I am new to Bike Forums and posted this thread in the General category. Someone there suggested that I post it here.

I picked up a bike frame the other day from a guy selling locally. It has a very poor rattle can paint job on it and of course no stickers or the like. I am trying to figure out who made it and what year it may be. I am posting some pictures and here is a brief description...

Lugged steel frame (lugs are not super fancy, but do have some design), 3 cable guides on the top tube, horizontal rear dropouts, there are hearts welded on the bottom of the down tube. One heart is up towards the top, near the head tube, the other is down near the bottom bracket. There is a serial number under the bottom bracket which is partially obscured, I think it is... D 84J5C777? (the D and the 8 may not be correct, they are about half rubbed out and I am making a guess on them).

Any help would be appreciated. Here are some pictures.

The position of those eyelets on the rear stamped dropouts might be a clue--seems unusual. The "hearts" are stops for gear cable clamps and are fairly common. A good clue would be the threading of the bottom bracket. The cup design looks like Universal Japanese (or Taiwanese) Bicycle to me, so my guess is a mid 80s, relatively low-end Miyata/Fuji/Panasonic/Shogun/Univega.

Neal

I agree, but I'd take Fuji out of the mix, the clamp stop isn't quite rightfor a Fuji.

Do you mind telling what you paid? Also, did the seller have any idea of the make or year was? Did you ask him/her?

The seller was selling two frames, (the other is a Univega Grand Turismo) and some misc. bike parts (brakes, 3 older model Ararya wheels, Cinelli handlebars, etc....) all for $50. I thought I would buy it up and then use the parts to build up a fixie or commuter for some friends (the frame sizes are too small for me). I was just curious about the frame since I am new to this sort of thing.

Looks a bit like an Asian Raleigh as well. (Of course, that would make it a Panasonic frame, IIRC). Those are the same dropouts I have on my 88 Raleigh from Asia. Identical lugwork as well.

Based on the serial number, it is proabably 1984 and not a Miyata, which also makes Univega unlikely. Entry level and probably Taiwanese. Is that a kickstand plate, just behind the BB shell?