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1986 Nishiki Riviera GT Touring - Suntour LePree

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1986 Nishiki Riviera GT Touring - Suntour LePree

Old 07-27-20, 03:18 PM
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1986 Nishiki Riviera GT Touring - Suntour LePree

Now both my sons happen to have triple pulley rear derailers. This replaces my 13 year old’s Trek 600 which sadly developed a crack in the head tube, discovered after our tour of Long Island and the CT shoreline.

I had built this for a friend who wound up not ever using it. Got it back and trued the wheels and wrapped the bars.

A quick bit of riding up and down our block got him used to downtube shifting — longer rides to come and then another tour!











Time to oil the chain and get fenders and racks on it. What’s with the vertical fitting on the brake bridge? I don’t know. Time for a kludge too, I guess.

Last edited by Standalone; 08-02-20 at 10:41 AM.
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Old 07-27-20, 03:32 PM
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Nice lookin bike! A friend of mine just bought one for his girlfriend and I'm acting as his consultant during the build, so I'm interested in some of the things on yours.

Does that top-mount shifter attach with a standard 5mm or 6mm screw, or is it some crazy fine-pitch screw? Is it the same mount as Suntour Symmetric? Are those Suntour Symmetric?
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Old 07-27-20, 03:41 PM
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Originally Posted by scarlson
Nice lookin bike! A friend of mine just bought one for his girlfriend and I'm acting as his consultant during the build, so I'm interested in some of the things on yours.

Does that top-mount shifter attach with a standard 5mm or 6mm screw, or is it some crazy fine-pitch screw? Is it the same mount as Suntour Symmetric? Are those Suntour Symmetric?
I believe they are Suntour symmetric. I have not had them off and so do not know the pitch of the threads. Nothing makes me think that they would be oddly spec’d

Only funny thing about the bike is that the brake bridge has a single threaded fitting for the rear fender (no hole tangential to the rim for rim brake retrofit) which is new to me.

Double braze ons at front and rear for fenders and racks
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Old 07-27-20, 03:45 PM
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Originally Posted by Standalone
I believe they are Suntour symmetric. I have not had them off and so do not know the pitch of the threads. Nothing makes me think that they would be oddly spec’d
The only reason I ask is because I pulled a set of Symmetric shifters off an old Univega and the braze-on to that frame looks a bit different to what is in photos of my friend's Riviera (he lives a ways away so not able to see it now!), and uses a very fine pitch screw to attach to the Univega. I was wondering if they're all like that and what the deal is with the braze-ons. I guess the clamp-on version uses an endless band clamp, but maybe there's a separate braze-on version.

I love that fender mount braze-on on the Nishiki. Its decisive purposefulness echoes the great French constructeurs. These old tourers make such good gravel bikes! My friend and his girlfriend live in central Vermont, prime gravel country, so we have high hopes for it.

OH one thing I would like to know is seatpost size. Do you have any idea? I think his came with the wrong sized post, judging by the abuse the clamp has seen.
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Old 07-27-20, 04:00 PM
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Originally Posted by scarlson
The only reason I ask is because I pulled a set of Symmetric shifters off an old Univega and the braze-on to that frame looks a bit different to what is in photos of my friend's Riviera (he lives a ways away so not able to see it now!), and uses a very fine pitch screw to attach to the Univega. I was wondering if they're all like that and what the deal is with the braze-ons. I guess the clamp-on version uses an endless band clamp, but maybe there's a separate braze-on version.

I love that fender mount braze-on on the Nishiki. Its decisive purposefulness echoes the great French constructeurs. These old tourers make such good gravel bikes! My friend and his girlfriend live in central Vermont, prime gravel country, so we have high hopes for it.

OH one thing I would like to know is seatpost size. Do you have any idea? I think his came with the wrong sized post, judging by the abuse the clamp has seen.
I make it 26.8. Double checked against the old trek which is 27.2 and yeah I think that’s an accurate reading.



Now, that said the bike came back to me with the SP slammed and it got some zig zags coming back up — the frame comes to two sharp points at the clamp and seems prone to that kind of thing. So a lot of marks might not be a sign of a wrong size.
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Old 07-27-20, 04:07 PM
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Thanks for the extra pictures and measurement! Makes sense looking at the other Nishikis I've worked with, which are also all 26.8.

The post in this frame is a chromed steel pillar-type post, so I'm pretty confident it's not original, and neither is the binder bolt, plus the ears are touching and visibly not parallel. It's really a bit of a mess, but I'm confident I can clean it up!

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Old 07-27-20, 05:21 PM
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There was someone here who had that same model that he lavished tons of attention on- I can't remember who... but it was a strikingly cool bike. It's a great color scheme- enough to stand out- but not over the top flashy. Aside from the Symmetric shifters- it's a way way cool bike. And I LOVE triple pulley derailleurs.

Originally Posted by Standalone
Only funny thing about the bike is that the brake bridge has a single threaded fitting for the rear fender (no hole tangential to the rim for rim brake retrofit) which is new to me.
Why would you care to retrofit side pulls or other center pulls if you've got cantis?
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Old 07-27-20, 05:33 PM
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I remember sorta that posters thread. Lavish would be the word. It looked it too! His name here started with an S...
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Old 07-27-20, 05:43 PM
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Do you mean Saguaro 's Cresta? 1982 Nishiki Cresta
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Old 07-27-20, 07:09 PM
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Originally Posted by noobinsf
Do you mean Saguaro 's Cresta? 1982 Nishiki Cresta
Nope-

It's a regular- and he got in a minor bike trail accident and totaled the bike...
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Old 07-28-20, 07:48 AM
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It's like at the dog park- you know all the dogs' names, you recognize the owners- but you don't remember their names...

You remember the bike- you vaguely know who's bike it is...
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Old 07-28-20, 07:55 AM
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Clearly I don’t remember anything.
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Old 07-28-20, 09:30 AM
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Originally Posted by The Golden Boy
Why would you care to retrofit side pulls or other center pulls if you've got cantis?
I would not. Some may wish to make a conversion to 700c, for one. This frame is probably not a 650b candidate because it’s 630/27” with already wide-ish clearance
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Old 07-28-20, 12:09 PM
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Originally Posted by Standalone
I would not. Some may wish to make a conversion to 700c, for one. This frame is probably not a 650b candidate because it’s 630/27” with already wide-ish clearance
I'd bet dollars to doughnuts you could go to 700c with no problems- provided you use the proper brakes. The Shimano MC-70, MT-62, M732 brakes will work- as will the Suntour XC Pro brakes. I'm assuming that would also include the DiaCompe brakes that the XC Pros are based off- the DC 986 and 987- Which would include the Ritchey Logic.

I do fantasize about doing up my Trek 400 with 650B. But don't even consider it with any of the tourers.

So that brings up another point... will your son dig it more with Barcons? Or is he cool with DT shifters?
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Old 07-28-20, 12:26 PM
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Originally Posted by The Golden Boy
There was someone here who had that same model that he lavished tons of attention on- I can't remember who... but it was a strikingly cool bike.
It was
ryansu

And it was a Cresta GT not a Riviera GT.

So much for that "remembering all the bikes" thing! :O
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Old 07-28-20, 01:14 PM
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I have a 1985 Nishiki Riveria GT stashed away in the gonna' get to soon queue. I took a quick look today and it appears that the cantis would adjust to 700c easily. It is hanging and I can't see the model of the Dia-Compe brakes.
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Old 07-28-20, 01:25 PM
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Originally Posted by dweenk
I have a 1985 Nishiki Riveria GT stashed away in the gonna' get to soon queue. I took a quick look today and it appears that the cantis would adjust to 700c easily. It is hanging and I can't see the model of the Dia-Compe brakes.
Some people have had luck with some of the earlier DC brakes- I suppose it also very much has to do with which bike and how wide the posts are spaced... But when you see a set of lightly used MT62 brakes for $25, you jump on 'em.
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