Originally Posted by T-Mar

I was able to find your pictures on the gallery but am unfamiliar with this model and assume it is Asian market. I believe the EC-242 may be the model number. The frame was manufactured very late in a year ending in '1', so it should be for a model year ending in '2'. We just have to figure out which decade. Based on my past experience with Bridgestone, they appear to have used the Gregorian calendar, even as far back as the early 1970s, so we should not have to be concerned with it being from the Japanese Imperial Calendar. Six way reflectors and a cotterless crank would be rare on this style of bicycle in 1971 and by 1992 I would have expected a Unicrown fork. Consequently, my leading candidate would be a 1982 model.

The Bridgestone 1-2matic hub is very interesting. I have never seen one before and assume it is Asian market only based on the symbol in the shift lever's gear display window. Presumably, a device like this would be patented and if you can find a patent number of the hub or shift levers, we may be able to trace a date from that. Thank-you very much for posting this very interesting bicycle and unique gear-hub mechanism.