I picked up this Miyata Six Ten a few days ago and looks to be all original, minus the Avocet Saddle. Serial Number starts with "L" which indicates 1983, but all the components exactly match the 1984 catalog. Not a big deal either way, but I'm wondering if it was maybe a "late in the year model" as they adopted different components, anyone else experience this?



The bike is in great shape overall, but definitely needed a full teardown, re-lube, etc. After stating that process, I found some rust inside the seat tube, but it came clean with a few twists of a furnace brush. My main concern is the light rust within the down tube and chain stays. It's not heavily pitted and rubs off fairly easy, but of course I can't get to (or see) the length of the tube to clean it out. Do I just leave it as is and treat with frame saver, or should I do some type of soak to eat it all out of there?





The previous owner also got heavy handed with the surface rust removal, so there are a few larger stops I'd like to touch up. Anyone have matching paint recommendations? Doesn't need to be a perfect match, just close enough that it doesn't stand out as much as bare metal.

My Miyata has an L serial and is definitely a 1984 model, based on the catalog pictures. Most manufacturers gear up for the coming model year in the fall, so bikes will be in the shops by the holiday shopping season.

The Avocet saddle was one of the first changes I made on my bike too.

I'd say it was an '84. The '84 has a rear brake cable stop brazed to the seat stays, and the '83 has a cable stop that hangs from the seat post binder bolt.
The rust inside the frame doesn't look too bad to me. I think just coating the inside with frame saver or something similar would be adequate. Touch up paint might be kind of tricky to get a match but a lot of people use Testors model enamel, mixing different colors to get a match. Or you can bring the fork to an automotive paint supply store and they can usually mix up a match and sell you a small amount for about $20 or so. You also need some primer.
I have two '85 610's, one is the same color as your's and the other is what Miyata called burnt sienna. They are well built bikes with nice components.

I've seen several positive reviews of the Avocet Touring saddles so I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Good catch on the rear cable stop differences between 83-84, I had not noticed that.

My gut also says the rust is fine as is and just coat it. I live in Tucson, AZ so super dry weather overall and I rarely ride in the rain so I'm sure it'll be fine. I guess the bike landed here from New Jersey and I bet that's where most of the rust originated.

I looked into Testors colors and gonna give "Arctic Blue" a try. I'll report back on if it's a decent enough match.

That Burnt Sienna color is very nice!

I have the exact same bike. I’m in agreement that it’s an 84. I’ve had it for about 2 years and I absolutely love it. I’ve changed just about everything on it. But it is just such a great riding bike. You can easily swap the original 27” wheels for 700s. There is plenty of adjustability with the stock cantilevers. I think the secret is that the 610’s had slightly steeper geometry giving them a sportier ride. I’m from NJ, by the coast, and rust is a continuous battle. In Arizona I think a little frame saver or boeshield inside the tubes and you’ll be good for the foreseeable future. You’re going to be very happy with that bike.

Wharf Rat you're right about the more-upright geometry versus the 210 and 1000 models, makes the bike more fun on the road.

I used mine off-road half the time, I found it was a competent mountain bike, sturdy enough to handle a nuclear blast and with short enough chainstays for good climbing traction on the steepest technical climbs.

Mine came with heavily-scratched top tube sides, I used handlebar finishing tape to cover all that. The rear rack on mine has held up to much hard use and the rack trunk luggage adds enough rearward weight to further help climbing traction off road. I went with a downhill-specific saddle on a suspension post for my many adventures in the Sierra Foothills and on Mt. Tam.

I can't remember if mine ever had the half-step-plus-granny chainrings on it, currently running 28-40-52 with a 14-32t 6s freewheel and indexed levers.

This was my main off-road bike before "gravel bikes" were a thing!

I can never seem to mix a very good match when I do touch ups, but for areas like your forks, I find it helps fool the eye if you paint a solid rectangular area with the "close" match, a then mark it off with a bit of automotive pinstripe tape so the two shades aren't immediately adjacent.

Nice! I plan and changing most the components as well. Not that they're terrible by any means, I just have some nicer pieces that were meant for a bike like this... Specialized Flag Crankset, Nitto Stem and Bars, Dia Compe NGC 210 Levers, Bar End Shifters, etc. I've also heard those Mountech rear derailleurs can be problematic so I'm replacing with Shimano Deore DX. I'll share some pics after it's all built up.

I have a Miyata 1000 as well and very curious to see how different the 610 feels. The stock chainrings on my 610 are 52/46/28, but I plan on switching to 48/36/28 and If I feel the need for more speed, I have a 50t to try out.

I see you replaced your rear derailleur. Was that a preventative move or did the original Mountech actually fail on you? I've read they can collect a lot of grime and are a major pain to service, but work well if maintained?

Here’s a picture of mine


I’ve got it set up with a 46-42 half step, which is perfect for the extremely flat area I live in.

Very Nice! What size tires or you running? They look nice and beefy.

When changing rings, for good shifting I wouldn't want the chainring size difference between the bigger two rings to be any bigger than the size difference between the two smaller rings.
Actually better when it's the other way around, especially with older, plain chainrings w/o pickup pins ( and why half-step chainrings give better shifting to and from the middle ring).

Mine came from Goodwill with the Shimano derailer shown, I added indexed 6s levers mounted on a Huret clamp, using something like 10-24t coarse-thread screws, and using LocTite.

I had the 1st-gen Mountech on my '84 Stumpjumper Sport, and the big top pulley clogged up with mud early on. It was a lot of work to rebuild and I later replaced it.
Bad design because the very large diameter bushing surfaces caused high friction and rapid wear.

They are labeled as 38’s, but they only measured out to 36. Not that I’m complaining, my rides are almost completely on roads. For that they are plenty plump.

If you are sensitive to chemicals (I can't stand the smell of Framesaver, which can take weeks to dissipate), try Boeshield T-9 spray for your internal rust preventative needs. Wax based coating developed by Boeing for protection of aircraft components.

So I took a deep dive into cleaning / rebuilding my Mountech and good lord, what an undertaking. I usually like doing stuff like that, but definitely not a fan of this design.

Hey! That's exactly what I just picked up for the same reason. I've tried framesaver a couple times and HATE the smell, which does seem to linger forever.

Update! The Testors Arctic Blue Metallic Enamel (#1109) worked fairly well. Actually looks a bit better in the photo than in person, but it's close enough for jazz as they say.

That looks pretty good. Did you use a primer and if so what color?

I tried some light grey primer the first time and it looked way off. Then did a bare metal test on the fork steerer tube and was pleasantly surprised how it turned out. Did about 2-3 coats on most of this fork area.

Color match looks great. I see you’ve also got a Miyata 1000. Once you get this 610 up and running I’d be interested in your thoughts on the differences between the two.

Friendly heads up that I got my 610 up and running. Thanks everyone for all the advice and tips. I ended up using a majority of the original parts on another build ('85 Sekai 2500) and built up the 610 closer to Miyata 1000 specs. Just a couple of test rides in, but so far so go.

That turned out really nice. Great job.

I had an '83 that I used as my workhorse fix gear for 30 years and 27,000 miles until I shortened it substantially from a crash I walked away from unscathed. I wasn't a fan of the fit but materials and workmanship were first class.

I wouldn't sweat that rust at all. Run some Framesaver of AMS Heavy Duty Metal Protector inside the tubes and call it good for then next 20 years. My 610 got ridden year 'round in Seattle and Portland. Locked up in the rain hundreds of times.

This bike got turned into more of a luxury sport-tourer, and the frame is worthy of it.

Does the shifting in front work out with the smallish middle ring, as far as shifting to and from the middle ring(?) (note that I corrected my comment in my earlier post #13).

I'm running 34-42-52t on my recent Nishiki "ONP" Pro acquisition and find the shifting to and from the middle ring to be slightly lazy and cantankerous but still fully workable.
I would use a pinned middle ring but so far have found none that are 42t and with a 110mm bcd.

So my original plan was to use a Specialized Flag Crankset with 48/36/28 chainrings, but I ended up going with a Sugino AT Crankset with 50/36/28. I've only been on a few test rides so far, fairly flat terrain so I'll have to give it more time for proper feedback, BUT so far the gearing/shifting seems fine. Definitely not as quick/smooth as my two modern bikes with ramped/pinned 50/34 rings, but not bad enough to make changes.