Found a treasure at garage sale
 

I got an amazing road bike yesterday at a garage sale for just $40. It's Panasonic Sport Deluxe 12 speeder, looks like it's BRAND SPANKING NEW (minus tons of dust). I never seen an old bike that looks so damn new. Made in Japan. Light like it's made from aluminum but actually it's molybdenum steel... It seems to have original Panasonic tires that look like they were never ridden... Did a bit of searching online but couldn't find much other than these bikes were made in 1970s, 80s and 90s. I can't tell from which era this one is from tho. Rubber is in excellent condition (no cracks) but Shimano shifters are old fashioned (on the top tube). I'll post some pics if it will help to ID this bike.
I'm really surprised how nice it shifts gears. It does it better than my new Trek 1200... Chain moves so smooth, I can't hear it at all...
http://images38.fotki.com/v1217/phot...MG_1350-vi.jpg

where do you live? i want to garage sales by your area. :)

For a 12 speed, a guess would put it in mid to late 80's...

Bikes can often be dated by serial numbers and components if you are interested.

Even though it is not a Trek, a good way to identify the age of the bike is to look for date codes on the components, and you can get some help listed on Vintage-Trek.com and this will usually help to identify the age of your bike.

If you post pics and a serial number I can probably get you an idea what year it is. Get it all cleaned up properly and I'll even add it to the Panasonic museum site and you (or your bike) can be famous... sort of. :thumb:

A Sport Deluxe wasn't terribly high end but they were quite nice as reliable cruisers. For $40 you did indeed get a good buy. I would think it would fetch around $120 all cleaned up and ready to roll.

East Hill demands photos.

:D

East Hill

I thought 6-speed freewheels were standard by the very early 1980s.

My original 1985 Panasonic Team was a friction 12 speed. I don't think it was anything that new at the time?

Also, I just mentioned this within the ebay thread, but there is what looks to be a pretty nice '89 Sport DX on CL in Andover, MA if anyone else wants an "appliance bike" of their own. ;)

I just picked up a Sport 1000 yesterday for a song, even came with a neglected Miyata One Ten in need of rehab as a throw in.

I figure the Sport is real entry level. Seems like a nice solid frame and a good run about bike. Gotta lose those suicide brake levers, and see about getting more than 5 cogs on the back though.

I have nothing to add except a couple of scans...

1987
http://lh6.ggpht.com/DiabloScottsBik...nic%201987.JPG

1985
http://lh4.ggpht.com/DiabloScottsBik...nic%201985.JPG

Wow... very cool. Especially the '85 Team Europe ad. I thought it was a pretty sweet bike back in the day... then again Miami Vice made pink look cool. :)

The Sport 1000 wasn't the bottom feeder within the Sport lineup believe it or not. The Sport 1000 and Sport Deluxe models were actually somewhat nice for what they cost. Then again, I'd ride a cheap old Sport 500 any day over the random K-Mart bike of the era. :D

I've got to do a major clean up/tune up and get some pics taken. I think I like the bike, but brand aside, it is sort of a redundant addition to the stable as far as 54 cm roadies go.

Do you know if they will accept a 6 sp cog without cold setting?

Cool! I promise I'll take some pics tonight :)

What do you mean by "suicide brake levers"?

It should take it. I switched a 5sp freewheel to a 7sp without any problem at all. It should have about 126mm spread now.

On panasonics, the second number of the serial number is the last number of the year.
Since its a 12 speed, I'm also guessing 80's rather than 70's. So, look at the serial-second
digit and fill in: 198X

Suicide brake levers or "turkey wings" are the additional levers that frequently bottom out before full braking force can be applied to the brake calipers. Many think they're downright dangerous.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d7...rakeLevers.jpg

A Japanese bike equipped with Campagnolo Super Record as late as 1985? :love:

-Kurt

I thought those Panny bikes frame looked dainty. They had that VW Bug candy paint that crashed with loud jerseys/helmets. Mechanically, never heard anything bad about them.

Ok, stupid question: Where do I find serial number? I checked on the bottom of bottom bracket, but nothing there... So far I couldn't locate it :(

Look on the head tube just above the lower part of the headset.

Ok here are pictures as promised :) Sorry for not so good quality, I didn't have time to setup my studio flash and backdrop...
http://images38.fotki.com/v1217/phot...MG_1350-vi.jpg
http://images39.fotki.com/v1225/phot...MG_1352-vi.jpg
http://images38.fotki.com/v1211/phot...MG_1353-vi.jpg
http://images38.fotki.com/v1212/phot...MG_1354-vi.jpg

http://images38.fotki.com/v1220/phot...MG_1357-vi.jpg

Very nice looking bike. Look for a number on the side of your Panasonic head tube badge.

Looks to be in very good shape. Nice find :D .

East Hill

Looks new.
Nice catch.

Im dying here- what year is it?