Asahi bikes
 

Anyone has feedback/opinions on the Asahi Retour or Colel randonneur/road bikes? Are they one of those “ under the radar” models or are they not worth the effort restoring?

Do you have any pics to share?

Can’t post pics yet since I still have less than 10 posts. However, you can Google them and they seem to be Japan-only models. The Retour seems to mostly be a randonneur and the Colel is a road bike.

Yes, you can post pictures with less than 10 posts. While they won't attach to this thread, they will be uploaded to a gallery album under your forum ID, where they can be viewed by members.

Thank you for the tip. I have uploaded sample pics taken from the web on the Gallery page. I cannot read Japanese but it seems these are not really vintage bikes but at least they have a vintage look (especially the Retour) and are made out of steel, for that "old school feel", hopefully. There is a used frame of a Retour a friend is trying to sell to me; this is what triggered the query in this forum. I was wondering if this would be a worthy project to restore being a Japanese bike (quite rare and reliable (?)) or would I be better off doing it on a more known Japanese brand.

If the Asahi is on tap, I'll take it. If not, make it a Kirin Ichiban.

Wait, what?

Here's a link to the OP's gallery album, https://www.bikeforums.net/g/picture/14547553 . I'd post the pictures direct to the thread but I was recently reprimanded for doing this.

Unfortunately, the only picture for the actual bicycle under consideration is from the non-drive side and of poor resolution. I'm not sure if its retro style or an actual vintage bicycle. The unicrown fork and lugless construction suggest no earlier than about 1990 while the fat barrel Parallax style hubs would push things up into the late 1990s. The brake levers look like Tektro. The down tube shift levers don't look familar, so they may be something like Microshift. It's hard to get a positive identification on anything else, though I'm not getting a high end vibe.A drive side picture, particularly of the drive would help, as would pictures of the cantilever brakes and the tubing decal. Barring that, model names for the major components and tubeset would be an asset.

I'm assuming the website product images are recent. If so, a price of 59, 980 Yen converts to $555.63 US. That's not very expensive for a bicycle these days.

The RD on my friend’s bike is the Shimano Claris—nothing to set off bells here, for sure. For the price range, it seems quite right that the components won’t set things on fire; they are at least reliable. The canti brakes have the Shimano name but no model. Its missing the saddle and the brake levers but nothing that cannot be replaced. I am now more bent on just the brand—regardless of whether its a high-end model or not, is Asahi worth keeping? Rare, for sure but is it one of those under-the-radar names? Does not seem to have enough information in the forums or even online in general.

I gotcha, loud and clear! Happy youth in Nihon...

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0b5415c941.jpg

My 1984 (?) Asahi 790 12-speed. Mostly restored, needs new decals. Shimano 105 "Golden Arrow" component group.

I have attached a photo in my album in the gallery section of the Asahi 2015 catalogue I saw online; it seems this model, fully called the Retour Cyclotourisme is not that old; it just has the look.

Nice bike! I say keep the frame as is; it adds to the authenticity IMO. Besides, it seems likely that finding decals for it will be a challenge.