Thoughts on Nishika Century 10 Speed?
 

Anyone know much about the Nishika Century? I've been looking for a vintage road bike for a while, and came across this one... I know it was one of Nishika's lower end bikes, but at only $75 I think I've found something worth while. Especially since the frame fits me (hard to find when you need 61-63cm).

some pics of the bike on the C/L page
https://post.craigslist.org/manage/2459065116/zcdmu

Good buy? worth putting a bit of money into, to fix up a bit??

Thanks for the input!

You gave us a link to your CL account for this listing, are you selling this bike?

Large frames are easy to find, hard to sell. Cabling is a bit of a mess. Priced about right for what it is, I would aim higher.

I'm looking to buy... thats the link the seller sent to me.

Is this peugeot any better? He doesn't seem to know much about it, but I know peugeot was always a nicer bike...
http://detroit.craigslist.org/wyn/bik/2459320091.html

I've just been having a hard time coming across anything that would be ridable, for a resonable price ($150-200, after some work). Any advice?

That Peugeot is in rough shape, and is low end. You will be over your budget by the time you have it ready to ride, and you will have an entry level bike. I suggest you spend some time on google, and get educated on what a good bike looks like, features, and construction, and then pounce when you see one. Any bike that lasts long enough for a "Hey is this a good deal?" response is very likely not a good deal.

As far as clean, ready to ride, decent to nice vintage bike, your budget is on the low end. The decent stuff around here brings $200 and up. I sold a nice one last week for $260, ready to ride, mid grade bike, in great condition.

The only way to get something pretty good and ready to ride at your budget is to get lucky. Lucky = look a lot, launch on a deal as there are plenty of other people looking, and be ready to do some rehab work yourself on it. That bike I sold for $260 came in a box, in about 30 pieces, and needed a complete, thorough rehab. It was quite a mess when I picked it up.


Before:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2575/...ddf753dd_b.jpg


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2547/...e67a9dd8_b.jpg








After:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2294/...aa90d371_b.jpg

Hi themerv019:

How tall are you? You've given links to 2 bikes that are much different sizes. Be careful to buy the right size bike.

The Peugeot is nothing special and needs significant attention. Peugeot made great bikes, but this is not one of them. I would pass.

If you are 6'2" or taller, the Nishiki is a good value. It appears in much better condition.

Bob

First of all wrk101, just want to say that bike is a beauty, you did an amazing job with the restoration!
Im about 6'2" and only really looking at bikes in the 60-63cm range... its tough on C/L sometimes people dont always know models or frame sizes. I guess I've only really been looking intensly for the past 2 weeks or so, but am hoping to get a bike in the near future. I wouldn't really mind getting one that needed a bit of work done, I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty and I've done basic maitenance and on my other bikes. I just know less about the vintage models and would need to do some research.

I also came across this 1982 Schwinn Traveler, supposedly it is in great working condition, with all original parts, and a frame that would fit. I'm assuming it has the heavier Hi-Ten 1020 frame, not the TrueTemper CoMo frame (think those came out in 83), but still considering it. It seems in pretty good cosmetic condition from the pictures
http://s1192.photobucket.com/albums/aa322/themerv019/

I'd probably offer like $75...

Thanks again for all the help!
-Colin

I have an 82 World that is a similar bike. I use it occasionally, but with all the steel chrome - including the wheels - its more of a just-sit-and-look pretty bike.

You are correct, it is noticeably heavier than the later 80s. And both wheels are nutted, making it time consuming to do fast tube changes in the field unless you swap in big wingnuts or those fancy QR nuts for nutted axles.

The brakes aren't that good. Usable, but nothing like found on newer rides. Just keep that in mind. Even swapping to higher quality pads is only going to do so much with a SP on steel wheels.

Still, for $75, if its in really good shape, it might be something nice to start off with, then keep as a backup when you decide to upgrade.

Good to know, do you think the Nishika, or the Schwinn would be better... both are the same price right now, but the Nishika could use a bit of a tuneup.

I would get the Nishiki for the mere fact that Schwinn looks like it might have a lot of corrosion on the rims and the decals are in bad shape. It's only cosmetic, but I would feel the need to factor in the cost of a new wheelset before I would be happy with it and I'd have to remove or replace the decals.
The "bent rim" on the Nishiki is probably just out of true.
Watch out for bent forks though. You can't tell from the pictures of either if the fork is bent or not.