?



Beautiful build. The light blue and honey leather are a fantastic combo!

nayr497

Wow, that is a nice bike!

The Golden Boy 

It looks beautiful!

If I were to want to change anything- it would be to use toe clips that are a touch more elegant than the MTB ones. There was a guy who was selling the black resin Christophe clips for something like $9 a pop. Otherwise, the MKS stainless cages are OUTRAGEOUSLY cool.




There's nothing wrong with the clips you've got- they actually feel really comforting being in them.


I've found I don't really mind 27" wheels. Since I'd probably be going with tan wall Panaracer Paselas, the tire issue is moot- as Paselas come in 1 1/8 (28) and 1 1/4 (32) and the Loose Screws Sand Canyon tire is available in 1 3/8 (35).

One of the jewels of my collection, and I think I appreciate them more and more every day- a set of 40 spoke Phil Wood hubs on 27" Super Champion rims. Between the frame they're mounted to and the ride of those hubs/wheels... wow.

PaintItCeleste

We began that way and she felt it was uncomfortable so, after reading some other folks thoughts, some suggested raising the nose of the saddle a bit. So here we are. I have found my Brooks feels bit more comfortable with a bit of a tip of the nose but the back end does rise again so ultimately is looks level, in a hammock-y sort of way. Her discomfort could be this isn't the saddle for her, or that we just need more time breaking this thing in?

The stem is the Velo Orange quill stem adapter and their threadless 1 1/8" stem. The drivetrain is the Shimano Ultegra 6500 (6503). I recently began using the 105 5500 on a bike and found that I loved what it could do for what I paid. The Ultegra seems to be the same way in that it performs quite well and doesn't break the bank given it's age.

Wow, thanks for the recommendation. Those do look cool! Actually the current cages are proving to possibly be a bit narrow. Admittedly, they were, after all, something of an after-thought. I will definitely have a look at those. As far as the 27" wheels, I did pay notice to the fact that, as other members have stated here, they are now quite a few options for 27" wheels, and thus, attempting to get creative with a build, and maintain the classic wheelset isn't as challenging. I wasn't looking to have a wheelset specifically built because I can't build wheels (yet) and I was working within some confines of a budget. Upgrading the drivetrain to 9-speed necessitated new wheels. 700c Shimano 9-speed compatible wheelsets are in ready supply!

daf1009

A very gorgeous build...and...I have to say...you did the right thing in "blinging" it out for the wife...you know the adage of "happy wife, happy life!"...and you proved it here...

You took a nice, fairly utilitarian bike and really made it shine! The color combination is outstanding! Cockpit is great, the cable housings are nice...even the tires are RIGHT THERE! Very cool...great job!

The Golden Boy 

This is the post that started me on the stainless rod cages:


I got the King Cage models- they're priced at like $60- I got them on clearance for $20, which is what the MKS versions run.

As far as pedals... I'm using old fashioned SP-11 pedals, and I've also got a couple of pairs of SP-155 pedals- great platforms.




These are from an older post of mine:

revcp 

Just looked at the pics again. The "Triple Butted" sticker on the downtube doesn't make sense. The 1984 had plain straight tubing. You have a 1985.

PaintItCeleste

You know, that is very possible. I replaced the bottom bracket cable guide after doing the initial cleaning and had it in my head that it was an M. And I am only able to see part of the serial, just the first angle of either an "M" or an "N" (N making this a 1985, yes?) It's quite possible I have mis-remembered the serial.

billytwosheds 

Very nice build! Loving the blue and honey brown combination.

To add to others' comments, I'd grab some black electrical tape and cover up the fizik tape. Details details details...

Either way, thanks for sharing!

nlerner

Beautiful build and great photos, too.

simmonsgc

Lovely. And it's an 1985. I have a 1985 in 'sandstone' and always wished it was this color. According to catalogs I've seen, 1984 model had sidepulls. I think for the Two-Ten, this is the year to have. Good for you! Beautiful.

For comparison sake, here's my 85 in Sandstone, instead of your lovely "Zodiac Blue." Not as pretty as your bike, but perhaps informative.

USAZorro

Very beautiful build.

As a former owner of a 210 of the same year and color, I'll offer a couple observations:

If you are used to riding a quicker bike on group rides, a 210 will require a bit of adjustment. It is a very sure footed and stable-handling bike, but it is neither quick, nor nimble. As I was wanting a randonneuring bike, rather than a touring bike, and had been regularly riding a Bob Jackson with a much shorter wheel base, I decided to pass the 210 along. With all the love and care you've put into it, hopefully this will suit your wife.

Women's versions of saddles always are shorter than men's. However, given that this bicycle is a bit taller, I would presume that your wife does not have a petite build. It makes me wonder if a saddle without the "women's" designation might suit her better.

You've done a marvellous job making this bike very appealing. Hope you two spend many happy days riding together.