Picked up a mountain bike today...
#1
perpetually frazzled
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Bikes: 1977 Bridgestone Kabuki Super Speed; 1979 Raleigh Professional; 1983 Raleigh Rapide mixte; 1974 Peugeot UO-8; 1993 Univega Activa Trail; 1972 Raleigh Sports; 1967 Phillips; 1981 Schwinn World Tourist; 1976 Schwinn LeTour mixte; 1964 Western Flyer
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Picked up a mountain bike today...
Alright, today, I picked up a Nishiki Colorado for $20. It's pretty solid looking, but I have NO idea what year it is...
I checked bikepedia, and that's where I started getting confused. BP says that the Colorado was built from 1993 to 1999.
During that time, only the 1996 and 1997 were both steel and had a front suspension, but they had Rock Shox front suspension, but this has an SR DuoTrack, making me think that, if it IS aftermarket, it's pretty accurate.
96 and 97 are also the only ones available in red. (which this is)
It has 32 hole Levanter rims, which never came on the thing (although 32 hole rims were from 1995-1999). The hubs are both Exage (PN HB-RM50) again, never available.
It has integrated brake levers and shifters, which appear to be from the 1993 model as, after that, they went to grip shift.
The handlebar and stem are both Fusion again leading me to believe that it's a 1993.
The headset (at least the bottom of it) states that it's a Tioga Avenger ST, which I can't find on bikepedia.
Also, the crankset is Altus A20, but it's got a 48t big ring, which wasn't ever available on this particular beast...
Wish I had the derailleurs, but they're AWOL. Unfortunate.
I don't have my camera with me - photos will probably arrive on MOnday. Oh, another thing, the SN is R933620654 - leaning to a 1993 with a new front fork?
I checked bikepedia, and that's where I started getting confused. BP says that the Colorado was built from 1993 to 1999.
During that time, only the 1996 and 1997 were both steel and had a front suspension, but they had Rock Shox front suspension, but this has an SR DuoTrack, making me think that, if it IS aftermarket, it's pretty accurate.
96 and 97 are also the only ones available in red. (which this is)
It has 32 hole Levanter rims, which never came on the thing (although 32 hole rims were from 1995-1999). The hubs are both Exage (PN HB-RM50) again, never available.
It has integrated brake levers and shifters, which appear to be from the 1993 model as, after that, they went to grip shift.
The handlebar and stem are both Fusion again leading me to believe that it's a 1993.
The headset (at least the bottom of it) states that it's a Tioga Avenger ST, which I can't find on bikepedia.
Also, the crankset is Altus A20, but it's got a 48t big ring, which wasn't ever available on this particular beast...
Wish I had the derailleurs, but they're AWOL. Unfortunate.
I don't have my camera with me - photos will probably arrive on MOnday. Oh, another thing, the SN is R933620654 - leaning to a 1993 with a new front fork?
#3
perpetually frazzled
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Linton, IN
Posts: 2,470
Bikes: 1977 Bridgestone Kabuki Super Speed; 1979 Raleigh Professional; 1983 Raleigh Rapide mixte; 1974 Peugeot UO-8; 1993 Univega Activa Trail; 1972 Raleigh Sports; 1967 Phillips; 1981 Schwinn World Tourist; 1976 Schwinn LeTour mixte; 1964 Western Flyer
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Is it? I assumed (there's that word again) that since it had the suspension fork that it would have been post 95 (the last year of the solid fork).
BTW, anyone know how to measure for a non-suspension fork for this thing? I'd love to get a solid cro mo fork.
BTW, anyone know how to measure for a non-suspension fork for this thing? I'd love to get a solid cro mo fork.
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Thrifty Bill
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I have found bikepedia data to be spotty and sometimes wrong. Its a great resource, but flawed. Best bet for dating a bike is picking a component you believe to be original and check the date code. Check a couple of them for confirmation.