I've been hankering for a nice Japanese tourer but they are not easy to find for a good price----even the lowliest Miyata is listed for a few hundred bucks here in Toronto. So I was happy to pick up this Panasonic Touring Deluxe yesterday for a reasonable price given it's condition. She is a real garage queen, I'd bet there are less than 500 miles on this beauty.

I already have front and rear racks in my parts bin and I have a couple of nice sets of Honjo fenders that I picked up on clearance, not sure if I will go with the hammered or smooth set. I'm excited!

Sweet!

Nice Panasonic Touring Deluxe. I have the same model and year but not quite as pristine. Congrats and enjoy.

Picked up a free Gary Fisher, in the process of becoming my gravel bike. The county is chip sealing the hell out of my roads.

I'm not really on board with the whole vintage MTB drop bar thing yet but I see potential with this one. If I keep on looking at everyone's projects on BF, I'll be compelled to dig out the old GT Karakoram from the far recesses of my garage.

Nice find at an even nicer price.

Pulled one of those from the dump yesterday. Quite a bit of rust but easily fixable. Unfortunately for me, it is way too big. For someone 6'2 to 6'6.

Here is my dumpster project. My first in several years.

I pulled this Ross Signature from the throwaway pile and clearly I was the only one who wanted it. Too bad I didn't take pictures before my project. Suffice to say that it had the usual rust, tons of caked on crud everywhere. The saddle was completely shot. Foam handlebar covers were disintegrating. Fits me perfectly!

The project below was done mainly with spare parts I had lying around and a few new and used internet acquired parts.



The first thing I did was clean up the rust and gunk using abrasive pads, degreaser, etc. Most of the parts shined up nicely. Then I tossed out the saddle and put on a spare that was lying around. It is a "ladies" saddle, but meh, looks good enough for me. It's not pink or anything!



I changed the tires and tubes. Tossed the disintegrating original Ross tires in the trash and replaced them with Vredstein Fortezza.



I ordered some Brooks leather bar tape from Bike Nashbar in a color that I thought would be close to the bike, but it ended up being a bit too pinkish for me. But I can live with it. Made in China and you can tell. The cork bar ends were already falling apart. I ended up using some ends from Scotch whiskey bottles that fit perfectly and look better too! Scots clearly have better quality control. Don't throw out your corks!



Also got some used TRP RRL SR Drilled Alloy Retro Road Bike Brake Levers from eBay for about half of retail. They made a huge difference.

Of course, replaced the cables and oiled and lubed.

Putting on the fenders was a hassle. They only have parts for threaded eyelets or adapters. Problem is, the adapters only fit on quick release wheels. So they were okay for the front, but not the back.

The back was problematic because I had to find my own makeshift nuts and bolts, since the adapters did not fit the wheel. They could not protrude much or they would touch the chain (see pic). I got one to fit by using an extra tube nut as a spacer. I also had to replace the rear reflector which was blocking the height adjustment for the fender.



Also, a plastic attachment on the other side was half broken, so I taped it up with electrical tape to keep it from breaking completely. Got to love Chinese quality.



In the end, I am very pleased with the result and plan to give it many more miles.

Two weekends ago picked this up and gave it to my mother. Wallet crushing price of a whopping $10. Front reflector is busted otherwise the original owner had garage kept it and it is in really nice condition. Added air to the tires, all shifters and the brakes worked fine without need to adjust, fantastic! Rand Trail Blazer 2 (10-Speed Ladies MTB).:


Found a 700c rear wheel with decent tire and sprockets still attached at a yard sale yesterday for the whopping price of $2. And then the guy having the sale tells me his brother had been an unemployed bike nut that free-loaded off of him some years back and there was still a mostly intact bike of unknown condition under his porch I was welcome to have for ten bucks. Not my size, but for ten dollars I'll put new tires on and let one of my nephews ride it when visiting.


Schwinn Mirada (18-Speed, 17" seat tube) - 26" tire Hybrid Bike
Not sure of manufacture date, but it is made in China. Research seems to suggest there was a relaunch of the "Mirada" models series in the early 2000's and that would seem to fit. It's labeled as having come from a "high-end" regarded LBS that went out of business back in 2014, so at least know it was originally assembled properly. Best I can tell it's all stock down to the horribly dry-rotted gumwall tires. Rear wheel tube will not hold air, front tire pumped up to 50 lbs upon arrival home yesterday and still seems firm. Not cleaned the bike yet, but here is a picture.

I sure wouldn't but that Panasonic below a Miyata, you got a great mid level bike, some Schwinn mid level touring bikes were rebadged Panasonics. The one you found is a very nice looking bike, congrats.

Not exactly original, but for $5, it rides great

Beat up paint, but no rust
weinmann rims (not original araya) but true and tight
Shimano PD-t100 platform pedals with original kkt clip and straps
nasty replacement brake levers, not nice drilled original ones
no handle bar tape
replacement seat (not to bad to start with)

All original shifters/derailleurs/brakes (brake pads a wee bit dry)

End of the day garage sale - guy had flipped the handle bars, put on pool noodles to serve as hand rests, attached it to a roller, put masking tape all over to hold on the controls to the roller, and about 10 years worth of basement nastyness baked on. He told his wife to get rid of it...so she did. Thanks!

Found two today, well actually four. The other two are sale material to recoup some money. I had mentioned a possible multi-bike sale a few weeks ago. Today, it finally came true. The Bianchi that my friend said was a "Special" turned out to be a Stelvio. I am happy to FINALLY have an actual Italian made Bianchi in the stable. It's crusty, but salvageable. In a few weeks I should have it looking more acceptable. I need to find some Modolo Corsa brake levers. Pantographed stem, and conservatively pantographed cranks. Ofmega I guess? Is this Campy Victory I guess? I have done zero research so far.

Please forgive the yard. It floods badly when it rains quite a bit, which it did yesterday... As dry as it's been, it will probably disappear in a couple of days. The surrounding properties have raised their lawns, which causes me and my adjacent neighbor's yard to fill rather quickly.




Second is a Gary Fisher X Caliber. Covered in band stickers, rasta electrical tape, etc etc... It's going to be a heat gun special. It is LIGHT! I love this era of mountain bike. Just new enough to be capable, but still vintage enough to be cool. I have always seen these cranks around, but never had a bike with them. Pretty stoked about having one finally, and XT LX mix. It's going to take some work to bring both of these bikes back, but a labor of love as usual.



Thankfully I have a quite modern Ironhorse mtb 26 inch with disc brakes to sell, and also a mid to late 90's Trek 7000 ZX as well. These will sell quickly I hope and should recoup my overhead if I sell them cheap enough. It should leave me with the Gary Fisher and Bianchi for pretty much free.

Maybe not so vintage but just picked up this 1996 Trek 2120, Carbonfiber with Aluminum lugs, and 105SC. To small for me, will prbably just flip it. It looks to be all original. even the tires are original according to the catalog.

This was a full 2 hours of fun. Given to me (so the giver would be rid of it)... it was a mess. A new inner tube from Walmart, a brake adjustment (I also sanded the shine off the pads), and a good scrubbing. I hung a for sale sign on it ($12) and rolled it to the front of the house. Fifteen minutes later it was sold.

A little boy had a cool Trek to ride after dinner tonight.

After a little research, I am thinking the Bianchi is Triomphe equipped, not Victory. Research is ongoing as usual. There is not a whole hell of a lot of info on this model online. The cranks look similar to Campy, but I guess are Gipiemme or Ofmega? No info on the back of the cranks that I can see (not even a length?), but I have not had it on the stand yet. Tried a little polish on the top and seat tubes, and the results were very promising. Now, if the hardware on the shifters comes out well, I will be very happy. Miche hubs with Mavic Module E2 clinchers. The wheels match and are straight as an arrow, as is the fork. This one will be fun to refurb, even if it is a wee bit small. I will suck it up and ride race position hehe. Does anyone know what bars came on this model? I am imagining 3T to match the seatpost? Head & seat tube are fairly laid back for such a high BB. Nothing like the 78* on the stripper frame I had a while back.,,,,BD


Columbus decal on the frame reads "Tre Tubi Rinforzati, Bianchi Special, Produzione Columbus".

Fork decal reads, "Foderi Forcella, Bianchi Special, Columbus".

Both decals have the usual dove.

S/N is S6248D.5, on the BB. Through looking around I guess is a 1985 model?

[IMG] https://i64.tinypic.com/zuld9y.jpg [IMG]
[IMG] https://i66.tinypic.com/2evets9.jpg [IMG]

Fify

I don't need another bike but this was less than the cost of the Deltas that are on it plus it is my size. The paint is a bit rough but I can live with it, I'll swap out the bars and stem and see how she rides tonight.

Neat, I saw (and passed) up on one identical, except in light blue and with a much older looking rear cargo rack, only two weekends ago at a yard sale. Very good quality vintage Schwinn, but had been tasked with hunting down a multi-speed ladies bike, for which there also just happened to be one of at the same yard sale that I did wind up buying.

Got this Raleigh for $40:



And this Cilo for $100:

Scooped up this '88 Peugeot to refurb for the GF..
Full Shimano 105, Reynolds 501 frame, Simplex drops.
Will be her first roadie, so I'll build it up with some modern 7spd and new wheels, as she won't like the downtube.
and, we'll both have a steel steed made in our birth years (I have an '89 Circuit)

nice catch! I was thinking about picking that thing up but you got to it first, hope the GF enjoys it!

HOLY CRAP! SCOOOOOORE! Well done!

It was basically in my back yard, had to jump on it! She's very excited about the prospect of it being rebuilt and ready to ride.

Here's a "Saved from the dump!" A craigslist ad appears late Sunday, "BIKE $30", so it's a PUCH Pathfinder with stamped dropouts, stem shifters, High Ten decal, steel rims, and a custom painted rear triangle, probably by some creative child. A bike I would normally pass on. But the "2nd bike is free" bike looked more interesting.
https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...84026485_o.jpg
So, I reply, 'I'll come and get them right now' figuring worse case, I'm getting a few parts for 30.00. I have the junk man bike gene if you haven't figured that out by now. So, I get up there just before dark and three very matronly ladies are having an estate sale and offer me yet a third bike for an additional $5, and can't get me out of there fast enough (I went to the car to get another $5 and turned around and they were each standing behind me holding one of the bikes like they were gonna throw them in my trunk and say "see ya!" So...the third add on bike is a Le tour lux that cleaned up very nicely. BUT, the diamond in the dumpster, was the PUCH Force II which measures 55x55 CC which is what I am professionally fitted to. I've really just cleaned off the "dried sewer muck" looking stuff and not really rebuilt it yet.
https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...61918000_o.jpg
This is really what I love about this hobby. You just never know what will turn up!

Recued this beauty last week. On its way to be recycled. Couldn't believe it. Trying to figure out details about it. Started a post in Vintage bicycles.
Happy guy right now.