moxfyre

For $10 I got a 1983 Lotus 12 speed bike. It has a black frame with green prints of a lotus flower on it, but no words besides Lotus. It has Longyif (?) components which look low end but not terribly so... in any case it will probably be my long-planned attempt at fixed gear. The owner said that he used it all through college, and rode it down staircases and such, and has been riding it until a few weeks ago. Yet there's no rust to speak of, so I'm assuming the frame is a decent quality.

Anybody know anything about these bikes? Are they Cromoly? I've found a few references to Lotus on here, and people seem to like them but the models mentioned had Shimano 600 and otherwise seemed higher end.

sydney

They made a whole range of quality. Rode it down staircases...Woooo Hoooo! Maybe it would make a better downhill bike?

T-Mar

The Lotus bicycles were made by Tsunoda of Japan. They were quite popular during the 1980s and had a good reputation, especially for value. Their mid range models were proabably the most popular, though they did provide a wide range, as Sidney states. Generally, they used Columbus SL/SP on the high end frames, with the remainder receiving various grades of Tange tubing. The lower models that I've seen used Tange Mangaloy, a seamed, butted, manganese alloy tubing. I've documented 9 different Lotus models from 1983, but haven't come across one like yours. The 1983 models that I've seen have all had model names in script lettering, located on the top tube, about 6 inches behind the head tube.

moxfyre

Thanks for the info. I will post photos tonight! (The previous owner said it was 1983 or 1984, but couldn't remember which one.)

pjbaz

There were two different Lotus' if I remember correctly.

Lotus from Japan and Lotus from the USA.

I believe the USA bikes were originally designed built from a guy in NY.
PJ

moxfyre

T-Mar, I found out that the model of this bike is indeed marked, it's an "Elan". The rear derailer is in fact Shimano Altus, though the rest of the components are Longyih or Longyu, hard to read which it is. If nothing else it is a nice large 22" frame for me.

Here's the photo... I measured the chain and it's 3/16" past 12". Phooey. I was hoping to use the crankset as is.

moxfyre

This thing has a bunch of odd components, "D-something" on the cranks, Longyif(yih? yu?) front derailleur, SR (Sakae Ringyo?) stem, Sunshine hubs (is that the same as Sanshin?)

There are also no lawyer tabs on the dropouts, which is pretty cool.

T-Mar

Elan is a legitimate Lotus model, though I don't have any records of it for the for the year indicated. The early ones I've seen were entry models with 27 x 1-1/4" wheelsets. The 1983 Lotus models that I've seen have had the Lotus logo on both the seat and down tubes. I wonder if it's pre-1983? Did you check the date code on the Altus? If you can get the date, I'll a 198x Lotus Elan to my list.

Might that be DnP on the cranks? That was a brand produced by Long Yih Industry Company of Taiwan. There was also a Long Yu and Joy Yu. Lots of Taiwanese manufacturers were tryingto crack the North American market at that time.

Yes, Sunshine hubs and Sanshin are the same. Up to about 1985 they were marketed as Sunshine, with the belief that an anglicized name would help sales.

As pjbaz states, there were two Lotus bicycles. The English Lotus did not appear until the late 1990s, well after the original Lotus disappeared. The names generally associated with early Lotus are Sidney and Ernst Star. The company was Alpha Cycle and Supply, located in Syosset NY. The company later changed its name to Lotus International Corp. After that there were moves and more name changes. The brand originated about 1979 and seems to have disappeared around 1990. Rumours are that a boat carrying a shipment of Lotus bicycles sank and that the company was unable to recover from the loss.

moxfyre

Wow, thanks for all the info. I googled it and couldn't find anything much. The cranks are indeed DnP.

Do you know where the date would be on the derailer? Let me know and I'll look harder. It just says "Shimano Altus LT, patent pending" on the body, can't find anything on the cage though maybe some cleaning will help. The Lotus logo is on the head tube and seat tube, but not downtube. I would guess that the rear wheel is not original, since it is a made-in-Belgium Weinmann rim.

pjbaz

I heard the guy, not sure if it was one of these guys, who created Lotus works for a college in upstate NY now. I forget which one, but I read it on a Website from a poster who was supposedly the guys daughter.

PJ

zonatandem

Lotus was picked by Consumer's Guide in the mid-80s as 'a best buy' and it's popularity increased because of that.
Several varying quality models were produced.

BlastRadius

Here's the thread. https://socalmtb.com/messages/road/messages/1662.htm

moxfyre

So I'm confused... there was one Lotus company from the US (is that the one mine is?) and one from Japan? Or was one of them from England?

T-Mar

The date codes should be on the back of the inside parallelogram arm. It will be two letters about 1/8" high. See https://www.vintage-trek.com/component_dates.htm for decyphering the codes.

I recall the post from the founder's daughter. A person I was corresponding with tried to get in contact with the founder but had no success. Similar attempts to get back in touch with the daughter also failed. Trying to track his model was how I started researching Lotus. By the time I was finished, I had logged 70 models covering 1980 to 1989.

The model which got the top rated by Consumer's Reports was the Excelle. That was in 1985 or 1986. The Challenger also got a 'best buy' rating in an 18 bicycle comparison test. Lotus was already well accepted in the cycling community as excellent value. The Consumer's Report article just publicized the fact to mainstream America. However, as zonatandem suggests, it undoubtedly increased their market share.

pjbaz

I have an Excelle I boght at a garage sale. I had another one (way too small) that I sold to a guy as his indoor trainer bike.

I'd love the see the catalog listing of the Lotus brand. I will get some info from my Excelle and shoot you a message to see if I can poinpoint the year, month, etc.

PJ

T-Mar

Yours is from the US company that had their bicycles made in Japan. The other Lotus was from England.

Mr. Shadow

I'm reworking a converted Lotus Elan. It has CroMoly 4130 P.G tubing and had decent components.
It needs the chainline tweeked a little bit. It will run a vintage Galli Top Pro tubular rims laced to
Gipiemme track hubs. The dropouts a plenty deep. They make nice fixies.

Mr. Shadow

The English Lotus bikes were made for the car company.
Chris Boardman set the Hour Record on one. They were
high tech carbon racing frames, similar to the Trek Y-Foil.

moxfyre

I dunno if you're still reading this thread, but I've determined that without a doubt that my Elan is a 1983. The fork is marked with the year. All the components are LongYif (sp?) or Lu Tiu (the hubs), except for the SR stem. The rims are Weinmann. I don't think the Shimano Altus rear derailer was original.

T-Mar

if you want to send me a private meassage with a complete list of the tubing and known original components, then I'll add the 1983 Elan model to my list of Lotus models. Thank-you in advance.