Is this a Nishiki?
 

Hello,

I was not sure where to ask this question and so I came to this forum. I am not familiar with road bikes and their history.

I have received a bike and I have no idea what it is. There is no name and no serial that I can locate so far.

I have not seen bikes with such lugs as on this one in Australia. The colour looks white with sparkles in lights.

I have looked over forums and in some ways the lugs remind me of what people call the Nishiki brand of bikes. The brakes remind me of something that may have been before the 80's. Am I close to answer?

Can someone tell me what it might be made from and who made it?

The seat shows a name similar to "Ellevelli" or "Gellevelli" and the word Italia.
The gears on the back wheel show Revina or Kevina Made in Italy.
The Stem has the letters 3ttt Italy
The handle SR Sakae Special Japan
Where the front wheel goes into the fork mounts it shows Shimano SF
There are stickers that read "Made with Shimano 600 components"
The nut that holds the stem in place shows "Tange Falcon Made in Japan"

http://postimage.org/image/2f1n4f0tg/Pictures can be viewed at /http://postimage.org/gallery/5bmkspl2g/864707c5/
http://postimage.org/image/2f1orydb8/
http://postimage.org/image/2f1qfhpt0/
http://postimage.org/image/2f1s312as/
http://postimage.org/image/2f1x1n3s4/
http://postimage.org/image/2f1yp6g9w/
http://postimage.org/image/2f20cpsro/
http://postimage.org/image/2f23nshr8/
http://postimage.org/image/2f25bbu90/
http://postimage.org/image/2f2a9xvqc/

My first question is what lead the OP to think the bike was a Nishiki?

The bicycles vintage can be determined by applying the information contained in How Old Is My Bike?

As for what brand is the bike, there is precious little to go on. Good clear close up pictures of the drops would add a bit of help. Also, measure the diameter of the seat tube (measure accurately and that number will help to determine tubing type) and the width of the bottom bracket housing (70mm = Italian or sometimes Mexican while 68mm = just about everything else).

Other than that, based on the information provided, I can offer little more. I would say that the Shimano 600 stuff is first generation, putting the bikes vintage around the mid seventies, approximately.

Thank you for the recommendation. The website you suggested is helpful.

I am not sure what you mean by "OP". I thought it may be a Nishiki because I had read that Repco, an Australian company, used to sell bikes that were manufactured by Nishiki. I do not know if this is true. I was purely going on the fact that the lugs were of a look that I noticed on pictures on Nishiki bikes and because of the stickers on the bike showing Shimano 600 labels. So far I can not locate a serial number to check against the Nishiki serial numbers and observe a pattern.

The bottom bracket maybe 68mm, as best measured until I take parts off the frame. The seat is 27mm in diameter. The guide for the gear cables is most similar to http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpe...Int_C_BB_1.jpg. The front and rear places for the wheel have the stamp "Shimano SF". When it was given to me the person said that they were told it is a Shimano bike. If I have the opportunity to photograph again then I will take a picture of the dropouts and then add another post to this thread topic.

I have since found an Australian bike forum that showed a thread topic of Repco Nishiki bikes, maybe someone will be able to offer more information there.

Serial number on BB ?

No, not a Nishiki.

Nishiki was a brand of bicycles distributed by West Coast Cycles, a California company. Nishikis were built, imported, and sold by WCC from the 1970's onward, but it is unlikely that your bike is one of these. It could be from a similar or identical Australian setup: an importer brings in a bike built to their specification and sold under their name.

That being said, it looks to be pretty good bike. The forged dropouts and component group point to it being a quality unit. It's not a rarity, IMO, so I'd put some wheels on it, replace the normal wear 'n' tear items, and got ride it. It's a bike, not the Venus de Milo.

It is most likely something Japanese. The lugs were indeed available to Nishiki but also to other Japanese manufacturers. The bike seems to be better than entry level, probably mid-high due to the chrome and nice forged dropouts. That crank is super cool though. All the Italian bits might be non-original though since the "Shimano 600" stickers means most if not all the components should have been Shimano 600 Arabesque. I'm guessing maybe an SR.

+1 The bike does appear to be to be of late 70's Japanese origin. I also doubt it is a Nishiki since most of these where sold on the American West Coast. If you flip the bike over most Japanese bikes have a serial number on the bottom brackett if you give use the number and pic someone here can probably ID the bike.

I have been taking the bike apart over the last day. I have been looking for any sign of a serial number. There is none.

I also checked the web page http://www.utexas.edu/parking/transp...nd_serial.html. The serial was in none of those places. Maybe I do not know what to look for, though I have seen serials stamped on bike frames before under the bottom bracket.

Those silver parts on the bike are possibly chrome. I originally thought that they were "chrome" paint as I have seen on other bikes when it sometimes flakes off when rust gets to the metal. I was cleaning those parts with some steel wool because of what looked like surface rust and most has come off leaving the chrome/silver coloured parts clean.

Thank you for all the responses.