uncle uncle

Really? Ouch. I used to look thru the Nashbar catalog and dream of having a Nashbar road bike... I thought they were a bargain, with well reasoned part selection. Got a personal list of the "haves" and "have not's" brands from the 80's?

T-Mar

Well, perhaps that subject deserves it's own thread. However, I'll give you one from the 1970s - C.Itoh. Even today they're routinely trashed by forum members as crap, junk, POS, etc. Even Sheldon Brown is on record as saying that they were "pretty crummy bikes". However, they were a full range marketing brand from a Japanese trading company who used Bridgestone as their source. The top model was similar to the Bridgestone Diamond Road, which is a revered bicycle.


I agree that the Nashbar bicycles were typically intelligently spec'd and good value, though the shipping costs often erased most of the value. It's great when cyclists can see past the brand name to assess the bicycle on actual parameters, such as tubing, components, features, geometry and workmanship. Unfortunately, that is not always the case.

Lemond1985

The thing about Nashbar is that they did a poor job of protecting their brand image, and sold a lot of Nashbar-branded budget-priced, homely ill-fitting bike clothing, shoes, tires, and other bike gear. So when you have a Nashbar frame, it could be a Colnago underneath the paint, but your mind still associates it with all the cheap generic gear Nashbar sold.

It's not exactly a logical process, but desirable premium brands got there by carefully creating, promoting and protecting their image. Slapping your brand name on any cheap trinket you got a good deal on has consequences.

verktyg 

Eric, really great find.

T-Mar pretty much covered all the bases except...

Those tires are unsafe to ride for several reasons.

1. The rim cement (glue) holding the tubular tires onto the rim can be up to 33 years old and has dried out and lost it's adhesiveness. Air pressure may be all that's holding the tires on the rims. You can see how the tire has crept on the rim. The valve stem can pull out of the tire!

2. Even worse, the adhesive that holds the rim strip to the tire casing is probably dried out too making it easy for the tire to roll off, more so than just dried out rim cement.

Sewups/tubulars can be a joy to ride, especially in areas where you don't encounter goat head thorns. They require more attention than clinchers to keep them going. The most common sewups have cross sections 20mm to 23mm in diameter. Larger diameter sewup tires are becoming popular but they tend to be expensive. Also, folks who believe the hype about running high tire pressures have more problems with them. I run 90-95 psi.

I use Tufo Rim Tape to mount my sewups. It's a lot faster and mess free compared to rim cement. I also use Tufo sealant in them. There are other brands on the market but I know the stuff works.

Shimano 600 components are still good stuff. The rear derailleur can handle a 28T freewheel without any problems. With some trial and error on chain length, it should be able to handle a 30T or even 32T freewheel.

Tange # 2 tubing is no slouch! The wall thickness of Tange # 2 is slightly thicker than Tange # 1 tubing - 70 grams (2.5 ounces). Tange # 2 had just about the same wall thicknesses as Columbus SL tubing.

Take care of those tires, either have the rims switched to clinchers or get some new sewups. There's lot's of source online with help for running sewups.

Ride your bike and enjoy it.

verktyg

eric044

Haven't counted teeth yet. Does anyone know what the gearing is?

eric044

I was told the bike was ridden like not at all because it was a gift in college and was too small for the recipient. As to serial number, I may post that soon. Was shopping for tires today. Was considering Michelin Power Competition from Amazon but may get something at a LBS, probably clinchers.

Would prefer not to change gearing now. I shifted into lowest gear and moved okay. I will be able to judge better my second time.

T-Mar

Stock gearing was spec'd as 42-52T chain rings with a 13-14-15-17-19-21T freewheel, which was considered a general purpose competition gear range for the era.

Also, with respect to the statement, "As to serial number, I may post that soon.". The forum correct response would be, "As to serial number, I will post that ASAP."

noglider 

Agreed about Nashbar. I've bought a fair bit of stuff from them over many years. I think I regretted buying almost of half of it, or at least it seems that way. Some of the clothing was pretty awful. And then there are the gems. Once I bought a $300 complete fixed gear bike with low expectations, and it turned out to be very nice. It was the only new bike I've bought since 1979.

eric044

Thinking about the tubes on steel classics. Do race bikes like mine have larger diameter tubes than Bianchi Classica?

eric044

The handlebar tape felt thin and good. Maybe a carbon.

T-Mar

Slightly oversize steel tubes were just starting to appear in the mid-1980s. Masi introduced their revolutionary Volumetrica circa 1984 but it used custom internal lugs. Oversize steel tubes on road bicycles did not become a trend until circa 1990 when manufacturers started to use the TIG welded construction of ATBs to free themselves from lugs. With few exceptions, steel, derailleur equipped road bicycles from pre-1990 used standard diameter tubing, in either the imperial or metric standard, which are similar but slightly different. Some inexpensive, pre-boom and boom 10 speeds did use a smaller diameter tubing. These were typically American manufacturers who adpted existing roadster and 3 speed frames. So, yes, a competition bicycle like your Nashbar and a recreational model like a Classica, would use the same diameter tubing.

eric044

FN62518. Could you tell me seat post dimension for a saddle bag? I assume the rails are standard road. Would you recommend a frame bag instead?

eric044

The valve separated from the tire. The tire otherwise appears to be in good condition. Will look into whether I should use glue to install valve into tire.

Lemond1985

Saw this kinda odd Nashbar for sale on CL. The triple triangle was a real head-shaker. I thought only GT had those:





https://modesto.craigslist.org/bik/d...847918969.html

T-Mar

The subject bicycle is a 1987 Nashabar Road Alpha 5000. Nashar had triple triangle designs that pre-date this, going back to at least 1985. I don't believe that GT had even ventured out of BMX by this time.

Shogun also marketed several triple triangle designs in the late 1980s. but the frame design goes back to the 1923 when it was invented by an Englishman, Fred Hellens. As a tribute to the inventor, these frames are called Hellenic designs in England. Notable English practitioners included Hetchins and Thanet. The style goes in and out fashion periodically.

Lemond1985

Wow, thanks T-Mar. I had no idea there was so much history behind this design.

fleslider 

GT was in the MTB market in 1985, but did not do a triple triangle until 1987

heres my 1986 GT Backwoods

lasauge 

Just before the junction with the seattube, does the toptube flare out wider, or is that section made out a bit of larger diameter tubing, or is that just an apparent illusion from the photo?

T-Mar

I don't know how they achieved this on the very early ATB models like the Backwoods but once they went to the triple triangle design shortly afterwards, it was achieved by a combination of tube sizes and shapes. The top tube was 1/8" larger in diameter than the seat tube and the top tube was further ovalized at the back end, with the major diameter oriented laterally. This provided sufficient top tube width to allow it to be pierced by the set tube and provide the distinctive.Manx tail.

In the case of the subject Backwoods it appears to be an oversized top tube with a back end that further enlarged but not ovalized. However, I've never seen one in person, so we'll have to wait for flesider to respond, to be sure.

fleslider 

Correct the top tube flares just before the seat tube. and the seat tube is going through the top tube . And TMar is correct its not ovalized , here is a pic of the rear cap on the top tube. As far as i know there was only two MTB models in 1985 and 1986 the Backwoods and Timberline. Maybe TMar has more info on them as it is scarce out there..

eric044

27" rims or 700c rims? Trying to stretch tubular tires and don't know.

T-Mar

Tubulars come in different sizes but these are 700C equivalent, which is the most common size. You'll see 27" and 28" on some tubular tyres but the three are all the same diameter. I say "equivalent" because 700C is technically a designation for beaded tyres and tubulars do not have beads.

eric044

Probably will have a chance to get moving on this soon. Need to replace the bar tape on at least half and would like to find the same tape, if it is still made. Very thin ribbon-like feel. Did see Serfas ribbon bar tape but that has foam backing and the one that was on my bars had very little to it. The bar ends say Cateye but I don't see any current Cateye bar ends nor tape.

I have seen carbon tape online, which is probably similar, and perhaps something I will need to try. Anyone remember the brand and/or the material used for tape on this?

uncleivan 

I found this a couple months ago. For $30 it followed me home. Pretty well built. Nashbar City Alpha 5000. All stock. Suzue hubs, araya rims, suntour thumb shifters, suntour alpha 5000 (a5000) front and rear derailleurs. Not a fan of the Technomic stem, but it rides nice. Frame is about 54cm.

repechage

You might be considering clinchers but not on those rims. Tubulars, aka sew-ups are an entire different system.
My view falls probably in the middle regarding these. I ride tubulars every day. Almost 100% these need at least to be reglued.
Remove wheel, deflate tire and it will probably be easy to peel off the rim starting opposite the valve.
the base tape is bonded to the rim and tire, should stay with the tire. evaluate how well it is still bonded. I think it is 50/50 that it needs to be redone.
Most shops won't want to or don't know how to do this.
You need to find a shop that caters to the racers, it is quite possible to learn, plenty of info including the totally tubular thread here.
My guess $20 per wheel labor to have a shop that knows what they are doing reglue or install new tires.
Buy them from the shop, yes it will be cheaper online.
There is also rim tape, Tufo or Panaracer, another approach and has its own issues such as more work to exchange a tire on the road.
You do need a spare tire, you do need a pump or Co2 inflator, one you can meter in the air.