dmds

I just recently acquired a Nishiki Olympic Tri-A and was wondering if anyone knows possibly what year it was from. Any help would be appreciated. Can't wait to clean it up and enjoy it.

Here's some info

Serial Number: SJ90124 (listed under the bottom bracket)
Components: Shimano Exage 300 ex 14 speed
Frame: listed as "3 tubes Chro-moly" on seat tube (any idea if it's tange or ???)
Wheels: Front 700c, sealed hub on alloy araya rim. Rear 700c, sealed Maillard 500 hub on matrix titan rim (says trek bicycle co on a sticker)

here are some pics (camera phone sorry)

wrk101

Rear wheel is not original, who knows if the front is either. Just look up the date codes on any components you think are original. Stem and seatpost often will be dated as well.

That's generic cromoly tubing, could be made by anyone. A lot of bike companies used unbranded tubing, typically on lower level bikes (still good models).

Roger M

I know this bike probably doesnt fit in here... but I'll post it up anyhow, in hopes of getting some help to ID it.

Serial Number: G 0586



It's a Pueblo with 24" wheels. It seems odd though, that the frame sizing is a bit large for a kid. My 9 year old daughter can ride it, but its a somewhat of a stretch for her legs. Her and her mom have taken a liking to this one since we got it last weekend(probably due to the basket) I haven't found any info on it yet. The only Pueblos that I have seen online, have 26" wheels. I am guessing it to be late 80s?

wrk101

OK, my fourth 1973 Nishiki International, in deplorable shape. Same blue as my two above, but really, really rough. Right now, it is destined to become a donor bike, I'll save the frameset and give it a rust treatment. Maybe someday it will come back to life.

WigglyFace

So I found a Nishiki next to a dumpster near my apartment about 2 years ago and have since fixed it up, replacing the pedals, rims, tires and seat, as well as some cosmetic fixes like changing the bar tape etc. The SN stamped under the crank is KS346212, and a winged W is also stamped underneath the SN. The really strange part about this bike is the crank itself. It has a free gear in it, so it free spins when coasting or backpedaling. The rear wheel that was on the bike when I found it also had a free axle, though it was heavily damaged and also probably not the original.

I haven't been able to find anything about free cranks on these bikes, either online or at the shops that I frequent and was wondering if this was a standard part of Nishiki bikes when this was made (from the OP in this thread I'm guessing that its a pre-1975, though not by much). Any help would be appreciated.

/edit: Also, the paint was damaged enough that the only legible words on it were "Nishiki" and "Japan", so I don't even know which model it is.

H_C

I think I have a 1976 International touring bike. I'm not sure because the previous owner removed the tape/paint where the model would be...

Serial Number: KF15715
My additions: new grip tape, brake hoods (a pain to install), brake pads, tires, front/rear lights, 2 bottle holders, and a double kickstand. Other than what I added to the bike, its entirely stock.

T-Mar

Not a Landau. Almost certainly an International.

H_C

Thanks for the clarification!

missburr

I don't have pictures of it yet, but she's beautiful!! She's a white, cruiser style. The serial number is KS311671 so i'm guessing pre-1975 USA built?

missburr

oh yeah, i paid $60 for it

vile1

Well, after a bike thief took off with my Fuji Finest right outside of my class, I picked up this GORGEOUS (to me) Nishiki Olympic 12!
Needs a chain and tubes, but should be golden by this weekend, can't WAIT to ride her!

Serial Number is: WG05335 Which makes it a 1987.

(Excuse the crappy cellphone pic)

dtoman

I have just started riding a Nishiki after my Raleigh Grand Prix finally wore out. Maybe you can help me in finding out the history of my bike. It is a Custom Sport with Handcrafted by Kawamara painted on it. Seatpost has champion no.5 chrome molyboen steel, stainless p.g. tubes tange industries ltd. Bottom bracket has KC 13267 and below that a W. Thanks for your time.

dtoman

MrWigley

Hi T-Mar,
I just purchased a 52cm Nishiki frame from Craigslist and was a little puzzled by the serial number. I have another Nishiki, a 1977 International with a serial of KG04290 that matched your database but this new frame has a weird serial layout. It doesn't match your description at all, the serial is S011B102. The frame has been sanded down by the previous guy so the serial is hard to read and there are no stickers or other distinguishing marks to point to what it is. The only thing left that says Nishiki is the head badge and it is riveted on and does not look like it's been replaced because the rivets are old. Do you or anyone else know what to make of this frame?

Thanks,
Shane

T-Mar

I could use some more data and pics. Is there any chrome on the fork tips? Are there any other brazed-on fittings, other than the rear derailleur cable stop? A closer pic of the head badge would be be appreciated, along with a picture of the seat lug and an overall pic of the frame.

wrk101

Serial mystery sure looks like a early to mid 1970s bike to me.

Any remnants of down tube decals?

I have found date codes on the fork steering tube on Nishikis.

See the one below, "2K". It is off of a 1973 Nishiki International. I am guessing that the K stands for either October or November (a lot of companies skipped "I") and the "2" stands for 1972.

T-Mar

Probably, but it could be as late as early 1980s.

tk1971

Nishiki Prestige:

- CR-Mo seamless tubing & CR-Mo steel fork blade. Tange 2, double butted tubes
- Bar: JIII KUSUKI on one side and WIN PISTA Japan on the other
- Race/Sport Geometry sticker
- Sugino VP Crankset with 52T & 42T
- Fr and Rr derailleurs are Suntour Cyclone
- 6 gear cassette 13T - 26T
- Dia Compe brakes with a "G" stamped on them
- Front and rear hubs are SE SANSIN Japan with "3C" stamped on the front hub and "BG" on the rear hub
- Both rims are Araya 700C
- Brake levers have AC250G on them
- Bottom of the BB has: WE 09 CAL 0P P0193770

MrWigley

These are a few more pictures to see if someone can figure this frame out. The fork tips had chrome on the tips but the previous guy sanded them down so it's hard to tell but there is a definite band where the paint once stopped. The only other brazed on fittings are the shifter stop and derailleur stops under the downtube which I took pictures of also. The rear dropouts are thinner pieces of metal with no embossed logos or names like my '77 which has SUNTOUR embossed on the dropouts. The steerer tube has a logo, that looks like the letters S J inside a circle, along with the name TANGEO.I embossed just above the fork crown. Other than that I'm not too sure what else could distinguish it further. Thanks for all your help with this.

Shane

T-Mar

Mr. Wigley, based on what I see, it is late 1970s and an entry model, most likely a Custom Sport or Olympic. The frame is almost certainly hi-tensile steel and this can be corroborated by establishing what size of seat post is the correct fit.

dump

I found this thread via google trying to find out some more information about my bike.

Nishiki Prestige, 12spd, 56cm
Tubing: Tange 2, Double butted
Serial: RG03 315 (this is from the bottom of the BB shell)

I purchased it on Craigslist 3 years ago and the seller listed it at 56cm. I don't see a size sticker, but it sounds about right. The paint is admittedly worse for wear but it still runs great. I use it primarily as my zippy around town bike that I can leave locked up and not worry about attracting attention from theives.

Without further ado, here it is:







I love the electric blue to white fade and green decals. It really would be nice if the paint were better, but for now I am happy to not have to worry about it locked while running errands.

I'm not sure what's original and what isn't. Any help with an id on the year and size would be appreciated. The serial number doesn't seem to fit the model of the original post - is there an update for the later model bikes? Thanks.

dump

One correction - it looks like mine is a 1987 Kawamura manufactured frame. The leading R is still a mystery though. Based on the information, it's not USA or Canada.

T-Mar

Yes, it's definitely 1987. The pedals definitely aren't original but the brakeet is. Unfortunately , the other major components aren't visible. The overall picture should always be taken form the the drive side to facilitate identification of the crankset and derailleurs.

OLDYELLR

Most makers don't stamp the size on the frame, but you can find out with a tape measure. On older bikes that were sized in inches, you measure from the centre of the bottom bracket to the top of the seat lug. On frames sized in metric, it's usually from the centre of the bottom bracket to the centre of the seat lug.

dump

Thanks for the info. Any thoughts on the leading R on the serial number?

Yeah, those are my pedals... had those since 1996 Here's drive side for better ID.

Cranks are Sugino GP 130 (170mm)
Derailleurs are Suntour α-5000

T-Mar

The crankset, shifters and front derailleur are original, however the USA specs call for a SunTour Sprint rear derailleur. Specifying an upgraded rear derailleur was not unusual, but given that the it matches the shifters and derailleurs makes one wonder if WCCS changed the specs. The other possibility is that this was not a USA model and it was spec'd a bit differently. We know that during this period a leading C in the serial number indicates a Canadian market model, an E appears to indicate Europe and a W indicates the USA, so perhaps the R indcates another, unknown foreignmarket. Or it could be a quality control error.