rothenfield1

This is the kind of bike that I love working around; a neglected yet original classy dame. I see in this bike a proud and steady machine that says; “ Been there..done that. You want to go fast somewhere, I can do that. You want to load me with 40 lbs for an extended road trip; I’m down with that too. What else you got?”

You won’t find any ‘wiggles’ in this bike. This is probably the most mechanically solid vintage bike that I’ve built to date. I thought about creating this long historical post about how this bike seems to be a transition root design that branched off into the 1000 (full-on tourer) and 610 (sport tourer), but thought better of it. You can thank me later for not boring you with my ramblings.

davehbuffalo

Very nice. Me want.

cycleheimer

So many road bikes, so few touring bikes!

1981 Grand Touring Series catalog link ... oldest I could find online ...

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_whtVpXkKwl...0-h/img009.jpg

TugaDude

Love the arched brake bridge. I love cantilevers and centerpulls with unique brake bridges! Sold my '85 Letour Luxe in order to get money to buy something I wanted more. Wish I still had her, she was remarkable. I'm sure that bike is equally awesome. Enjoy!

rothenfield1

The frame dimensions appear to be the same with one major difference. The '81 has Miyata branded tubing and the '79 has Tange Champion tubing. I had thought that Miyata had always drawn their own tubing, but obviously something changed between '79 & '81.

rothenfield1

I admit that this is a cheesy this to do, but I'm bumping my post seeing that it is the most authentic build that I've done and may be the last bike I restore for a while. I have not seen this bike very often, so I thought it would have generated more interest.

My only regret is that I didn't have a black Brooks to match the bar tape. I hadn't decided to match the original look, I was going to go with a natural light brown bar tape. Of course, I did embellish on the cable housing. I couldn't help myself since it brought out the gold lug highlights.

Here's an article with a pic from back in the day.

mkeller234

Ohh, that is sweet! I'm glad you bumped it since I completely missed it. Please tell us about the racks, are they new or vintage? I think the honey brooks looks nice on your bike.

rothenfield1

Those crazy brake boss mounted racks are original equipment. Because the side panels are 'screwed' to the top panel, the racks were criticized as possibly being suspect to handle a full load in the review I just added. Of course, back then, camping gear was much heavier. I really don't see a problem with them myself.

rothenfield1

That's odd. I just saw that there were 2 stripes around the seat tube on the one in the review. How far back does the C&V serial number decoder go for Miyatas?

Chris W.

Beautiful!!! FWIW: I think the saddle looks great!

Cheers,
Chris