Bikedued

Just found this today, and have no idea what it might be? Long pointed lugs with heart cutouts, Shimano drops, hardly any braze ons at all. The only clue I can find to it's identity are the rainbow seat tube stripes, and even that doesn't narow it down that much. Many manufacturers used them.. 600 brakes and cranks, Campy NGS derailleurs, Shimano shifters. Any tubing decals are long gone with the enamel custom brush paint.. I am going to tear it down in a little while, and
see what I can see. Maybe some remnant of the original color will be on the forks, or inside the BB?,,,,BD

Any theories? S/N is on the BB, and is 1045751577

Bikedued

Nobody?,,,,BD

Maddox

Paint job is reminescent of a kid I knew in kindergarten, his name was Paul. Perhaps he's a frame painter now?

wrk101

Its a donor. +1 on those stripes, I have a Schwinn with them, and I had a Fuji with them (although one of the stripes on the Schwinn was green, not sure on the Fujis, they have all moved on).

Actually, I would probably save the frame and look for a low cost powder coater. The lack of braze ons usually means early 1980s (1981 or so) or older. Good looking lugs under that barn paint. Nice size too, which may make it worth a repaint.

It would take a lot of work, but it could make a nice FG/SS, no braze ons, few if any cable stops, good looking lugs. That first picture is pretty painful to look at.

Steering tube is your best shot at the original color, IF the fork is original. Most forks are date coded as well. Given the Frankenbuild of the bike, that may be your best place to find a date.

Bikedued

Just found the original color, while sanding down the droupout to see which Shimano drops it has. The color embedded in the lettering is bright banana
meets lemon. Dropouts are Shimano SF.

Bikedued

It's going to make a REALLY nice geared bike for someone I know, hehe. The forks may be dated, but I am not 100% sure they go with the frame yet.
The crown looks too cheesy somehow. It does have forged drops on the fork tips though.,,,,BD

Bikedued

I found this bit of info on the old SR thread, not sure about the validity of it though.,,,,,BD

"Shimano "SF" dropouts were used on some higher-end Trek bikes in the early 80's(710's for instance)"

EjustE

those are some seriously loooooong stays

JohnDThompson 

Lots of bikes used those Shimano SF dropouts -- mostly Japanese, but Trek also used them and I've seen them on some British and European bikes from the early 80s as well.

If I were to guess, I'd say it's a mid-level Japanese built frame.

Bikedued

Weirdest of the weird. It has a Zeus seatpost binder? I also found a restored Zeus bike in yellow with similar head lugs, on classic rendezvous? Still
puzzling though. I am going outside for still closer inspection. Seatpost that fits(Although snug) is a 26.6. 26.4 would be wobbly, but is
there such a thing as a 26.5?,,,,BD

cuda2k

What brand is the headset and those clamp on guides? And yes, those are some very very long stays.

Bikedued

Headset is Tange Levin, the ollllld ones with Levin in script lettering, not block style.. Cable clamps are Shimano, but has a squared off RD cable guide brazed on. Pretty much the only thing brazed, besides the lugs and drops.,,,,BD

Bikedued

The rainbow stripes are vinyl, and on top of the grey paint, so not likely to be original.,,,,BD

cuda2k

I'd agree that its probably an upper/mid level Japanese frame. The lugs are a bit fancier than I usually see on Japanese frames, but I'm certainly no expert.

Bikedued

Well, it gets even weirder.. Front drops are BREV. CAMPAGNOLO, which is very strange with the cheesy fork crown. Pulling the fork out next.
Same yellow paint embedded in the fork drops stamping as well. WTH is this thing, ?,,,,BD

cudak888 

Post some photos of it when you get a chance. Possibly a Nishiki fork?

-Kurt

Bikedued

The steerer has no markings, other than rough handling some time in it;s life. It had the grey paint, under that...yellow, and down by the crown race
a thicker bright orange with a white undercoat, possibly to brighten the orange. An old painters trick. SO, I have no idea if the fork goes with the bike or not,
but with the orange paint, possibly the fork doesn't belong and was repainted to match? Pics in a few minutes. I buzzed off the yellow and grey with a surfcon
disc, and found no markings.,,,,BD

Here's the fork....

Bikedued

I think I might see evidence of "points" being cut off of the lugs, where the headbadge would go. I could be imagining things though?,,,,BD

HDavidH

Maybe it had 27" wheels originally and thats why the stays look long?

Bikedued

I think the rear is a 27" and the front too. Back rim is a concave Weinmann though, with a Normandy high flange hub. It
could be either? It's going to end up with 700's eventually though. Partially for the extra standover clearance, and the rest
for ease of tire replacements. It's probably not going to be built up for a few years, unfortunately. It's being socked away
and saved until I am in a place to repaint, etc. The color scheme ideas are already running through my head, so who knows.
It will definitely get outlined lugs....,,,,BD

RobbieTunes

I think it's a Cilo.

EjustE

Here is what I think:

- the fork (campy dropouts) does not belong with the rest of the bike (Shimano dropouts), unless is it a custom bike.
- with a serial number like that the likelihood of it being a custom bike is probably nil.
- for a bike like this, I would go with the oldest component that makes sense to be originally on the bike and it happens to be this:


Suntour Perfect 6 sp freewheel circa 1981 or so.

The mystery could be solved by trying to figure which company used Suntour components with Shimano dropouts and that kind of a serial number and those amazingly long stays... I would suspect that the campy bits were added when the campy dropout fork was added.

Bikedued

The Perfect freewheel is on a high flange Normandy hub that I have not checked the date on yet, with a Weinmann concave rim. It doesn't seem like a likely combo on a bike with Shimano dropouts. The Shifters are Shimano 3.3.3 which look like a Blatant Campy knockoff. It's kind of hard to judge, with a bike that feels like mid to late 70's, with components a few years newer, annnd older.. I agree the Campy is probably not original, but I would believe mid to upper level Shimano. Another weird thing is that doesn't have a shifter stop, like nearly everything else out in the early eighties. I kind of want to hit a frame tube with the surfcon disc tomorrow, and see if I can find a tubing stamp, or a seam at the very least. It's definitely not straight gauge, judging by the ping test. Let me do some Cilo searching, and see if anything matches.,,,,BD

darkmagus

The Japanese made '81 Bianchi Limited that I just picked up has the same Shimano dropouts, but all of the components are SunTour including the Perfect 6 speed freewheel. However, nothing else resembles the Bianchi that I have. That frame is definitely worth saving though.

Bikedued

The only bike I found in the seatpost database with a 26.5, was a Nakamura? Finding any info on Nakamura other than the name, or newer mountain bikes, is proving to be a complete dead end. There are a few pics around, but most are poor quality, from a distance, and no closeups. 26.6 is really snug, twisting the post to make it go down, and I worry about it getting stuck. 26.4 is too small. 26.5 would be just right I suspect.,,,,BD