Nishiki Line/Models
 

You have to forgive me, but I just got back into cycling after 25 years.
I like steel road bikes with friction shifting. Go figure......
I had a 57cm Nishiki Prestige frame I built with Shimano 600 components.
I loved the bike, but it was a little small. The ride was the awesome.

I am looking for a very nice Nishiki Frame in 62-63 cm to replace the bike.
I weigh 205, and ride 35-50 miles per week on ave. I will do rides of 60-75 on occasion, and will participate in our Central Ohio TOSRV from now until I die. It is a two day, 210 mile ride,

What were the better Nishiki frames/models in the mid-80's?
I saw a Nishikl Sport 62 cm frame on ebay - however, that was a lower model bike as I understand the heirarchy.

Please help.

thank you.

Sport = dud. Prestige was pretty high up the product line.

Better off opening yourself up to all the good Japanese brands. After all, Nishiki didn't build bikes anyway, they had others produce them. There were a lot of great brands from that era that did not manufacture their bikes: Univega, Centurion, Lotus, to name just a few. And of course, you had all of the terrific Japan built Schwinns.

There is a Nishiki serial number thread out there, that I think lists a lot of the models. But again, I would not limit myself to one brand. The list of great Japanese produced bike brands is quite long: Bridgestone, Panasonic, Miyata, Univega, Nishiki, Centurion, and on and on. I just picked up a nice 1986 Katakura Silk for my keeper fleet. So my keeper fleet includes a Centurion (Japan), Schwinn Prologue and Paramount Series 5 (both Japan, Panasonics), a Taiwanese Univega (KHS), the Katakura Silk (Japan). I'm probably forgetting a few more.

Thread on Nishikis is here:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...umber-Database

I thend to agree with the above...though have heart, there are a few 25" Nishiki Prestige's still floating around in impeccable condition. I got my frame locally, 1985 model, 25" c-t-t (so ~62cm c-t-c), with impeccable original metallic blue-green paint plus original shifters, headset and seatpost just a couple of months ago. That said, I certainly saw a significant number of similar, and very nice, Miyatas and Centurions particularly. The Centurion 'Ironman' models are remarkably similar to the Prestige, with high-end Tange tubing, comparable geometry, similar lugs, etc.

Nishiki also made a 'Professional' model through the 70s and 80s (I'm not sure on dates, exactly), one like this would certainly meet your needs (I know there was a 'competition' model as well, but again not sure on timeframe):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/****ingomelette/5048945634/

Whoops...the flickr user has a profane username that forums ****'s out. Guess the profanity to follow the link (not mine, just an 80s example similar to the Prestige that I found on google...)

I owned an International before acquiring a Nishiki Prestige. It was truly a fine bike, but the decision of which to keep or sell came down in favor of the International.

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...restige020.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h.../DSCF6817a.jpg

The brands cited by Thrifty Bill would be excellent possibilities, but they were all full line manufacturers and all models are not equal. You should add Fuji to that list.

Also, I would recommend keeping your eyes open for any of the early Trek steel roadbikes - They are all good and the higher end models (6XX, 7xx and 9xx models) are just outstanding bikes.

I am usually brand agnostic. I look at condition, frame tubing material, and components. As a result, I have ended up with bikes I was not looking for, like a Falcon, a Puch, and a Quintana Roo. There were just too many brands and models out there. Impossible to know them all. But once you know WHAT makes a model desirable, you can broaden your search, and find better deals. A lot of buyers out there just recognize a couple of brands. Beyond Trek and Fuji, I would also add Lotus. You really can't make a short list. And most brands made a wide range of bikes, from the pretty basic dud, to something very special, and everything inbetween. That's one nice thing about Trek, their product line starts about mid level, and goes up from there.