Plan_B

Hi BF,

I'm a newbie to this forum, & I would like any information about this bike this I found in my late grandfather's garage. It's tags say Bridgestone Diecast Frame Hi Ten. It has Suntour Spirit front & Honor rear derailleurs, Suntour stem mounted shifters, Dia Compe brakes, & Sugino cottered cranks.

Any information would be much appreciated.

Here are some pics

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8znxvrawa9...%2036.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ac7c0f35cy...%2025.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hivg151ttx...%2019.jpg?dl=0

I think the serial number on the bottom of the bottom bracket is 6813195

Thanks,

B

ramzilla

All I'm seeing is a bike frame with brakes, handlebars, stem shifters, & RD. It must be a pre-80's (1970's vintage) with the center pull brakes. Too bad you don't have the crank set or wheels. I've never heard of a Diecast. But, most Japanese vintage high tension steel frames are pretty average items. If you can find the right buyer you might be able to get around $50 for that in its current condition. Looks like a decent parts bike.

AlexCyclistRoch

Well, on the plus side, nice lugs! On the minus side, chromed bars, squarish fork shoulders, stem shifters, seems to be straight-gauge tubing. If I could see the rear derailleur and the dropouts, I could get a better idea. I suspect that it's a low-to-mid level frame, but one in nice shape. Not worth much to a collector, but might be worth something to somebody who makes resto-mod style bikes.

Frame would make a good fixed-gear.

Plan_B

Thanks Ramzilla & Alex,

I do have the crankset. It had some surface rust so I removed them to try & clean some of it off. I will post pics of them as well as the rear dropouts in a minute.

T-Mar

Bridgestone used the same frame for several models but the steel, cottered crankset, SunTour Honor & Spirt derailleurs and fully painted front fork indicate a Super Speed, which was the bottom of the line,adult lightweight model.

The frame construction involved die casting aluminum lugs arond tubes that had their ends flared and plugged. This allowed Bridgestone to join dissimilar materials and materials that were difficult to braze or weld, suc has the Stainless steel used the Submariner model.

Plan_B

Here are more pics of the rear derailleur & drop outs, front derailleur & crankset.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/t9n5afkuoq...%2005.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hgacfp6vdv...%2048.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5igmmovj8f...%2007.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/iqxnjpfkps...%2022.jpg?dl=0

T-Mar

Here's a picture of a cross-sectioned die cast bottom bracket. It shows how the ends of the tubes are plugged so that they will not fill with aluminum when the lugs are cast around them. Also note how the ends of the tubes are flared to prevent being pulled out of the lugs. The process also minimized the need for skilled brazers.

AlexCyclistRoch

Yeah, cheap stamped dropouts, cheap claw-type derailleur, cheap steel cottered crank. Worth maybe $50 to somebody who's looking for a project.

Plan_B

Thanks for all the info guys.
B