prairiepedaler

Ok, thanks for that. I see what you mean by the Fuji "channelled" tubing. I think though that the Miyata was splined like a rifle barrel is spiral milled out while these others are straight from end to end.

Here is an ad for a Fuji Ace with that channeled tubing.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...5416022791650/

casanewt

There is some more info on splined tubing in this older thread...

What is splined STB Miyata Triple butted tubing?

MLyon18

I’ve a 1983 Miyata 1000, and a 1986 Miyata 615. The 1000 was restored which required new wheels, triple chain rings, etc., and a lot of cleaning and polishing. The 615 was built up from a seemingly NOS frame, or at least it was in super excellent condition. Made, had made new, or found period, NOS components where possible, Both bikes are SunTour all the way. The 1000 takes me out 15-30 miles around town for exercise. The 615 is rigged out for shopping trips with front panniers and a trunk bag on the rear rack. It’ll carry a bottle of spirits and two 12-packs!

tendency 

Don't get me wrong I love Miyata's (and have an '86 pro) but personally I always thought the full spline tubing was a bit of a marketing/brand differentiator gimmick. I can see, perhaps, splining around the bottom bracket and, maybe elsewhere if you're a hard core pro caliber sprinter. But personally for me it makes for a stiff heavy frame. Miyata always championed their splining as a way to make a frame just as stiff but lighter than a non-splined one. They definitely got the stiffer part down. Lighter? Not so much.

curbtender

61f8gt

arex

I finally got this -86 Miyata 310 finished. The only things original are the frame and the crank. It had been sitting behind a shed for a VERY long time, and got passed around for a while before I got it off of CL for $25. I still have to make adjustments and take it out for a shakedown.

Prunesquallor

Purists, cover your eyes.

I bought this 710 in ‘84 (frame number says ’81, however) and it was my racing/triathlon bike throughout the 80’s and later my indoor trainer. But then I seemed to gravitate more toward running rather than cycling and the bike became a clothes rack, and later a garage queen.

Fast-forward thirty years, and my knees are telling me running is no longer optimal. Hmmm… pull down the bike. Doesn’t look toooo bad. Brake hoods are shot, rust bubbling up under the headset chrome. Lots of paint chipping and rust spots. New tires/tubes and some short test rides led to a vicious resto-mod cycle:

Stage 1 was upgrade to 2x7 with new Shimano Claris components and indexed (what voodoo is this?) DT shifters. Put in about 1000 miles getting myself and the bike back in the groove.

Stage 2 involved some violence to the frame: cold-set the rear dropouts to 130mm for an 11-speed hub, drilled the the seat tube for a second bottle cage and sent frame and forks off to be powder coated with new decals from VeloCals. 2x11 with new Shimano 105 components and brifters (my DT virtuosity seemed to have left me). Nitto stem and bars. Velocity A23 rims with 105 hubs. Put in about 2000 miles doing fitness and charity rides.

Stage 3 brought more drive train changes. During this year's Houston MS150, the FD nearly imploded, and I decided the best FD was no FD. So now we’re at 1x11 - the crank and BB are NOS Shimano 105 1055 double (left over from the 2x7 incarnation), with Wolf Tooth 42T ring mounted on the inner chainring position. I substituted a NOS Deore XT spindle which moved the chainline out pretty much exactly the right amount. In the rear, Deore XT 11-40T cassette with GRX RD. Treated and laced up a new B17.

Really, I think I’m done. I wanted to get to a bullet-proof fitness/event bike with old-man gearing. With this 1x setup I kept a 1.05 low gear and only lost the highest gear of the 2x11. This bike rides smooth, fast and silent. I’m putting in about 100 miles/week.

Sactown_Albert 

I’m normally a French and Swiss C&V guy but I got this 1986 Miyata Nine Twelve for a song and knew it was a diamond in the rough. The tires and the hoods were shot but the frame and components were in good shape. Bike appeared to be ridden a lot initially and then it hung and was neglected for a few decades. I tried to get others to buy it but nobody jumped on my post in the CL thread so I decided to grab it.

Took a few months but I’m very happy with how it turned out.

rwh63

i just grabbed a miyata from the dump. i'll post i when i can. nothing special, but would like to know more about it.

Trueblood

Very nice! Love the bar tape color too! It perfectly complements the pink. What did you use to polish the chrome?

rwh63

clearly you are comfortable enough with your masculinity to ride a pink bike. bravo!

SurferRosa

Wouldn't have thought burgundy tape would be right, but you've pulled it off. How are you finishing that at the top? Painted thread or twine?

Sactown_Albert 

I use waxed thread from my leather sewing kit. Works real well.

hankamania

My mom bought her '86 Nine Twelve new that year, and she still rides it. She turns 75 this month. I think the only original part left on it is the headset. The bar, stem and seatpost were all bent when our car crashed with the bike on the rear rack. I swapped out the 600SIS drivetrain for a Campagnolo triple setup with Ergopower brifters probably 15 years ago, and I did a 650b conversion on it 3 or 4 years ago.

mjj1015

This build was my first attempt at doing anything mechanical with a bike other than changing tires & tubes. Watched a lot of Youtube videos (leaned heavily on RJ the Bike Guy) and used this forum (especially for the Suntour Symmetrical downtube shifter conversion). Doesn't make sense on paper financially, but was very rewarding and I learned a lot! Special thanks to my friend Greg who 3D printed me new name plates for the old Ultegra brifters.

Prunesquallor

Same year, same model as mine! Nice!

curbtender

Greg could make some money selling those replacement nameplates. I should have bought a bunch when biketires direct was clearing them out at $9 a piece.

mjj1015

Great looking bike you have there. I noticed we both went with alternate headstock logos - the original was one of their dorkier ones.

Prunesquallor

Thanks. Yeah, I had a replacement decal made, but I found this headbadge on eBay, which was used on the ‘83 and earlier models, so decided to fudge a bit.



Plus I didn’t paint the head tube after powder coating. It should have looked like this:

SurferRosa

mjj1015

haha. Yep. Keep doing that.

avecReynolds531

Thanks for a brilliant Miyata thread with great learning and beautiful bikes.

Here's my Koga Miyata Terraliner from 2001 - it needed a lot of attention and work when found last year. A welded Taiwanese frame, with a FM-1 decal (double butted, not the triple splined), though expecting only the main triangle to be FM-1. The brochure has this model under the sports hybrid section, though the 71-degree parallel angles, wheelbase, and weight (heavy!) suggest touring.

The elegance of the Japanese-made lugged frames is sadly long gone: the tube profiles seem out of proportion & brutalist ugly. For example, the down tube & top tube compared with the stays. No matter, the versatility, no-rush handling, and having restored the bike to working condition are all good. It's used for commuting all year round, touring & trips to the shops. Comfortable on road or path, with wide-ranging 3 x 8 gearing.





I've been trying to find out about the later Miyata frames and would be grateful for any information please. When Miyata started to source frame building in Taiwan, was this subcontracted, or did they open their own premises there? In the 1980s, Giant had a joint venture with Koga in basing their European operations, and a post in the thread mentioned Merida manufacturing for Miyata. So it seems possible that the Terraliner, with Koga Miyata head badge, decals, (and Fm-1 tubing decal), could be a Merida or Giant fabricated frameset with Miyata tubing?

Chicago Al 

You can compare the serial number to those in T-Mar's amazing thread stickied above on Asian manufacturers' serial numbers.

grant40

Here is mine.

prairiepedaler

I think the Miyata is a good old touring bike with a lot of lore surrounding it and that lore jacks the pricetag on the used market. This is great news for those who don't care if they ever own a Miyata 1k as there are many similar calibre touring bikes of the same era to choose from. There is no way I'd take a Miyata 1k over a decent modern touring bike.