paulbonner

I just picked up a made-in-Taiwan Nishiki "Katmandu", which looks like it served as a model for what they're calling a commuter bike these days. Steel (Series 600 thinwall cro-mo), road geometry, flat bar, Shimano Exage components (7 speed shifters, levers, triple crankset [300-LX], hubs, and derailleurs [500-CX]), wide tires (700x28), room for fenders and rack mounts. Feels a little heavy, but not absurdly so.

Anyway, I haven't been able to find any mention of a Nishiki Katmandu searching the web or the forums here. Plenty of mentions of a Norco Katmandu, but this is definitely labeled Nishiki. I don't think it's not one of their department store models, if only because there's a bike shop sticker on it, but who knows? The Exage CX components make me think early 90's? Does anyone here have any insight into this model?

roccobike

You've got me stumped. I searched the limited literature I have and found nothing, zero, nada about a Nishiki Katmandu. Is it possible for you to post pics?

paulbonner

I just grabbed the serial number off the bottom bracket. M2D0002445. That doesn't match any of the patterns on the Nishiki serial number DB thread.

The bike shop sticker is from Whippany Cycle, which seems to still be in business in Whippany, NJ. Who knows how it made its way down to Austin?

I'll try to post some pics later today.

paulbonner

Just got back from a first ride on this bike a few minutes ago. It's pretty sweet -- the shifting is precise (except for an unfortunate, but I believe correctable, insistence on dropping from all the way from the big chain wheel to the granny on every down shift), and it climbs very well. I've been looking for a bike that I can put 3,000 or 4,000 miles a year on as a commuter without attracting the attention of Austin's many bike thieves, and this could be it. But I've got to admit, after one ride, I'm not sold on the whole flat bar thing--I'm tempted to steal the drop bars and Ultegra barcons from the Trek 520 I also picked up yesterday. The Trek doesn't fit me, I bought it to flip, but bars aside, the Nishiki feels like a better bike anyway.

Here are some pics. That neon green shadow on the lettering is pretty hideous, eh? Early 90s, for sure--a guess which I believe is supported by the PL date stamp on the crank arms and derailleurs.

roccobike

paulbonner, If you want to get the year that model was available, we can do that quite easily. Look at the back of the rear derailer and the front derailer. You will find a 2-letter code stamped in the back plate that seems to make no sense. Write the letter codes down. The first is the year the derailer was made, the second is the month. Then go to vintage-trek.com and look on the left side for a section called "Component Dates". Open that screen and click on "Shimano". You can now decode the year the derailer was made. If the month it was made is late in the year, the bike may be the next year's model. If in doubt, post the codes here and we'll help.
BTW, that's a sweet looking bike. I kinda like the decals. Interesting, there is no head badge decal on your bike.

stronglight

Looks like a perfect commuter bike to me. A lot of "hybrid" bikes (MTB gearing with 700c wheels) have more recently evolved into what are now being called "comfort bikes" and are really inferior to these earlier and more rugged and roadworthy bikes. The derailleurs are easily replaceable if they should ever break or just wear out. I think the front derailleur shifting problem might easily fix on this bike. It could be the actual shift mechanism, but may be something as simple as a kinked or corroded cable.

If I were looking for a dedicated city/commuter bike these days, this bike would be pretty much ideal for all my needs too. The main issues I have with flat bars would be the width - which I'm simply not accustomed to - and the upright riding position - which you are always forced to accept. This seems like a perfect candidate for drop bars.

Enjoy!

paulbonner

The rear deraiilleur is stamped PL -- so December 1991. I guess that means the bike could be a '92 or later.

The head badge must have been a sticker -- when I got it there was just a big sticky area where it ought to be.

paulbonner

Thanks. I probably paid too much -- $150 off of Craigslist--but I've been looking for awhile and the market here in Austin has just gone nuts over the last few months. To tell you how crazy it is--I could probably flip this for $275 without doing much more than installing new brake pads -- and in fact that's what I'll probably get for the 1994 Trek 520 I picked up the same day -- but I'm hoping the Nishiki will become my primary commuter. It seems to me to be at least as road-worthy as the new $450-to-$600 "commuters" with Alivio and Acera components and wheels from who knows where, and if I end up putting a few thousand miles on it in the next year it'll end up being a great deal.

benkaf

Paul,

I have the EXACT same bike. I think it's a 1992. I picked it up in 2000 for $100 here in Tucson. I use it as a commuter and it is a very reliable bike with a decent ride. I've had trouble finding out about the Katmandu model also, but there is a guy on e-bay that has a 1992 Nishiki catalog for sale and Katmandu is listed in the contents. I don't want to spend the $21 he wants for it, but the order of pages in the catalog is below. If the order goes from low end to high (Colorado was a basic Nishiki model) then perhaps the Katmandu was pretty high up in the line. If you choose to buy that catalog, I'd love to see the Katmandu info.



https://cgi.ebay.com/1992-NISHIKI-Cat...QQcmdZViewItem


* Alien SP
* Ariel
* Alien
* Cascade
* Backroads
* Colorado
* Manitoba
* Pueblo
* Blazer
* Katmandu
* Sport
* Citi Sport
* Meridian
* NFS Altron
* NFS Beta