1slowride

I want to rebuild an early 80's Nishiki Intl. Its a ten speed with the standard Dia comp/ Suntour componets. Want to make it into a three ring hill climber with maybe 8 on the back. Would like to end up with a cool vintage that still doesnt give much up to a modern ride in terms of performance. I ride with some semi serious guys. Here are some questions I know a lot is personal taste but I'm looking for cool /uncool too.

Frame will need paint, try to duplicate stock paint or a different color with a different color on the lugs.

Put decals back on? (can you get decals?) cool /uncool?

700 mm aero wheels 23 mm tires cool / uncool 27" Aero wheels??

Long shot here. Can a guy use the old big front hub to make up an aero wheel?

Assume the 700 wheels mean a casette and a modern RD? maybe brakes?

Friction shifter should work with modern RD?

Would an old three ring crank and derailer work with the narrow chain for a 8 speed cassette?

Other cool/ uncool things too know?

miamijim

Too many changes....I'd leave it as is and buy something that already has a triple, 700's and indexing.

If your commited to this project...

1. Repaint to your desire....do it your way.
2. Unlikely you'll find decals
3. 700's may need brake upgrade.
4. Yes you can use the old 'big' i.e. high flange front hub
5. 700's can be either old freewheel or cassette but 8s should have a cassette
6. Yes, friction shifters will work
7. Yes an old 3 ring crank and derailleur will work with 8s stuff.

oggypop

- Friction would work with any RD

- I'd paint it solid in any color you want. A non-decaled frame with just a head-badge is a beautiful thing. And I doubt you'll be able to re-apply the old ones.

- Changing the wheel size might require longer reach brakes. Tones more wheel / tire options in 700c

- Triple might require longer BB spindle and you'll probably need a new chain

Pics?

1slowride

Here is the Nishiki along with her replacement

blaise_f

You can get any decal you want made by one of about three vendors. Expect to pay between $30 and $50 for a full set of decals, shipped (and sometimes you will have to wait a while).

wrk101

My dos and don'ts (All reflect my personal biases):

1. I don't repaint frames. Instead, I find something with decent/good original paint. There are too many good vintage bikes out there. I like the patina of an old bike, and the original decals as well. And a quality paint costs more than this thrifty guy is ready to spend.

2. Components are dictated by what I have in hand/donor bike.

3. I don't care for aero wheels on older bikes. Need to get late 1980s/early 1990s before I think aero looks OK.

4. Nothing wrong with going with 8 speed, and nothing wrong with friction either.

Now these are my do's and don'ts. You should feel free to do what ever you want to do, its your bike, and your project!

That Nishiki looks older to me, more like mid 1970s. I had a 1974 and it had that exact crankset, and those stem shifters.

miamijim

The circular saw and propane torch could lead to nice frankenbike.

A Nishivadson....

1slowride

mid 70's cool, Ok so can skinny 27" wheels still be had and decent tires? Went back a took a hard look at the frame. Realy the decals are chipped more then any thing else. If I got took those off it would clean it up considerably. Will a litte heat gun or MEK take those off?

John E

Nice bike. The 5-speed freewheel makes me suspect 1970s, rather than 1980s.

If you have great-looking lugs, flaunt them! (Most of you have seen my Capo #1.)

I had historically semi-accurate downtube decals made for Capo #1. I am keeping Capo #2 all-original, warts and all.

If your brakes can reach, go w/ non-aero 700C wheels w/ 32 or 36 spokes/wheel. (I am definitely NOT a fan of reduced spoke count wheels.)

Large-flange hubs look great -- w/ the right length spokes and the right number of holes in the rim, you can build it any way you wish.

Nope -- I have owned several 6- and 7-speed freewheel + 700C rim rear wheels. Use your old derailleur and your old brakes, if you install KoolStop salmon pads.

Friction shift is the universal, flexible way to go -- it is what I use exclusively.

I use SRAM PC-58 "8-speed" chains on my bikes, all of which have either standard or ultra 6-speed freewheels (or equivalent to the latter, a standard 7-speed freewheel). Just avoid "9-speed" and higher chains.

Beyond possibly repainting, do not do anything permanent to the frame, such as cutting off derailleur hangers and other braze-ons.

due ruote 

Your bike looks cool the way it is. Painting it would be uncool, or at least regrettable. I have painted frames and regretted it, so I'd think real hard about it. But, as has been mentioned, it's your bike.

That's a pretty nice bike, but no matter what you do to it, if your friends are on modern rigs with brifters and stiff climbing frames, they're going to smoke you, unless you're stronger than them.

You weren't very specific about the climbing. Do you live in the mountains, or is this just rolling terrain? One thing you're going to want for fast club rides is as tight a range of gears as possible. Have you considered a compact double and tighter freewheel?

RobbieTunes

Decide how much is too much to re-do, repair, re-paint, or spend.
Then prioritize what you want to do and do it. You'll still go over.

randyjawa 

My experience after building hundreds of bikes is to do the mechanical work first then ride the bicycle for a while to ensure all is well. Once that is done, do what you wish with the bicycle, however, every departure from original will negatively impact the value of the bicycle. Painting a vintage road bicycle is not a great idea if one is attempting to preserve value.

But it is the OP's bike and he/she can do what they wish with the bicycle. For what it is worth, MY "TEN SPEEDS" is a website designed to help guide people new to the interest of vintage bicycles. Perhaps a visit there would shed light on a number of the OP's concerns.

Hope it helps.

1slowride

I live in the foot hills of Cascade Range SE of of Seattle so hills are pretty much unvoidable. Whole reason for this is I got an 80s Davidson with all new campy fixins and aero wheels. I keep up on that but its got 39/25 and the hills are just too hard on the 1958 model knees. Down the road I plan on a compact and a 13/29 for the Davidson. But for now I was thinking of making the Nishiki the hill climber / back up, of course I will need to lose 10 lbs to make up for the weight difference in bikes. (easy right?) I'm no racer but on occasion I do run down guys on multi thousand dollar bikes with the old gal. I secretly take get glee in that and if I can get a bit more out of her so much the better. I think I agree with no paint, I will see if I can redo the flaking decals, thats what jumps out at you when you look at her. I'll get the components on and ride her.

1slowride

Great Web site Thank you

bikemeister

Wouldn't the rear hub spacing on something that old (a 5 speed) be too narrow for an 8-speed cogset?

I would do as others have said. keep this thing original, clean/lube it and ride it. Or, sell it and get something already set up for what you need.