Bridgestone Kabuki. Does anyone know anything about this bike. Someone is selling one for $165 on Craigslist. Any help would be appreciated.

If I'm remembering right (from some obscure googe-ling once upon a time) Kabuki started off as a Danish marque with bonded lugged aluminum. I think they had a higher end model "Submariner" that was of better quality stainless steel.

I have the aluminum one permenantly wired in Christmas lights sitting out in the back yard waiting for December. It has a nice headbadge. I think I paid $10 at the thrift store thinking I would make fixed gear. Never did.

The marque faded into obscurity shuttling between companies- Bridgestone being one of them. The Craigslist bike is most likely not a Submariner.

Spend your money somewhere else unless you just like the way Kabuki sounds and rolls off the tongue.

Back in school we used the term kabuki for, well, I'll let you guess... .

i sold a kabuki a while back, for 20 bucks. it had an shimano altus group, and was pretty heavy. the frame was steel but had aluminum lugs, so you had to use a seatpost with a quill/expander type wedge. i don't think the bike on CL is worth 165, but i could be wrong. the headbadge is cool though.

Kabuki produced a full range of bicycles, from entry level to high end. Pics or the model name would be a BIG help.

This is the ad for it https://richmond.craigslist.org/bik/369470292.html

I have one like this. I could not find much info about it on the web. (But did you try Sheldon Brown? I think I found a little info there.) It's a simple bike, and it seems well made. Quite elegant in its own bike boom kind of way.

Mine has beautiful blue paint and original gum hoods in great condition. I found it at the Montessori School benefit sale in a pile of broken sports equipment. I bought it without hesitation. I pumped up the tires with the frame pump that came with it and zoomed around the parking lot and was very happy. However, mine was only $20.

I would say you could do much, much better for that much money if you're willing to wait a while and you know what you're looking for.

Silstar cranks were usually on lower end bikes. The Suntour I would imagine is Honor, a full steel type. I would let them keep it. Yes it is in nice condition, but a lot of money for what it is IMHO.,,,,BD

Another richmonder

I have a kabuki that i made into a fixed gear that came with shimano lark RD and a suntour spirt FD. it had steel tubulars front and rear with a very strange freewheel. First gear was the equvalent of a 27 but only had 12 teeth. (it looked like they only did every other one.

The seatpost design is pretty anoying untill you get it just right, fine tuning height is really time consuming. In addition it weighs about 30 lbs in pure fixie form.

What else can i say, i love the bike.

PS I overpaid 40 for it, I needed a bike that day so i was willing to take a hit on it.

https://richmond.craigslist.org/bik/369925364.html
updated link

Yes I must say I am subject to the overuse of the name as soon as I brought it home.I personally never seen no such animal 'afore...round these parts.

Hi. I picked up this Bridgestone/Kabuki Skyway 12 frame and fork for $20 off eBay:



It's a high-tensile steel frame, made sometime in the early-to-mid 80s. The frame geometry is well thought out - my 67cm frame has a nice, long 61.5cm top tube. Other large frames I have purchased have had top tubes that are way to short.

I am guessing these bikes are from the transition period, when the company name was going from Kabuki to Bridgeston, but I could be wrong. In any case, the Bridgestone/Kabuki I got is a great utility frame.

- FBB

I have a Kabuki. I believe the model name is Grand Kabuki. The brake calipers have Bridgestone prominently written on them, but otherwise there are no Bridgestone indications anywhere on the frame. The frame is very light. Too light really for my weight really. But there is no indication of what steel it is made of.

Mine has very different geometry from the bike above. Very short top-tube for a 22" frame. Short chainstays and the fork has very little rake. Makes for a very twitchy ride. Mine has cool riser bars on it, so it is an odd mix of track bike geometry and touring bike. Not sure what it was intended for, but I have mine set up as fixed and use it to haul groceries. I really ought to get rid of it though, since I hardly use it for even that.

There seems to be a lot of different Kabuki's. Mine has a very attractive chrome frame and fork, nice lugs, and slopping fork crowns. It is made of chromemoly steel and has double butted tubes. It weighs 23#, and the shiny chrome frame and the great red and black Kabuki head badge make it a very flashy bike.

This post without pictures, priceless! JK man, I would love to see that one.,,,,BD

I'll get someone who can work the camera to post a picture, meanwhile I guess I should start clearing a space in front of the garage door.

Man, I know that feeling well, lol.,,,,BD