mapleleafs-13 

ok so i came across this about a month or so ago, ended up doing a full overhaul, bb, headset, chain, tires, wraps, etc.

It's a Kuwahara road bike, never seen one in real life before, it's super light, has full shimano 600 on it (my favorite series of shimano 600). my bro took it for a test ride and he said it rides awesome (i'm too big for the bike). it's gonna be for sale locally soon. A really cool thing on this bike is the rear seat lug, it's very similar to the cinelli super corsa's seat lug that we've seen many times before.

anyways just thought i'd post some pictures of it cause it's a gorgeous bike and i know how much ppl on here like pictures.







It feels and seems very well made and weighs 21 pounds.


Anyways just wondering if anyone has any info on the year or so of the bike. Or could give more info on kuwahara's attempt at the road bike market.

Discuss....

realestvin7

Looks like a nice bike.

Sixty Fiver

600 / Ultegra started in 1988 and 1988 was one of the last years Kuwahara made lugged frames as they moved to tig welded frames in 89-90... the bike should have it's serial number on the non drive side of the seat tube at the bottom bracket and the first two digits denote the year of manufacture.

Will also bet the tubing is Ishiwata 022 / EX (canna read the sticker) as these frames and builds came in at around the 21 pound range (or less) and are beautifully made bicycles and highly under rated.

Looks to be just my size too.

Sixty Fiver

Kuwahara sold road bicycles under their Apollo name and double branded their mtb / atb bikes as Apollo / Kuwahara until 1985 when Apollo was replaced with Kuwahara and at this time road bicycles branded as Kuwahara also appeared and the Apollo was retired as Kuwahara gained better recognition.

Kuwahara is one of Japan's oldest bicycle companies but never sold under their own name until "ET" came out... Elliot's BMX was a Kuwahara...

There are a lot of Apollo road bikes out there and most are of decent quality, a few are of superb quality... but it was when they branded them as Kuwaharas that the quality really took off.

They built a wide range of road models under each names from entry level Sport 10 models to very high end racing and touring bicycles and also offered tandems that are of very good quality... their finishes are second to none and the upper end models were hand built and the better workmanship can be seen in these models.

irvri

Looks to be in really good condition & I like the matching seatpost. Looks to be my size too, if I had a chance I would pick that up !

khatfull

Very nice, thanks for the pics.

brewster1972

Very nice looking bike! There are a few Kuwaharas up for sale on CL right now but the sellers are asking too much and/or are not providing enough info for me to green light the sale.

divineAndbright

I owned one for a brief time, outfitted with exage stuff originally. Mine was no where near 21lbs though, it was a lumbering beast built with ishiwata pointless quadruple butted tubing (whats the point, might as well just go plain gauge!) had that same seat lug. Looked kinda nice but boy I hated that frame, one of the worst riding frames I ever had.

Catnap 

excellent job on the rebuild! looks very clean. i've been developing a new respect for the Kuwahara name after seeing gems like this as well as their classic MTB's.

Sixty Fiver

My friend had a Kuwahara Club Sport built on quad butted Ishiwata tubes which came is several grades... my Cascade has the heavier tube set and is heavier but a stiff and bombproof bike while his 12 speed road bike curbed out at 19 pounds.

My Cascade is an ATB touring bike and is a sweet ride... tubing rarely has as much to do with ride quality as tyre selection, saddle, and geometry unless it is so light as to make the bike whippy which Ishiwata quad butted tubing is not.