Old Bridgestone ...?? Id help
 

I paid $25 for this bike , but I don't find information about this brand , any idea ? It´s model 1977-78. serial number A789824 , made in Japan . The bike is very light. There is a label on the frame that says Light Alloy.

brakes: Dia Compte center pull (Weinman 610)
front derailleur : Compe V
rear derailleur : Sountour V-GT Luxe
speeds : 10
rins : Araya
hubs : Sunshine
handlebar :Sakae road champion
toe clips :Christope Special
pedals : KKT

That looks like a Bridgestone from before they introduced the Kabuki brand. In the 1970's there was a craze for Japanese stuff, so they changed their branding because Bridgestone sounded too American. The "BS" stamps probably didn't help either. The "lugs" on your bike are actually aluminum that is cast in place around the frame tubes. That is why the seat post has to have an expander wedge, the lug is too stiff for a normal pinch bolt. They also made one with stainless steel tubes, called the Submariner. Your bike appears to be a higher end model, having cotterles crank, better SunTour deraileurs, and downtube shifters. It is in great shape for something that is 30 years old. I have a Bridgestone-Kabuki Super Speed that has a similar frame, but lesser cranks and deraileurs. It is a nice riding bike, although somwhat heavy. I have converted it to a three-speed and changed to alloy rims, which pared it down to 29 pounds.

That's a beautiful bike!
Such a steal at 25 bucks.

Are you planning on doing any work on it?

Thank for the reply. You are right the bicycle is in good shape , I bought it to a lady , it was her bicycle . I searched information about kabuki bicycle and has similar frame than mine , but I still confuse about what model name is , I don’t find information about Bridgestone models from 70’s . I dated the component in Vintage trek and they are from ends 1976 so this bicycle is 1977 model that match with the second digit of its serial number.

Many of the Bridgestone/Kabuki models used the diecast lugs. It was used on steel, stainless steel and aluminum tubing. In this case, the clue is the plug-in rear dropouts, indicating an aluminum frame. I'm not sure what Bridgestone called this model, but the Kabuki equivalent was the Superlight. In the Kabuki line-up it was 8th in a product line of 11 lightweight models. The Kabuki and Bridgestone were offered concurrently.

I ‘m thinking to separate it in parts , clean them , use some wax and re-assemble the bike again, I want to keep the original parts, only I will change the saddle for a lighter one, its saddle is a garbage,i wil change handlebar tape and maybe later buy a good tires . I really like this bicycle because it’s my size and ride it feels very comfortable and it is light too.


I had look to buy it , because I visited the seller to buy another bridgestone more heavy and maybe a entry level bicycle , but that bicycle was too small for my so the lady decided to sold me her bicycle that was not in sale and I got a better bicycle for the same price than the other one :D

You right T-Mar , I used a magnet and just the seat tube is steel , even the others components of the bicycle are not steel. The lady told me this bicycle was a high level bike when she bought it.

Bridgestone Superspeed Revisited
 

This may be considered a sacrilege for some here on this forum, but I would like some opinion since the work is done. I ran across the Japanese made Bridgestone Superspeed in my neighborhood trash several weeks ago with frame, fork, and cranks. Unfortunately the non-drive side seat stay was a bit bent, but using my trusty rubber wand and some drop-out benders I was able to get the frame back to mostly straight (at least the hub is aligned in the drop outs). Since the frame was mostly damaged anyways I decided to give it a pain job fitting of the cool lugs. Plus I didn’t really think it could be a Bridgestone, and I assumed it was a knock off due to the cheesy tabbed lugs.

After reading your blogs here it appears that I do have a real bridgestone and was wondering if you all think the custom paint job is a bonus or too bad. I did leave one of the stickers on here, but covered the others because they were damaged. I do wish I would have left the head badge and fork stickers. The top tube sticker is no loss.

Thoughts?