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Old 02-26-05 | 08:52 PM
  #3  
T-Mar
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As ofofhy stated, most stainless steels are non-magnetic or only slightly magnetic. The Kabuki Submariner uses stainless steel for the 3 main tubes and hi-tensile steel for the forks and stays. However there is aluminum on the frame, in the form of the lugs. Bridgestone, the manufacturer of Kabuki, developed a process which allowed them to die cast aluminum lugs around the tubes. There was no brazing or welding. This allowed the joining of dissimilar materials and permitted the use of thinner tubing, as the tubing was not subjected to high brazing temperatures which reduce the strength.

There was a model that did use the die cast lugs with aluminum tubing. It was called the Superlight.

The Submariner's prime selling feature was the frame material. The components are good, but nothing special. Weight was spec'd at 30 lb. Basically, it would be competing against all the one step above entry level, bike boom models that sell for $25.00 at the thrift stores. You would get a premium from an uneducated buyer for the condition, but in order to realize a good price, you would have to sell it on a place like Ebay, where the unique frame might get a couple of educated buyers bidding against each other.
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