I just bought this 23" 1981 Miyata One-Thousand from the original owner today. It's original other than the seat, tires, barwrap, bottlecage and toeclips. I'm posting to see if any 1000 owners can recommend any changes. It's 5-speed 120mm spacing, triple crankset. I'm going to do a total takedown, and then clean and relube everything and then reassemble. I'd appreciate any opinions. I'll be sure to post "after" photos, when I'm done. Ohh......BTW...the bungee cords were aftermarket.
2Fer

Sure is a pretty one for a diamond in the rough. She'll clean up to like new for sure! As for what to do.. If it were mine and I was looking to improve it's ride ability I'd get the rear triangle re-set for a wider rear axle and fit it with either an 8 to 10 speed rear cogset and 700c wheels then upgrade to bar-end shifters or brifters. As for saddles I'd upgrade to a Brooks b17 or Flyer in either black or honey to match the bar tape. Pedals I'd go for Shimano A520s. That's my $1.25.

What, if anything, you do to change the bike should be determined by what you plan to do with it. Tour, commute, day trip, joy ride, or collect and show.

I think the first thing I'd do is to take those bungee cords off, but it looks to be in great shape.

Mutt

I'd improve is by sending it here.

Make sure the bars are the proper width, swap out those downtube shifters for bar end shifters, consider increasing the number of cogs on the rear (six or seven should be plenty unless you are kind of picky), take a couple links out of the chain - it looks like it would rub against itself in the small-middle combination, and it shouldn't do that.

If it were my bike I wouldn't upgrade the drivetrain (cassette, rims) until summer comes. Might as well ride the rest of the (gritty) winter/spring on the existing drive-train while you consider what you will do with it.

My Univega is very happy to let me wear out its current set of 27-inch wheels and old freewheel...I bought it last summer and given the way it's working as a winter commuter it may even make it through *next* winter before I have to consider a drive-train upgrade/refresh.

I would, however, change/replace the brake pads, cables, housing, brake hoods, handlebar tape and possibly tubes, tires and rim tape, depending on condition.

I'm sorry, but the only way you can improve it is to remove that godawful front rack, and send it to me.,,,,BD

Miyata used a variety of blue's over the years and that shade is one of my favorites!!!

1. New brake pads.
2. 6 or 7 speed Shimano HG freehweel.

Sirrus Rider,
I just finished the doing the complete changeover to 10-speed/brifters on an old 6-speed Paramount, so I'm kinda tapped out now to do it for this bike. I'm torn between doing a restore vs. doing any modern upgrades.

CB400 Bill,
I think you're really making sense. I need to determine how I'll be using the bike. Mostly for day trips, grocery runs. Don't really want to put much into it except elbow grease.

Muttleyone,
the bungees on the "before" photos just make my "after" photos that much better....dont'ya think?

USAZorro,
Sounds like you've ridden this bike before, 'cause the bars are narrow (34cm). I like bar-end shifters as well. I wonder why they spec'd such narrow bars in '81? I'll check that chain length for sure. Won't Sheldon's big/big plus one length formula work best? Oh....yeah, I'm sure the best way to improve it would be by sending it to you, but you know how shippers handle things these days, you'll just have to take a road trip to the Pacific Northwest.....

Bengeboy,
I like your suggestions, and most likely will do the same as you're doing with your Uni. Thanks.

Bikedued,
That is a Godawful front rack, maybe I'll take it with me next time I recycle my aluminum cans.....bet they'll give me a couple of bucks for it....to bad it's so light, it's gotta be worth at least $4.

miamijim,
I've got a few H/G 6-speed freewheels. Can I put one on the 120mm Sunshine 40-hole hub? I know the freewheel is wider...I'll have to get a suntour freewheel socket, and mess around to see what will work.

Thanks to all for your input. It was an unplanned purchase, (saw it on Craiglist late last night) so I wanted to get some BF input before I get out the torch and get rid of all those nasty braze-on thingeees........ I'm KIDDING!!!!!!

I should have put the caveat of assuming you have money to invest in the upgrade. Barring that I'd say clean it, lube it up, tube and tire it up, replace the brake hoods and brake blocks with some koolstops, re-wrap the bars, and put on the Brooks, and pedals of your choice and ride it until you've put some wear on the current drive train and then re-evaluate as funds become available .

Very nice! +1 bar end shifters, how about some rando bars? EDIT: it is hard to tell, but maybe it already has rando bars.

It has Sakae "Randnner" Road Champions on it, but jeeze, they're narrow.... 34cm. At least they're light!

Wow, that sounds tiny. Velo-Orange carries some nice looking bars if those end up being too small.

Word of caution......Sometimes a cantilever brake equipped frame will not accept 700c's. Use a spare wheelset and see if you can adjust the brakes that far down front and rear before you drop cash into a new wheelset.

Nice bike!

Based on what you describe as your intended use I would do the following.

- Replace hoods with cane=creek diacompe type hoods

- add fenders

- new koolstop brake pads

If after that you are unhappy with the braking perfomance you could upgrade the cantilevers.

to stay vintage I'd go with the old deore XT for looks and function

to pure function and good looks the new tektros that looks like the XT are awesome, super adjustable and you can use a cartridge type pad... lovely... finally a new cantilever that is better.

Considering I have the exact same bike and did this, I will add my two cents. I originally had a 1st generation XT cantilever set (skeleton-looking with no centre adjustment screw) and just changed out to the next gen. XT after this because a) they have centering screws and b) they make for a better adjustment with the 700c wheelset that I changed to from the original 27"ers. Performance seems the same.

Beautiful looking bike!

I would change very little at all. But, since you're looking for ideas... here are some changes I had made on my 86 touring bike - which I had just purchased last summer. And, I will probably be making some more changes myself... eventually, although nothing further is really needed. https://www.flickr.com/photos/strongl...7605576341958/

1. Definitely mount some Fenders. Even silver colored SKS P45 plastic fenders would look great, they're strong, and they're only around $35 with all the hardware (think I paid $32 at the local REI outdoor equipment store for a set last summer, now they're up to $40). https://www.rei.com/product/684330

2. Bar-end shifters would be a nice convenience touch. I like the Rivendell "Silver" NON-indexing sets which are a bit pricey, but they will give you very easy light action shifting. And, without the limitations of the index feature you are never locked into a specific freewheel or cassette cog count. https://www.rivbike.com/products/list...product=17-089 - Keep an eye out for them on eBay for a good deal.

3. Those look like Dia-Compe cantilevers. Mine are a model 981 and they were designed to allow use of either 27" or 700c wheels. Here are a couple photos which show the vertical "adjustment slot" concealed beneath the cover... keep your fingers crossed, perhaps your's will switch over easily too! https://www.flickr.com/photos/strongl...7606108523956/

4. New cantilever brake pads are definitely a good investment and will make a dramatic difference in braking!

5. New cables and housings will make everything operate perfectly!

6. Ride it for a bit and consider just changing the chainrings. I suspect those may be something like 30-45- 50? and there may be a more comfortable middle chainring size which you would use more... or at least would be more familiar shifting across.

7. You may be able to adjust the rear hub a bit to use a "compact" 6-speed freewheel without modifying the rear spacing of the frame at all. My bike is spaced at 122 mm. It is set up with the original 5-speed freewheel but it has a wide spacer on the left side (and LOTS of extra room on that side), so the wheel was definitely built up with the potential for moving the spacer to the right and then using a 6-speed freewheel. You would have to re-dish the wheel slightly to center it in the frame if you do this, but that is easier than changing the entire spacing of the frame. Depending on your cog and chainring selections, this could be all you might ever need! The narrower the rear spacing and the less "Dish" required [as on a mega-speed modern cassette], so the stronger the rear wheel. So, typical touring bikes back in the day were often built with fewer rear cogs than were actually available even at the time a bike was built.

8. Personally, I'm torn between leaving my original 27" rims or changing to 700c rims (which I actually happen to have already). The biggest advantage would be the easy availability of a greater variety of tires - especially better quality ones.

9. I have randonneur bars too and the spacing at the brake lever height is definitely narrow. And, on the SR bars the width between the brake levers was narrower than most others bars of that style. But, they are also flared out quite a lot at the bottom. This makes them very comfortable to ride in the drops without ever hitting your forearms on the tops of the bars. I always have my bars adjusted pretty high - about saddle height - so I do ride in the drops quite a bit... and very comfortably. Before changing the bar, perhaps consider raising the stem a bit and try it out for a while.


Again, that's really a wonderful bike you have there. Seems like very little would really "need" replacing beyond the normal wear items.

Enjoy!
Bob

This is good to hear. I have a Miyata 610, with canti brakes, that I want to change over to 700c. I already have the wheels -- nice XT hubs and Mavic rims -- and after getting them realized I might not be able to use them as intended.

What has been people experience in fitting larger tire sizes on old Miyata touring bikes? I assume I should be able to fit 32mm (after changing out to 700c) with fenders, but any chance that 35mm with fenders would fit?

Oh and wonderfully nice little blue bike you have there.

Bob,
Wow, you did an awesome job on that Voyager! Thanks so much for the recommendations, and links. You've given me plenty to research.
My "wish list":
Fenders
Brooks saddle
Bar end shifters

Chainrings are 52-47-34, which I happy with.
27" alloy rims (40h rear and 36h front) will remain, as I'm not unhappy with the tire availability in my area.
5-speed...hummmm, I'm undecided on the need to make any changes for a while.

Again.....Uber-sweet Voyager, nice job!
2Fer

Congrats on your new ride! You might want to dig around in here a bit as well:

https://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/MiyataSpecTour/

Bob

Cyclotoine,
great suggestions.
Found some hoods in good shape already, and will be looking for fenders. KoolStops are a great call, I'll check 'em out this week.
Thanks, 2Fer

I am a touring ignoramus, but I dig that bike. I think fenders would be great.
Are those the shifters with the light ratcheting? My only recommendations:

1-Fenders, and velo orange has those dimpled ones.
2-Weinmann concave wheel set.
3-PM to Machin Shin, he just finished a beauty

Ride, captain, ride.

Yes his are dia-compe. I believe they are the 935 or 953 model or something... in anycase they have super short arms and they have very little mechanical advantage (i hope I am using the term right), I used to think they were cool, but then I realized their performance is one of the worst of all time. I actually say a set of shimano cantilevers that are pretty much identical... I almost bought them because I thought they might be sought after but then decided they deserve much more to be in a the metal recycling bin.

If you plan to do any serious distance riding or find the gearing uncomfortable keep in mind that the "Super Custom" cranksets have an oddball BCD. I'm thinking it's 86 but don't hold me to it, it's easy to measure. I have a couple of bikes that use that crankset and while it's not bad looking and functions fine I wouldn't want to go on a really long tour with it knowing I couldn't get replacement rings at any bikeshop.

+1 Replace regular consumables if needed: tires, tubes, cables, and lever hoods. Replace and repack all bearings. Clean and wax.

Ride it for a while and decide what upgrades if any are needed. Bar ends sound like a good upgrade, but you may get used to or even like the downtube shifters.

Great score!!