Sierramike

unusual set up unknown pads on shimano 600 calipers

CliffordK

Thanks for the overall photo. I did hear of a person who liked to paint his commuter in such a way to discourage would-be thieves.

Did you check for holes for the head tube badge rivets?
A serial number?

Are your eventual plans to strip and repaint, or to keep the unique patina? i would still loose the Specialized decals.

Sierramike

no serial numbers or holes for riveted badge. may or may not repaint probably will part it out

RandolphCarter

Looks like one of the previous owners had a lot of BMX / early MTB parts.

Like other people pointed out, those look like Skyway brake pads.

Those cranks aren't stainless steel. They're chromed, and probably 4130 chome/moly steel. If those cranks are early 80's Cook Brothers Racing MTB cranks, they might as well be made out of $20 bills. Same is true if they're first-generation Profile cranks.

Darth Lefty 

I like it, whatever it is. Even the paint job.

4funbikes

Cranks are interesting. Not sure I've ever seen cro mo Cook cranks. Profile uses "full wrap" pedal/spindle boss.
Other options could be Terry Cable, Boss/ L&S creations. There were a few other similarly designed cranks whose names elude me at the moment.
The spindle would help narrow it down.

Sierramike

eyeballed this bike up & down. no markings on crank & frame except 170. will remove crank later in week to figure out. again thanks for all the helps as this unit stumps me please excuse the pun.

unworthy1

It sure is a "stumper" but even more so considering most any of the big Asian (probably Japanese for this example) builders would have serial numbers on both frame and fork whether built for a main brand or under contract.
My next thought is this was done by a custom builder (perhaps in USA) or even as a class project in a frame-building class. Not all "student work" would be amateurish, especially if the teacher got in to help out.

CliffordK

If it was mine, I think I would strip the components off, then start wire brushing down the frame to bare metal. Is there a way to selectively remove only the top layer of paint? Perhaps a chemical stripper? Heat G U N?

Oh, also carefully inspect the fork steer tube,although I've gone under the assumption that it was a cheap replacement of a no-name brand that is no longer available.

In a sense, the splotchy paint job is cute from a distance, but not so good from up close.

However, I would absolutely refuse to ride a bike that displayed decals from the wrong manufacturer.

I've been wondering if there was a deliberate effort to mask the identity of the frame. If so, and you do find a serial number, perhaps filled with putty, then I would check with the local PD to see if it was stolen. Also online registries, although they may be far too new.

Darth Lefty 

Anyone else catch the star bottle bosses?

CliffordK

Yes, and they are a feature of the Schwinn Prologue. I still can't account for the lack of head-tube Schwinn marks, but I believe they are there, and just not visible under the paint and decals. It is possible that somebody made a nice Schwinn clone, but it just has too many features for that to be the case. The other alternative that was mentioned was that it was a direct Japanese import, perhaps a Non-US Panasonic. The Yin-Yang might be a sign of non-US origin.

CliffordK

I was just looking at photos of the Schwinn Prologue this evening and noticed that little "nipple" behind the head tube.

Sure enough your bike has it too. I haven't seen it on a lot of other bikes. More commonly there will be a pump mount on a separate wire.

Have you had a chance to wire brush off the head tube yet?

thumpism 

Brake pads are Kool Stop, but the company also may have made Skyway-branded ones for that company. Check the pad shape.


I think one of the most distinctive things on the frame is the detail on the underside of the chainstay bridge.

howsteepisit

That little nipple is called a pump peg.

willydstyle

I'm assuming when OP wrote "Stumper" he meant that the frame's provenance is stumping him, not that it was a Stumpjumper

cyclotoine

I was cracking up at all the "not a stumpjumper!" comments. it's just an unfortunate choice of words when paired with specialized in the title. No one ever suggested it was a stumpjumper.

Anyway, it's a super cool frame and the cranks are the most interesting part for me. If the OP is parting it out I am interested in the crank and matching BB. I don't believe Cook Brothers ever marketed a steel crank like that but I think C.Q.P did. Which would be my first guess as to what they are. However, these appear to be a constant diameter from the spindle to about 2/3 of length and then tape. C.Q.P cranks tapered gradually from the spindle to the pedal. This could be an earlier version I suppose or just a copy.