illwafer

Chris_in_Miami

Yep, that's the same one I saw at the flea market, very cool! I'm sure it will clean up very nicely.

erf

Interesting, I purchased a Fuji Finest in the early 70"s at The Magic Mushroom bicyle shop. It was located not far from the zoo at that time, don't remember if that was part of Glendale at the time. They were a very good group of guys and doubt they were using the mushrooms. I just purchased a SR semi pro frame and fork, and have been trying to track down who made it etc.

vendorz

hehehe... My money's on TMar... whose impressive body of work can be quoted and linked... for example:

and pretty authoritatively confirmed:

horse and cycle

I have an SR 12 speed that I purchased in 1980 or 1981. I think it cost around $400. I still have it in its original condition and it is wonderful.
It is getting a clean up job at the moment and some new tires. It is black with a red stripe running through it.

robtown

I just bought an 61cm SR frameset on Ebay to today for a ridiculously low price. The seller thinks it was repainted but it's hard to tell from the pictures. It might be powercoated but seems to be a deep metallic blue with copper lugs. There is a rounded rectangular head badge with a simple "SR" on it. Pictures to come.

CO_Hoya 

Since this seems like the most active SR thread, I thought I'd post a question here (sorry cudak).

I picked up a rough SR Professional this morning, and was trying to glean some information from it based on components and serial number. The remaining original bits are Dura-Ace, with late-1980 date codes, so I figure the bike is an 1980 or 1981 model. The serial number is AD2330, which doesn't match the seemingly standard convention of LNLNNNNN (e.g. M3E36487), where the first number is the last digit of manufacture year (in this example 1983).

Does that serial number give any hints at to the builder for a 1980-1 model year? Frame is Tange #2 with a Shimano rear dropout and looks about halfway in between the Maxima and Professional shown on the top of pages 3 and 4 of this thread, respectively (no pics or mine yet).

Shp4man

I am also an SR owner. As far as I know, the serial number database is lost or non-existent. I can confirm that my 1983 model was built in Japan, as has very good build quality. The bikes are great riders, and deserve an SR thread!
Like this one.

JohnDThompson 

It was actually much earlier than that, around 1984 or 85. Trek was contemplating an aluminum bike then, but hadn't yet decided whether to build their own or re-badge another frame. Samples were acquired from Vitus, SR, and others to evaluate. In the end, Trek designed and built their own frame, but we did have samples of the bonded SR aluminum frame for evaluation.

CO_Hoya 

Here are a couple of pics (more and bigger here):





I'm still trying to puzzle this guy out, especially what to do with it:

• the paint is very rough
• there's a small ding in the top tube
• the derailleurs and crankset are not original

Other than a couple of laps around the neighborhood, I haven't had the time to get a feel for it yet. Probably won't get back to the bike until late summer or early fall, so I've got time to figure it out, I suppose.

Cheers

Bikedued

Not rough at all, all things considered!! Please don't paint it, unless you can't help yourself. Polish it and ride!,,,,BD

It looks better than a LOT of the bikes I find!!

CO_Hoya 

I'm never sure if these kinds of posts should be included here or in a new thread.

I finally got around to working on the SR Professional this fall.



Since the last post:

• Spent some time touching up the paint - perhaps a fool's errand because I never got a satisfactory match to the original dark blue metallic. At least the bare metal is covered. I'd say that the frame is a five footer (minimum distance to look good).
• Collected the bits of missing original drive train (thanks in part to frantik) to bring it back to 7200-series Dura-Ace. I dropped in HG cogs on the free-hub, except for the threaded 13t. Shifting is excellent.
• Polished up the bits of aluminum that were in the worst shape (brake levers, stem) and gussied up an SR Laprade seat post I borrowed from another bike.
• Went with white cables, saddle and bar tape. Should be well-soiled soon. Black brake hoods (Dia-Compe 204) are a little too big
• Slapped on some 700x28 Armadillos. Look way too big for the bike, but they were the only 700c gumwalls I have on-hand.
• Probably could use some clean/new toe straps, but that'll wait for another day.

Took it for a test ride and the handling and shifting is solid. It felt a little sluggish but I've been riding so little that I suspect it was the engine. Braking could be better, but was satisfactory.

A couple of more pics, the full set (after and before) can be found here (link):

ThermionicScott 

That is a beautiful bike, CO_Hoya. I, for one, am thankful for the bump.

countludwig

Agreed, and I love that crankset. I picked up one of these on ebay, an SR triathlon, suntour dropouts etc, rides like a dream although
it is a bit small for me, I ended up setting it up with flat handlebars and some nos suntour. a joy to ride.

thunderworks

I was in the bike business from the mid 1970's through the 1990's. I never sold SR, but a competitor did. I got along well with my competitor and talked to him frequently. The SR bikes were distributed by Windsor Enterprises, a wholesaler in California. That has already been noted in previous posts. This same distributor also sold Windsor bikes, made in Mexico, but all the SR bikes I ever saw were made in Japan. During the early 80's, there were relatively few Japanese bike makers. Some sold ONLY their only labeled products. Miyata and Fuji come to mind. Miyata was still a family business at that time and Fuji was owned by a larger company (I think Asahi Heavy Industries) but only made Fuji labeled bikes. There were others I can't remember, but mostly small - Lotus for example.

During this period there were also several very large manufacturers that made bikes under contract for others who marketed the label. A good example of that kind of bike is Centurion - which was strictly a marketed label made by others. My memory is that the two largest contract suppliers were Bridgestone and Panasonic. Bridgestone was the larger of the two, but Panasonic was quite big. Eventually, both Bridgestone and Panasonic tried to sell their own brands in the US, with nominal success. Bridgestone withdrew from the US market in 1994. I can't remember what happened to Panasonic.

Bottom line, even though I don't know with any certainty, I suspect either Bridgestone or Panasonic made the SR bikes. The lugwork on the SR bikes is quite reminiscent of Bridgestone bikes which were very nicely made for production bikes. I do remember that the SR bikes were great consumer value bikes and I had a difficult time matching up my bikes lines against the SR stuff. Lots of "bang-per-buck" to the buyer.

FUJIAltamiraCA

My dad bought himself a new road bike and in an attempt to make garage space for it he decided to let his old SR Semi Pro go to good will. As a kid I remember thinking how awesome good looking the thing was and when I rode it a few times I remember noticing how well it rode compared to my bmx. Long story short, I asked him to not donate it and I'd take the bike. Couple things about the bike, it was bought at a Sacramento LBS some time around 1981 for around $400. Shimano 600 groupo, araya 27x1 wheelset. My dad rode it to work a few days a week until 1995 when his office moved to a location not suitable for biking to. It sat in the garage hung by the wheels from 1995 to now, that's 19 years of inaction. A few of the spokes on the rear have popped off of the hub. When I spin the rear tire backwards it's not free spinning and stops after only a few rotations, meaning I think the freehub may be compromised. All things considered, the bike is in great shape and the paint looks magnificent except for a few scratched and chipped paint.

A couple questions about getting it back on the road (safely):

1) Can the spokes be easily fixed by a proper mechanic? My only fear is that more will pop during any riding. My dad said when he took it down off its hooks the other day he sat on it and that's when the spokes popped.

2) If I am correct that the freehub is compromised, what are my options? Is it repairable or does it need replacement? Maybe just purchase a new wheel set with freehubs intact?

3) should I plan to replace all cables outright?

Enough of the writing....Thanks in advance for any ideas.

CO_Hoya 

If one spoke failed, I'd attribute it to random failure. Since multiple spokes failed, it could be a corrosion issue (although the bike looks very clean) or a badly mis-tensioned wheel. Depending upon the cause, it may be more economical to purchase a new wheelset. An honest mechanic could evaluate that for you. That frame is likely has a 120mm spacing in the rear if you choose to buy new wheels.

First, you'd need to confirm if it's a freewheel or freehub, as I think that version of Shimano 600 came in both flavors. The hubs and freehub (or freewheel) would certainly benefit from a tear-down and re-pack with new grease, and perhaps new bearings. Really, all bearing surfaces (hubs, bottom bracket, headset, pedals) would likely benefit from that. Keep in mind that finding new cogs for that freehub would be non-trivial (but possible).

Yes, and likely new brake pads, tires and tubes.

WNG

Nice bike congrats!
Inquire your local bike shops to find one competent enough and equipped to do wheel building and truing. They should have the correct length spokes on hand to repair the wheel. I would have them replace the broken spokes and retension the wheel. If there are any more weak ones, they will break then. Otherwise, the wheel should be good once retrued and tensioned.

I'm pretty sure you have a freewheel and not a freehub/cassette. It's gummed up. soak and flushing with WD40 will loosen it up and you should follow with relubing with a heavier non-detergent oil.

The bearings should be overhauled and regreased. ie. hubs, BB, and the headset.
Check the chain for wear, and tires for cracks due to age.

Set up the bike to your comfort and enjoy.

Insidious C. 

Nice looking SR, and a pretty color frame. Brings back memories for me. I had a blue and silver Pro Am in the '80s. I actually raced it a time or two in College. With strap in cleats. Man that seems like a long time ago.

glowdon

Anyone know anything about this thing?
https://imgur.com/a/7kghY
I can't find anything about it anywhere... It has a "Made in Japan" sticker on the bottom. I've found some things about "SR Pro" and similar, but nothing with "SR Custom". I picked it up off Craigslist for $50. New tires (Panaracer Pasela) on the way, picked up some tubes at a local shop, going to replace the chain, all the cables, rear derailleur (Sunlite Long Cage ATB), and tear down the hubs and bottom bracket to swap out the bearings and add some marine grease (I live in the PNW a few 100 yards from salt water). Anything else I should do? This is my first time tearing down a bike like this, but I'm pretty mechanically inclined. Anything I should know? Is this a good bike? The parts I picked up are cheap, but have good reviews... Did I do alright?

Thanks!

Shp4man

It's worth $50 for sure. Man, that's a late '70's bike by the look of it. I've never seen one that old anywhere before. It appears to be a lower priced bike, but in good condition for it's age. Rebuild it and ride it another 35 years!
You'll need a few relatively inexpensive tools to tear it apart, like a crank puller and a freewheel puller.

Tirzah3

When I lived in San Diego in the 80s, I purchased the SR Pro AM model in 1984. I purchased it from an idependent bicycle dealer. I was going to buy a Nishiki or Cinelli but settled on the SR Pro AM. It was a great bike as it was very light and fast. When I moved to Sacramento, it was stolen out of my garage in the late 90s. Saw this post on from another thread on Bike Forum but decided to post the picture since it looks very similar to my bicycle except the handle bars have been re-taped and they replaced the pedals with plastic ones?. The original tape was tannish brown and the original pedals were not white but some type of metal alloy and came with leather straps (rat traps) for your racing cleats. I recall the model SR Pro Am came in a choice of different colors - can't remember which ones (another post said silver and blue) but I chose black. I purchased the bicycle for $500.00 which included tax.

Astrodokk

Just received a new to me 1981 SR Gran Course! I've got my Nishiki Ariel mountain bike that I've always used, so this road bike and all it's nuances are new to me.
The serial number is M1ANNNNN, and it's the tall version. I'm 6'1", so it fits me well. I know people would rather see pics than read descriptions, so here they are.

Astrodokk

Last ones...

markmodesto

I have a SR roadbike like described text me if yohr interested 2093283597