Appreciations.
Impressive stats and knowledge. I still don't see how this is evidence for the claim that the 1000 is the "best" or that another marque's design philosophy for their equivalent model of bike is necessarily inferior to the 1000.
That's the Miyata side of things. What's the other side of the story. I don't know. I'm hoping you do.
That's a pretty heady statement about the Miyata factory bikes lug work and brazing being better than "most" European custom builders. How is a claim like that meaningful in practical terms in making the case for the 1000?
Panasonic, Nishiki(Kawamura), Fuji and others made great counterparts to the 1000. Did they all have to knowingly content themselves with fighting it out for an also ran position? Was their technology "in general" inferior? Was there no "Lexus, Mercedes and BMW" quality left over for anyone else?
How does the best of the rest compare with the 1000?
I guess I'm just a contrarian in this matter of the 1000 being "best" and others "not even close". No doubt the 1000 is very fine. It deserves a lofty position.
Is it the best? Not just because Sheldon says so, when accurately quoted. And not, I would venture, to the folks who own other, different, well-chosen bikes of the time.
Best,
J
Originally Posted by
miamijim
In general tubesets are made in 1 length with the length of the thinner middle section optimized for ~23" frames (could be 21") which happen to be the most popular size frames. If a small frame is built the butts are cut off, you end up with little short butted ends and mostly the thinner middle section for the length of the tube. The opposite holds true for larger frames, the butted section to thinner section ratio is off because as mentioned earlier the ration is optimized for middle sized frames.
Miyata designed and manufactured their own frame tubes. Each frame size received its own specific tube, a 50cm didnt didnt get a cut down 58 tube and a 60 didnt get 58 tubes with long butted ends. Miyata designed the butt lengths for each frame size and they cut the splines to a specific length for each frame size to optimize the ride ride quality and characteristics of each frame size. No other company did this. Different frame sizes get different geometry so it only makes sense that they get different tubes. Is Ishiwata 022 good tubing? Yes, but it was available in 1 specification optimized for 1 frame size.
A Splined Trible Butted tube for a 714 is different than a Splined Triple Butted tube for a 914 which is different than a Splined Triple Butted tube for a 1000.
Miyata also finished their bikes better than everyone else. They used a 7 stage process that included washing in zinc phosphate for rust prevention and 6 layers of primer and paint including a clear coat.
The quality of Miyatas lug work and brazing is better than most custom European builders!!!
Are Trek 520's and Expeditions good bikes? Sure they are, but the Miyata 1000 is like a Lexus, Mercedes and BMW all rolled into 1.
Jim