fender1

Recently I traded my brother (nikkorod here on the forums) a 1986 Nashbar road bike (not my size) for a 1986 Bridgestone 400 (my size). It is good to have a family member as a willing trading partner.

While I don't have any "before" pics, of the Bridgestone, it was dirty but overall in good shape. Strangely there did not seem to be any grease in the bike at all! I have flipped well over a hundred bikes and have never seen one that seemed as if it had been cleaned of every bit of grease and then reassembled. The headset, bottom bracket, seat post & stem were all dry as a bone(s). Luckily, nothing was stuck but the headset was trashed due to the lack of lubrication.

Not to worry though, I had just traded my brother for a new Tange 27.0 J.I.S. headset a couple of weeks ago.... again, good to have family "in the life".

Below are some pics of the completed build. The bike is a smooth rider and the frame is surprisingly stiff for its age/type. I had parts on hand and purchased a set of SKS 45 fenders as well as a set of Tektro 538 nutted long reach brakes.

The color is "Space Violet" according to the 1986 Bridgestone catalog.



Enjoy!

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EjustE

Looks fantastic! What kind of saddlebag is that?

nikkorod

Very nice! What size tires did you finally end up with?

Chris W.

I like that a lot!!! Very nice!

Cheers,
Chris

fender1

Thanks. Bag is a "Kevin's Bag" from Rivendell. Seems fitting for a Bridgestone........

fender1

32mm Folding Pasela TG's. Smooooooooooooffffffth!

Bianchigirll 

great looking bike.

David Newton

I like!
A 400 has butted cro-mo main tubing and a hi-ten fork, which makes for a very happy ride.

fender1

Thanks! +1 on the Hi Ten fork. I find this bike to be very responsive and comfortable. It set up as an errand bike right now but I would be curious how it fares on a longer ride. I wonder if the Hi-Ten works better with larger riders. I am 6'1 185lbs. I had a couple of 62cm Reynolds 531 Treks that were very whippy. This bike...solid.

Ghoulardi

I just picked up a Bridgestone 400 myself. (A year newer)

I took it on a 60 mile jaunt on Saturday and loved it.

YoKev

I love the color.....mmmmmmmmmmm

cuda2k

Looks good, though I'd polish off the 'Tektro' name off those levers.

Kobe 

Space Violet.....I wonder where they got that name.

I have your big brother(Tektro brakes too). I like the 400 so much I have 2 of them. I keep the '85 at the office to run to the post office and bank.



I have to remember to get rid of the dork disk.

Yours looks awesome, I may be stealing some of your ideas. Especially the Riv bag.

nikkorod

I think these bikes are underated. Everyone is always focused on the RB series and these bikes seem to go unoticed. I'm a fan of sport touring geometry.

badger_biker 

[QUOTE=fender1;10865927]I would be curious how it fares on a longer ride. [QUOTE]

Great bike!

I have my '84 set up with front and rear racks and it worked great on long loaded tours. I added the granny ring and converted to bar end shifters. I don't give it the ride time it deserves any more but I've had it since new and couldn't part with it after all the good service it has given me.

3speed

Nice bike. I love it. Maybe I'll have to put some fenders on mine now... Where did you find the Bridgestone catalog? I just got a Sport Touring 300 that I'm fixing up but can't seem to find any info on. It's a great rider, though.

nlerner

Nice build! I sold a stock Bridgestone 400 last year, which was too small for me though on my test rides it sure did feel very solid.

Neal

fender1

Thanks, Neal (and everyone else for the kind words)

Here is a link to the catalog archive:

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgest...tml#catalogues

Anyone ever ridden on these with the load on the front? Anyone have any good "hacks" for using a vintage Blackburn rear rack (single/brake mounting strut) as a front rack? I currently have a basket on the rear rack but gettin on and off the bike with a load can be a bit awkward.

fender1

Steal Away!! (I can't claim the ideas as mine anyway!) Yours looks great as well,

brandon98

Nice Bridgey

Actually, a bit of nail polish remover (acetone) and a minute with a rag will remove most printed-on logos on stems, levers, and derailleurs. I can assure you that the "Tektro" on the levers comes off in about 15 seconds.

tomio

+1 Moustache Bars.

brockd15 

Great looking bike! I've got a T700 that I bought to be my wife's touring bike, but it's too big for her and too small for me, so it'll have to go one of these days. They seem to be really nice bikes though.
But now I can't help but wonder how the other end of the trade worked out. To bring this thread full circle, has the Nashbar frame been built up?

badger_biker 

I have a Vetta front rack mounted on mine and have ridden it on a loaded trip in Glacier and into WA about 20 years ago. I had my larger vintage Cannondale bags with the most weight on the front and smaller panniers on the back. It handled very well. The Vetta is a Blackburn knock off and shorter than the standard rear rack but has the same single brake bolt mounting. Here is a pic of mine now.

brandonk

I've been on the fence over whether I would build up a 400 frame I have had sitting in the corner of the garage. I'm convinced, I found some moustache bars on CL that I'll pick up on my way home from work and get started tonight. Thanks for the inspiration!