Strange Nishiki on the CL
 

http://kalamazoo.craigslist.org/bik/1499034610.html

My sister is picking this up for me as I am out of town. With the Barcons I'm pretty sure it's worth it, but I was wondering if anybody could give me some info on it to tide me over before I get a chance to see it in person. Is that bendy top tube a feature of a certain model, or is it just because it's ridiculously small? I tried to find old catalogs on the internet but there wasn't much available. I'm curious as what the tubing and other components are.

Can't wait to hear the explanations for this:

http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/9...ngenishiki.jpg

This was obviously made by somebody with the "damn the slanted top tubes" mentality.

My sister got it and gave me a brief description over the phone. She's not into bikes so I couldn't get a ton of info (you mean this hangy thingy in back? - when asking about RD) but it has Shimano 600 RD and FD. I'm pretty surprised because I thought Nishiki was pretty loyal to Suntour. Crank says Custom. That's about all I know now. I won't get to see it in person for over a week!! Suspense!

I'm not sure how loyal nishiki was to suntour...the only Nishiki I ever owned had shimano positron.

My dad looked over it and it seems to be a Frankenbike.

He didn't check the brand of the rims or tubing. Any ideas?

Maybe the hubs are Maillard Helicomatic? Read what Sheldon said and weep...

At the risk of high order heresy, on this one subject Sheldon was full of ****. I've been running Helicomatic's on between two and three different bikes at a time and have been very happy with them. Maybe not the best design, but it's certainly a decent one. And I'll happily take in any Helicomatic rear hubs and clusters that anyone wants to throw out.

It was a very short name... Like Mia or Hishi (neither of which are likely to be it, just the way I remember things). Either way I think I did well based on the known components. Does anybody care to venture a guess as to the model name or frame material?

I'd hypothesize that the caliper brake on the rear is due to the small frame size. There may not have been enough distance between the seatpost clamp bolt and the brake bridge for the full length of a centerpull brake, cable and hanger. I think you can kind of imagine that when looking at the picture. It is strange, though, because I would have specified a caliper brake for the front, too...

Alright, my 2 cents. The first time that I looked at this picture, the frame reminded me of 1985ish era Panasonic Japanese road bikes that were sold in a 17" mens frame with 27" wheels. The only difference was that the top tube dropped down at about a 45 degree angle from the head tube, then was horizontal until the seat tube. As far as I remember, and I could be quite wrong, the front brake was a Dia-Compe center pull and the rear brake was a Dia-Comple alloy side pull. I have never seen a Nishiki withe this frame design, but it is somewhat similar to the mentioned Panasonic design.
Skyerocker-I agree with you wholeheartedly about Maillard helicomatic hubs. I sold Treks and Peugeots that had them, and never remember having any significant structural problems whatsoever. The 'freewheel/cassette' came off the hub very easily, inidividual cogs were easy to replace , axles wore OK. I really don't understand why the entire system is so badly maligned. If I ever find a reasonably priced 1985ish Trek 720 touring bike with the helicomatic system, I would not change the wheels for any reason. Just my 2 cents.

The information seems to be coming from the family in little bits and pieces... Get this: Toshiba Tubing! I've never heard of such a thing. It's gaspipe.

Hmm. I thought that Toshiba only made electronics. Guess they decided to lose some money and get into bike manufacturing.