Old 08-31-09 | 05:38 PM
  #2445  
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Chicago Al
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Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 2,664
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From: Chicago, the leafy NW side

Bikes: 1974 Motobecane Grand Record, 1987 Miyata Pro, 1988 Bob Jackson Lady Mixte (wife's), others in the family

My first post in this thread! Thanks to the eagle eye of cb400Bill, who has facilitated 50% of my CV bike purchases ever (2 of 4 so far!), I was able to pick up this c1983 Miyata 210 from the garage of a retired gentleman in Indiana. It was an easy pickup, just off I-80, and coincidentally we were on a trip back from the East Coast, and to top it off I'd just picked up another CL find in Ohio!

It was dark by the time we arrived and I could see the bike was pretty dirty and had surface rust--at least. But the seatpost (clearly wrong) came out so I figured it couldn't be that bad, and the price ($25) was certainly right. And the bike even seems to be my size.

I posted below about the seat tube issues; the seatpost that was in was too small (25mm, should be 26.8) and the binder had been cranked down (without proper binder bolt or washers) so the tube was deformed. I was able to get it opened back up enough to accept a 26.6 seatpost I had, and added a generic seat that came off one of our kids bikes some time ago.

A lot of cleaning and a fix of a stuck chain link has yielded a bike that's at least rideable. This is all new territory to me and having come this far I am thinking this would be a good bike to do a first full fixup on. Disassembly, acid bath for rust, clean, repack bearings, etc. I don't want it to turn into a neverending project though---and Mrs Al would certainly agree with that.

The chain and freewheel are both rusty and may be just as easily replaced. New rubber all around of course--tires and brake pads appear to be original! Besides the seat/seatpost, the only change I can find is the RD, switched for a Shimano Exage (off an MTB?) and a cute little counter-computer on the front wheel.

The one thing I may not be able to deal with is the rear wheel which is substantially out of round and has a visible flat spot. I have no experience with adjusting spokes but suspect this is beyond adjustment. I'd be grateful for any advice on that.

Maybe I'd be better off flipping this one for a modest profit and putting the money towards a better candidate, and I may still do that, but so far so good!

Last edited by Chicago Al; 08-31-09 at 05:46 PM.
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