BassManNate

Hello everyone!

My father-in-law is letting me fix up and ride his old bike from the 70s. He purchased it in Japan when he was stationed there in the Air Force to have something to get around on and off base.

All I can find on the bike is that it was made by Miyata. The model seems to be California Road and the frame is made of CroMo. Most of the labels on the bike are in Japanese so this is really all I can find about the bike. Most of the components look to be made by Shimano except the brakes which are from Dia-Compe. I've posted some pictures below of the bike and labels.

I would love to know more about the manufacturer and possibly this model if possible.

nlerner

That's an interesting bike. Not a CroMo frame, however, as the tubing decal on the down tube says, "High-Tensile steel tubing." That would place it as entry level, but it looks pretty darn clean. You might be able to track down more info at the Miyata catalog site:

https://miyatabicyclecatalogs.blogspot.com/

Or try the Miyata group on Yahoo: https://groups.yahoo.com/group/MiyataSpecTour

Neal

cb400bill

A quick Google search turned up this stuff.

https://translate.google.com/translat...ial%26hs%3D2I4

BassManNate

Yes, the frame is incredibly clean aside from some saw dust and grease! There are a few scratches in the frame that I need to get refinished before they start to rust to badly.

What exactly does "high-tensile steel tubing" mean along with the other notation under that? I guess I just assumed the "CR" at the beginning of "CR-27L-E" had something to do with a cromo alloy of some sort. I personally couldn't find anything about this model in particular but most everything else that pops up about Miyata frames says they're triple butted steel. Of course, that doesn't mean a whole lot unless I can find that info about this model

Doesn't seem to be anything that goes back far enough to show this model in the catalogs. I'm joining the yahoo group to see if anyone has any info on there. Might not be able to find anything as it might have been a model released only in Japan.

wrk101

High tensile steel is the bottom of the hierarchy of steel bike construction. Then there are various grades of cromoly steel frames. So enthusiasts look for generic cromoly, along with recognized cromoly brands such as Reynolds, True Temper, Tange, and so on. The cromoly tubes tend to lead to a lighter weight frame.

I have owned and sold a variety of high ten steel framed bikes. Nothing wrong with them. But anything cromoly will be more desirable and ligher weight.

awc380

Wow...that's quite the....robot/android buttock view, there.

BobHufford

Yup ...



Bob

due ruote 

Yowzer! Makes me wonder what the copy says.

T-Mar

No earlier than 1975 on basis of derailleurs. Hard to tell, but front looks like a circa 1975-1977 Shimano 60 while the rear looks like a circa 1978-1979 Shimano 600. Crankset would appear to put it more towards the latter but the serial number will identify exact year.

While the hi-tensile tubing indicates an entry level model, the derailleurs and crankset suggest something more from the upper end of this range. The US models at this level and era were the Liberty and Americana. It doesn't quite match either and may be unique to the Japanese or Asian market.

Exit.

This is exactly what I'm thinking. That thing looks Japan-only to me.

BassManNate

YOU CAN TELL ALL THAT BY THE PICTURE?! Wow, you're good. You got the derailleur models spot on. It's a Shimano 600 rear and a 60 front. Can't remember what the name on the crankset is. I'll try and get all the info for the components when I work on it a bit more today.

Edit: Well, and the bike in the scans is NOT the same thing as what I have. My bike is high tensile steel and it looks like the bike in the scan has a CrMo decal which I would be willing to guess means it's CroMoly.

T-Mar

Thxs for the compliment. The bicycles in the ads are more modern versions of your model. This statement is based on the observation of the shift levers being mounted on the top of the down tube. This feature, which was part of the early aerodynamic era, first appeared on high end models, circa 1981. It trickled down the line-up and lasted until about 1986. Most likely, these ads are circa 1983-1986.

BassManNate

Yeah, I would have guessed the ads are 80s. With the robots and the way the girl is dressed and all.

I'm thinking I'm going to replace the rims with a more modern rim since these are straight wall instead of hook bead. That and steel just doesn't give the best stopping power. My dilemma is whether I should stick with 27" wheels or go to 700c and make/use a drop bolt for the brakes. The 700c wheels will be able to go to a newer bike if I decide to do so not to mention there are more 700c tires available out there.

Any suggestions on which way to go?

T-Mar

The preference would be 700C just because of the aviaiable tire and rim choices. Finding a hooked bead, 27" rim may be hard but I think Sun and Velocity still have a model. It doesn't look like the rear caliper has enough adjustment to accommodate the extra 4mm drop required for the 700C. However, the Dia-Compe were availble in a 750 model, long reach version (60-78mm), which are not that hard to find. Then again, you may want to consider updating the brakes to a modern, long reach, dual pivot design. They perform much better. At minimum, consider new cables, teflon lined housing and a good brake pad. It will make a noticeable difference.

BassManNate

Definitely going to replace the cables and pads. I'm just trying to figure out a way to overcome the whole straight wall rim problem without spending too much money. At the moment, I'm also considering replacing the rear hub as well just to get to a modern freehub and cassette. The shifters are friction shifters so I shouldn't need to worry about them at all when talking about a new rear sprocket.

BassManNate

Alright! I've started work on this bike but it's been a bit slow going as I have no warm place to do work unless I can take parts off and bring them inside.

Of course, these are chrome plated steel rims. Here's what they looked like before I cleaned them up



And here they are after!



I'm also starting to clean up the pedals since they're steel as well. Not quite finished with them but they're starting to turn out almost as nice as the rims did. I still have to hit the rims with a degreaser since I used oil and fine steel wool to clean the rust off.

Here is my next project on here to tackle. This is where the kickstand clamped on to the stays. It was work getting to this point because there was a cellophane like tape wrapped around the stays before the kickstand was put on. As you can see, the kickstand worked it's way through the tape.



IF I put the kickstand back on I will have some sort of cloth tape on the frame first. I've already cleaned everything here and put some sealer/primer in the spot. Still working on finding some yellow touch up paint. Of course, at this point I'm thinking I'm not going to put it back on because it's pretty hefty and where I keep the bike, it has something to lean on.

As a side note, it looks like the way the finish was originally applied was a base layer of white and then some kind of transparent yellow was applied over that. The yellow layer is kinda soft and rubs off easily with a light abrasive.

As far as finish goes, if I get it up and running and just fall in love with how well it rides, I may get it powder coated. Thinking about some kind of orange color. Or maybe a dark blue. We'll see if it'll be worth it to me to completely re finish the bike.

BassManNate

Well, I have been busy on the bike just not posting at all. I've disassembled, cleaned and lubed the calipers (no pictures of that yet) and in the last couple days, I've been working on the handlebar. I unwrapped the bars to find a nasty, sticky mess from the tape along with several spots of rust which I quickly took care of with a bit of sanding and then covering the rust with a rust converter.

Below is what I found the brand to be on the bars after looking at them a bit more closely. I've seen a lot of pictures of similar bars around. Are they good/bad?


Here is why I haven't started wrapping yet. You may or may not be able to tell from the picture, but this bike doesn't have any PLUGS. These are caps that go around the OUTSIDE of the bar instead of going in the bar to hold the tape in place. I'll have to drop by the shop and see if I can get some.


And here's the bar after I finished taking everything off and cleaned it really well.


I'm still working on mostly stuff that I can pull off the bike and bring inside because it's gotten so cold outside so quickly. Hope I can get it in good riding condition by the time it's warm enough to ride!

Joe K

Nice Miyata - the last time I retaped the handlebars the tape came with plugs, so if you're doing that anyway just check the box or ask the LBS guys.

BassManNate

Yeah, I'm just going to have to get some plugs. I've never wrapped drop bars before so I went out and got some hockey tape so I don't mess up something more expensive. I figure 2 rolls of 27 yards should give me plenty to screw up with at a lower cost than most bike specific tape out there.

Needless to say, hockey players don't need bar plugs.

vinz12

this is my california road