Streichy

Just curious, I read that Grant Petersen worked at Bridgestone starting in 84, same year as the bikes went from names to numbers (400, 500, 600, 700) and I'm just curious. Did he have a hand in designing those frames or did his influence come after that generation of bikes? I have an 85 400 frame forks and headset, but not much else and might build it up after I'm done with my current project. If nothing else it will be because I live in the bay and heard Bridgestones (maybe not mine but still) have a small cult following.

base2 

I dunno if you would call it a "cult" following, but in reading all the threads here, they do get talked about an awful lot for how long/how many were made.

I liked the 26 inch wheeled road bike idea so much I searched about 6 months for an XO1 & eventually got a custom Rodruguez specced with 26's instead.

Imagine my surprise when I saw an original XO1 for $200 at a swap meet when I hadn't even taken delivery of the Rodriguez yet. Oh, well, C'est la vie.

As far as Grant Peterson, I don't know. But on the cult following thing...a definite maybe.

Edit: Sheldon Brown has an article on the subject.
https://sheldonbrown.com/bridgestone/

dddd

The Bridgestone 400 is an excellent frame/fork if it's your correct size.

I set one of my all-time best split times on mine even though it was a heavy build with it's touring-oriented 27-inch wheels.
I put Suntour 7s Command shifters on it, later sold it to a friend who rode it for several years before it was stolen when she apparently left it unattended for a bit too long. I remember it being her favorite bike to ride, and it survived a lot of hard use and a couple of crashes.

Streichy

Right on, yeah I read that and pretty much everything else I could find, even went to youtube looking for info. It should fit me pretty well, and I'm excited to build it up. Bummer about the stolen bike, people steal everything where I live, managed to get to my American Eagle (Nishiki) semi pro as a guy had just finished snipping my cable lock about a year ago.

I managed to tell by the color (red) and the sticker that it is an 85. Might just rummage through my box of parts for a nice stem and handlebar, aluminum seat post and this spare seat I have and make it ready for a wheel set, since I'm building up a set of 27" rims right now. VO pbp rims, dt swiss triple butted, phil touring front hub sachs s7 rear with coaster brake, should be able to compare frames pretty easy with this wheel set (takes brakes, derailleurs, levers and lines out of the mix). I heard this frame is the same as the 500, just came with worse components.

ironwood

I have a 1983 Bridgestone 400, which a friend found in the dump without wheels. I built it up with 700c wheels and fenders. For about 5 years it was the bike I used for most utility trips and some long rides. It was, and is a comfortable, versatile bike. Then I got the 650B bug and haven't ridden the 400 much since. I've thought about converting it to 650B. It would not be low trail unless the fork were reraked, but still I might put some 650B wheels and long reach brakes to see how it rides.

Salamandrine 

In my view, the Grant Petersen Bridgestones are the ones from 1988 to the end in 1994, mostly because 88 was when the RB1 came out. There were hints of the style in the previous couple years though. To answer your question, no, it's unlikely he had a hand in the design of an 84. It would have been designed the previous year.

The pre Grant Bridgestones were actually very nice bikes. I liked them a lot, in part because they were so unapologetically Japanese and modern. A bit too far ahead of their time perhaps. They did not tweak them for US tastes, and this did not help them in terms of sales in the US. I believe Petersen was originally brought in to direct marketing at Bridgestone USA - not design per se, and figure out how to make them appeal to Americans.