After more than a year of looking for an older touring bike, this was comming off the back of the truck at the local second-hand store when I arrived this morning IN MY SIZE! (sorry for the lousy cell phone picture):



I could barely wait for them to price it ($35 ). I think it is a 1983 model from the date codes (Ser # DS15971). Columbus Acciaio Speciale lugged steel from and fork, Cyclone-II rear derailuer, Suntour Mountain Tech front, Diacomp cantilever brakes, Sugino cranks, Shimano 600 headset, Suntour sealed hubs w/27" alloy rims (the only downer). Complete with front and rear Vetta racks and Blumels fenders. I am so excited I can hardly wait to get home!

Awesome find! Congratulations!

Wow. I'm envious. It looks like my size too.

One of my big problems with the older touring rigs is that they don't have a ton of clearance once you throw fenders on them, but the one Odyssey I've seen looked as if it would take 45mm tires! Can you measure the clearance for us curious onlookers?

Nice find. Ride it in good health!

Super find! Well done!

OK. Pictures.

Here are my attempts to get a shot on the clearences for fenders, etc. Looks good to me.





It even has an early sealed Suntour bottom bracket:



An old cycle computer that still works!



Other shots (Anyone know anything about this tubing? 27.2 mm seatpost):











The chain obviously needs work. There is also some rust on the cantilever brake springs. I plan on swapping out the downtube shifters for some new old standard Suntour barcons that I have been sitting on for years. I also may go with aero-routed brake levers.

clean that thing! hard to tell what's dirt and what's rust. You could sell those racks and make it a free bike, for sure. Looks like it'll be a nice one.

Wow, thats a really really nice find! That Sugino AT crankset is really nice too. What size is it, 58cm?? I can imagine the excitement/panic waiting on the bike to get priced!

Awesome. Any idea what it weighs ? 35$ for a high end, beautiful touring bike is just incredible luck. Are there folding tires in 27" so you can carry spares ?

That's a very nice find. I'd venture to guess the tubing is Colombus SP or a mix of SL and SP.

Panaracer Pasela TG is available in folding 27" ...nice tires, those.

Wow, fantastic score, your patience paid off in a big way!! I'll second the Pasela TG recommendation, they're also quite light. The Trek 614 near the end of the "before & after" thread is wearing a pair of them.

Please repost when you have her refurbished. Nice find!

I have some options, and not sure which way to go.

First; rims. 27" folding tires (handy for touring) are effectively non-existant (Panaracer Pasela TG's are not foldable in the 27" size...gawd only knows why). I stuck some 700c's on today and they fit great (brakes too), so I'm going to re-lace the Suntour sealed hubs...unless I can pick up a 40-holer someplace. I picked up these out of the basement of the LBS:



I would have preferred some older Mavic MA-2's, but of the 13 rims stashed in the back corners of the two older LBS's in town (including two in my garage), only one of them is 36 hole. I think these will work OK.

Bigger issue: bars/stem/levers. The stem is a SR Royal...nice by any standard, but low...not touring comfy. The bars are also rather skinny at 40 cm. I have a Nitto Technomanic (way high if I want) and a 44 cm Nitto Noddle bar which had sorta been planned for another build that I have lost interest in for now. I would also throw on some aero-routed brake levers. I hate to go non-original, but I think it will make me actually want to ride it versus look at it. I'll save the take-offs.

Other than that, I'm switching the 50-tooth big ring to a 48 for true half-step gearing. Bluemels fenders may get swapped out too, but not as concerned about that.

Any thoughts??

You are wrong about the Pasela TG in 27" I have a pair of folding ones that I just recently ordered from bike TRASHbar.

Check again!

-R

Oh, and GREAT bike by the way. I had a Lotus Legend (with 600 Arabesque) that I toured with in the early 80's. You scored (of course you know that) a LEGENDary deal on your OD! You should def get some Kool Stop pads!

Enjoy!

-R

looks a lot like my lotus tourer. Mine is an Eclair and with Tange tubing, but aside from that is was very similiar. Same racks too. Mine had and has for now older deore components. I need to get an updated pic as it's changed a bit, but here's one from this past spring. I ride it daily 20 miles round trip to work and sometimes grocery shop with it too. Tourer's make excellent commuters.

45!? can you even get a good touring tire in that size? And there is no way a 45mm tire would fit on there.

Balindamood - I sent you a PM about 27" folding Pascelas and those rims.

-Kurt

I bought my Odessey new in '81. I commute to work on it every day until the snow falls (& then ride an old Raleigh Record). When I bought I use to do 3 day to 2 week camping trips on it. I beleive the '81 is more of a sports touring bike as I have Shimano 600 sidepulls, a 41" wheelbase & more upright geometry. Fabulous bike, nice find. 3 years ago this week I did 400 miles along the Mississippi on it. Enjoy it, I still do.

Yep, Schwalbe Marathon Plus, for example. And what I'd call commuting tires, too, like the Specialized Borough XC Sport.

You're right, no way would a 45mm fit on the OP's bike. The Odyssey I saw a year or so ago looked as if it had much wider fork clearance, but I was just eyeballing.