My brother has had his 1985 Cresta a few months and finally got it to the point where he felt he could ride it after updating a few components. The handlebars are 37cm Sakae Randonneur and the narrow width is probably contributing to what he feels is difficulty in getting the bike to "turn in" when maneuvering or cornering. The steering feels light enough moving it back and forth but needs effort to keep a line as the bike needs to be forced more than usual. My 1977 Sabatini felt the same way, you could not simply pick a line through a corner for example, without concentrating on forcing it to hold that line as it were. I tend to think, without having measured it or the Nishiki that they might have higher trail numbers. I had a Rivendell Bleriot that was around 60mm of trail, quite high but was still light feeling, actually a bit too light but was easy to turn in, and was predictable enough. The tires are some basic narrow 27" CST brand that came with the bike and we are trying to figure out what the underlying problem (s) might be. He needs to have the handlebars rather high, we have a stem extender in there and I tend to have mine at least 3" higher than the seat and have not noticed enough of a difference compared to the bars being lower to be enough of an issue on my bikes. If anyone is familiar with this model or similar touring bikes I am hoping it is not related to the geometry, otherwise he will end up getting something else. He really likes the '83 Raleigh Gran Tour I have - it had 44 cm Nitto Noodles and is very stable hands off, and is also very easy and predictable to ride through corners etc. I have to say, the Nishiki does feel odd the way it handles compared to my other bikes I have so if anyone has any suggestions they would be welcome as the Cresta is a nice enough bike, He was going to get some 44cm Noodles and wider tires (27" wheels ) probably the Soma tan sidewall 1 1/4 they are selling at 49.00 each. Perhaps he may need the 46cm Noodles, as wide bars do not bother him. He wanted to mount a small handlebar bag as well but at this point what effect it will have on the steering may or may not help. I should mention that with only the rear Tubus rack and no panniers it still has the same handling characteristics.