beer gut

In craigslist today I found a Benkay Victory Sport road bike today. Trouble is, I cant find any info except I believe its Korean. Its in surprisingly good shape. Paid 20 bucks. Anyone have any information on this brand ? I know its an el cheapo but would like any help on its lineage so to speak. Thanks.

Chombi

"Benkay"!!?? Ooooh nooo!!...Get ready for the sports rub jokes to come in shortly!
What were they thinking!
Uhmmmm. it's from Korea?...the land that produced "Hyundai".....which also kinda sounds like another brand (Honda).....
Maybe we shouldn't be surprised then.....
Please post some pics for our perusal.

Chombi

beer gut

I have absolutely no clue what you just said.

sauze

Pictures would help, sure it's not Beekay ?

beer gut

No its definately Benkay. Model is victory sport. The badge says Benkay-made in good ol Taiwan. Having trouble adding images.

Chombi

Seriously, you don't get it???........


Uhmm.....About the bike, I never seen of heard of it before. Most likely a domestic market only (Korean) bike brought in by an immigrant, maybe, or one sold in Canada and not the US??
Again, please post pics and we canmaybe give you our opinion on what the bike is all about in terms of performance/value.

Chombi

Gravity Aided

Seems to me I remember seeing Hyundai and Kia bikes before I saw cars by them over here. Benkay may introduce the first car that helps tired, aching muscles.

Chombi

Korean marketing people might still need a bit of help with how to relate with world markets. It's just hard to believe that some of their brand names can ever be considered for use in countries like the US and in Europe. Like KIA is seen by some in the US as "Killed in Action". "Gold Star" just sounds old, passe and kinda tacky. "Samsung" just does not sound good to many ears outside of Korea. It does not seem to possitively hit the buyer psyche as much as the more cheerful sounding "Sony" does from Japan.
I do like "LG" (As in "Life's Good") but I was actually surprised it was Korean when I first heard of it, maybe because I was expecting the same as above.
I guess they are fortunate that the very good quality of their products these days do not need the support of a nice, catchy sounding name to be popular with the world market.
This "Benkay" bike, if it was meant for consumption outside of Korea, makes a good example os what I am talking about.
JMOs

Chombi

bbattle

LG = Lucky Goldstar


Engrish.com for examples of poor translations.

Nissan used to be Datsun which used to be Son of Dut.

beer gut

Doing the clean up on it but here ya go.

marley mission

i'm a sucker for a funky headbadge
benkay rules!

non-fixie 

I'm not familiar with the brand, but from where I'm sitting it looks like a nice small frame in a great color. If it's in good shape I'd say: make a nice sports bike or towny out of it and make some lady friend very happy.

Here's a similar project I did earlier this year. I think it came out pretty nice.

Chombi

Dang, is that a rifle in his right hand on the headbadge??!! Haven't seen that on any bike before....
Cool man!
That looks to be a single tubed Mixte style frame on that bike with provisions for a rear rack.
Very utilitarian, but it could make for a nice "town" or commuting bike if you build it back up with a few nice touches like a better quality drivetrain that would shift well. I'd upgrade the pedals too as those look like throwaway, short life ones on there. Just make sure you get a really comfortable seat that will match with the upright position on that bike. Frame materail most likely to be "common" 1020 carbon steel. heavy, but more than strong enough for most.riding conditions.
Most bike of this type/age usually suffers from bad headset wear/adjustment. I'd zero in on that first to fix either by just overhauling or replacement, depending on how bad it is. the bottom bracket will be the next to check and fix as needed. Your local bike shop can help you with these if you are not mechanically inclined enough to tackle them yet. The rest of the bike will be much easier to figure out and service through trial and hopefully minimal errors.....

Chombi

beer gut

Thanks all. What is this thing ? Theres 2 of em on the tube. And could anyone gimme a guestament on the age of this bike ?

mikeybikes

That's a pump peg. Used to hold a frame pump.

As for dating, see if there's any dates on the components. For assistance, see: https://www.vintage-trek.com/component_dates.htm

Also, what kind of components are on the bike? I'm curious.

beer gut

Thanks Mikeybikes. Wow, thats one long pump. I'll make a list of the companants and post later.

beer gut

Thanks Non-fixie. Sweet ride. Very nice job.

clubman 

Is there something weird going on with the stem....looks askew? More and better close up pics of everything will tell the story.

Chris Chicago

non-fixie, what are the cranks on that benotto?

flash2070

Ben is gay? What? He has feelings too; leave him a lone! :-)

Flash