Hi folks new to the forum. Was wondering if my bike qualifies as classic or vintage. Dont know much about the bike I do know Im the 3rd owner. Its a Norco Tri-A ser# k7B5253 shimano derailers light action rear derailer. sugano VP cranks. nitto steerer, Dia compe brakes and Infinity cromo tange tubing. Id like to know the year and wear it would be roadbike ladder. Ill try and post a few pics of it. thanks.

Down tube shifters generally = classic/vintage. Welcome aboard! Looks liek a fun bike to ride around.

Nice looking bike... amazing how it looks sooo much like theis road bike of mine. It is a DC Douglas... I have never heard of it and no one else has either. I am in Canada and wonder if Norco made it as a private run for some one? Mine has a mixture of Shimano 600/Durace and Suntour Cyclone 7000 components. The frame is Columbus Matrix tubing. The paint scheme (other than color) looks very similar and very 80's.

VERY NICE. I dont know much about Norco, to tell you the truth I thought mountain bikes were there thing. Until I picked up that one. I found another Norco [nomad] left out on the street this summer. Everything was rusted I had some spare parts so I cleaned it up. It was to big for me so I loned it to a buddy who has since weasled it out of me heres a few pics.

Norco was the Nishiki importer in Canada in the seventies and eighties. The two lines were similar, with Nishiki being a bit more high end.

I had a Norco Magnum ST in 1986 that was a full blown touring bike. It did well for the time that I had it which included a rainy three months in Europe. I currently have a 1982 Nishiki International (it says 'designed by Norco' on the lower left stay) - also a touring bike That is a swell ride. It is a few steps down from their ultimate tour package - the Continental. I have always wondered about the 'Sheilds Nishiki' here in Canada. Perhaps Norco took over the importing as mentioned earlier in this thread.

Fishsticks

Yes, Shields imported Nishikis before Norco, in the seventies. If memory serves, Shields first assembled their own bikes, but that didn't work out. I have a Shields Nishiki Landau with a die cast Nishiki emblem rivetted on the steering head. I'll post a picture when after I dig it out of the basement. It was my first 10-speed after a hiatus from cycling for about 20 years. After riding that a couple of years I was ready for a really good bike. I could have orderd a Marinoni from the LBS, but ended up getting a Nishiki Ultimate that was hanging on the wall for just a little less.

I have a Nishiki frame with Toshiba 150 tubing [sp?] that good steel ?

I have a nishiki international frame too. It also says designed by norco on the chainstay.

Fishsticks- does your frame have the ornate lugs? Mine does, but I'm not sure what year it is. It doesn't have a headbadge, just a painted nishiki logo.

Down tube shifters and (original) narrow handlebars qualify as "classic", IMO, everybody has their own definition of vintage. "Classic", to me, does not necessarily mean high-end or exclusive.

hey fishsticks I bought an International in 82 it cost I think about 600 bucks. It served me well I rode it all over B.C.. I still have it ,its black. It s a very comfortable ride very forgiving. Today I bought a Sekine 10 speed all original and mint condition. Do you know anything about Sekine.

As promised, here are some pics of my mid-seventies Shields Nishiki Landau, which I bought new. Over the years I upgraded the swaged SR Apex crank to a Shimano 600 EX and replaced the 5-speed to block with a narrow 6-speed one with a 28T low cog. I also added a Norco rear rack (a fraction of the cost of a similar-looking Blackburn one) and gold coloured ESGE fenders, which you can't get anymore. The original tires were 1-1/8 x 27 and it now has 1-1/4 x 27 Norco tires. I also stripped the front fork down to the chrome, as well as part of the rear triangle. Originally the chrome just showed on the dropout surfaces, just like my Ultimate.

You do not state whether the model is a Eurosport Tri-A or Victory Tri-A, but the pic looks like Victory Tri-A, in which case it is 1990 or newer. A Europsort Tri-A dates from 1987-1989. 1986 and earlier, it was just called the Triathlon.

Either way, the bicycle appears to have been heavily retro-fitted with parts. The listings I have show all the Eurosport Tri-A as being Shimano 105 equipped and the Victory Tri-A as having SunTour Blaze. Norco manufactured bicycles primarily for the entry and mid range markets. The early Eurosport Tri-A was the top of the line of 7 lightweight models, though it was decidely mid-range. By the time Victory Tri-A made it's debut, the road bike line-up had shrunk to 2 models, due the ATB market.


Based on the tubing, I'd suggest that the more plausible manufacturer is Miele. Norco tended to use Tange tubing in the mid 1980s, as did the majority of Canadian manufacturers. Miele were also Canadian, well known for their fade paint jobs and used Columbus tubing. Other possible Canadian sources that use Columbus were Cyclops, Gardin and Marinoni. However, Miele was the largest of these and is the most likely source.

The component mix is quite eclectic, so it's hard to tell which components are original. However, Miele did have a Beta model that used Shimano 600 and Matrix tubing, so this may be the basis for your bicycle.

The McDonnell Douglas corporation manufactured aircraft in Toronto and may be the originator of a special production run for employees or customers such as Air Canada. Miele was also located in the greater Toronto region.


Toshiba 150 was a hi-tensile steel used on many entry level Nishiki models in the late 1970s.


The ornate lugs and a headtube decal (?) indicate that it is probably early 1980s. What is the tubing and component mix?

Your right Victory Tri-A. Thanks for the info.

T Mar-

It is made of Double-butted 4130 (i think) chromoly, and i just bought it as a frame, but it came with a suntour vx(?) rear deraileur, suntour front derailleur, and sakae bars. It has the same paint job as old yellers(black with gold lug outlines) but i dont think it is chromed, and it has a headtube decal, not a headtube badge thingy like oldyellr's.

Thanks alot

BTW- nice bike yeller

Here is my Nishiki Ultimate, which I posted on another thread some time ago. Anyone know which particular frame tubing that decal represents?

Is the rear brake cable held in place by clips or brazed-on cable tunnels?

T-Mar-
it is held in place by clips, the only braze on it has is on the drive-side chainstay

OK, it's a match for the 1981 model, but it could also be 1979 or 1980, which I don't have specs for. It definitely doesn't goes back as far as 1978. It also isn't 1982 or newer.

Nishiki's most common tubing supplier was Tange, however they also used Toshiba (entry level) and Columbus (high end). The two other high end models, the Maxima and Cervino, used Columbus SL and bore the appropriate decals. However, the big clue is the seat post diameter. If it uses a 26.8mm post, it is likely Tange #1. If it uses a 27.2mm post it could be Tange Prestige or a Columbus tubeset, but I believe the Ultimate is too old for the Prestige tubeset. A Columbus tubeset will be evident by six helical ridges inside the bottom of the fork's steering tube.

Ishiwata and Reynolds tubesets are also outside possibilities, but based on historical usage, Tange and Columbus are the most likely candidates.

Norcostorm. My Nishiki International does have ornate lugs and a Champion #2 (Tange) frame. The bike appears original. The still butter-smooth Sunshine hubs are date coded ' 8 81 ' So I guess this would be a 1982. It has Suntour ARX, Diacompe G brakes, as mentioned, Sunshine hubs, and Araya rims. All makes for a smooth touring ride. A friend did Europe on the same model in 1987 with narry a problem.

Okay, what would you call ornate lugs? The ones on my Ultimate, above, would be at the very conservative end of ornate and the Landau ones are even plainer. Ornate would be pretty rare after the 1950s. Seems that the Italians always used very plain lugs and eventually everyone else just fell into line. Now, the Claud Butler I had in the 50s had really fancy lugs!

Okay, they are not 'ornate' - I was only responding to the thread question. They do have half circle cut outs on either side of each lug, long triangle points on top and bottom, and are hand painted. Pleasant but not ornate.

sorry guys, im not too knowledgeable about classic lugs, i just thought they were ornate compared to "basic lugs"...they do look nice however.Thanks for your help guys.

and one more question- did the frame originally come with 27" or 700c wheels?

My '82 International has 700c wheels with clincher tires.