Confirming a Miyata 1000 frame?
 

Someone is selling a frame locally and states that it's a Miyata 1000. However, it's been repainted, so is there anything I can be looking for to confirm one way or the other whether that's accurate? Here's a link to the listing with some photos:

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/bik/4230799339.html

Also, if it is indeed a Miyata 1000 frame, any ideas on what it will take to repair the fork steerer crack that the seller says "...can be repaired..."?

Thanks in advance!

I don't know about the repair part bit that is definitely looking a lot like my 1987 miyata 1000lt. I'd get it if I were you. Would you like some pictures for reference? I could probably snap a few today, but if you wait too long you'll likely lose out on the bike.

I concur with tommyblair...it looks like my Miyata 1000...braze ons all look right. That crack would concern me a bit...you may have to be willing to search out a new fork. If you are not too worried about originality, this is a good deal on just the frame...

if you are concerned about all original, then, might not be the best.

BTW...my 1000 is my favorite bike!

For $80, it's worth a gamble. However, I would hardly describe that steerer tube as having a "small crack" that would be easy to fix. That fork needs to be professionally repaired or replaced.

one small detail i'd mention: the lugs around the headtube look like a 610 to me for some reason. and possibly the lack of bottle cage braze ons on the seattube.

i happen to have owned a 1984 610 and now a 1985 1000. my friend owns a 1985 610. the 1000 lug work i've seen is a bit thinner and more refined but it's difficult to say as the catalog scans don't show details for every year in the 1980s. you can see some examples from close up photos people have posted.

frame details sure look almost identical to my old 610 though imo. still a nice tourer!

Having bought for $55 last month, the complete Miyata 610 pictured below, center pulls not cantis, I'm not convinced an $80 frame with a crappy paint job and bad fork is such a great deal. I'm just guessing, but to cut and replace the entire steerer tube would be upwards of $60.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ata-610-v-1000

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/hzqzbptpaqv...2009.45.25.jpg

I'd stay away from a frame with a damaged fork that takes cantilever brakes. Your minimum fix is the cost of a new fork. If you want a unicrown fork, those will run $45-50, but a crowned fork will be $100+. That would make the frame $130 to $180 all in. There are better deals to be had if you are patient.

I'll be the lone dissenter and say no, its not a 1000. But I could be wrong.

Check miyatacatalogs.com to see if it is indeed a 1000.

Clues to determine the model: the low rider pannier mounts on the fork, one eyelet on the rear dropouts, 2 water bottle mounts (one an top and one under the down tube), and lug work.

3 Things to worry about: that fort will likely need to be replaced. I had to do the same with mine. A unicrown fork would run me around $100 a new tange fork was about $250. Fortunately I lucked out an picked one up a my local bike kitchen. Also, maybe it's just unclear from the pictures, but what's going with the rear brake cable stop? It looks like it's missing. Finally, the fork may have broke from a crash, so inspect the frame for any warps.

Pros: $80 for just a miyata 1000 or 600 frame is not a bad deal. Miyatas were built really well and if you can scare up a fork, you're in great shape.

Well looking at the frame I'm not convinced it is a 1000 and considering the poor repaint with dings and scratches and the damaged fork I wouldn't buy this frame. You would be likely be looking at spending $100 to sort out he fork and another $100+ on the paint so you would be looking at spending close to $300 for a questionable frame. While interesting a bare midlevel frame with a bad repaint and damage is basically not worth rebuilding. Myself I would pass on this frame if it was free.

It's not a 1000. It could be a 610 though.

I don't think its a Miyata at all....

1. Miyata tended to use fixed rear cable housing stops mounted directly to the seat stays on the 6XX and 1XXX. Not on all but most...
2. Low rider munts. Miyata tended to use flush mount braze-ons not franken posts. Maybe on the old, old ones but not the newer ones
3. BB cable routing. Older ones had over the BB mounting then they switched to plastic guides under the BB

No idea if it is a 1000 or not, but any decent builder can replace the steerer tube. In my area Franklin Cycles, who are highly regarded, will do it for $85.

I agree that it's not a Miyata. Those who know the 1000 say it's not that, and it's also not a 610, judging by the braze ons for the DT shifters (610 used clamps as late as '85 and, as noted above, plastic cable guide under the bb as early as 85). Given the cracked fork and uncertain provenance I would pass.

Thanks everyone for weighing in - looks like I'll pass.

As a point of curiosity, I'm now wondering whether it's maybe a Univega...

Nope, many of those were made by miyata and show the same level of craftsmanship, this frame does not.

An '85 Univega Gran Turismo would have two sets of rear braze-on's for fenders and a rack.

The lack of a water bottle mount on the seat tube, the weird low-rider mounts, and the rack mounts on the seat stays all signal an early frame. The bottom bracket cable guide and shifter braze-ons suggest something later, so I'm guessing that this is about a 1983 or 1984. Whatever it is, it's not worth the money in its present state.

The fork crown looks right, but Miyata's usually have the spooned top of the seatstay. It would be a pretty good bang around bike if you don't have one. It's stacked with brazes for any kind of rack or fender. I agree that the fork is easily fixed, maybe cheaper than $85 (I know a guy who does it for less - not a framebuilder but a skilled welder who knows more about bikes than a lot of framebuilders.) This might be a something like a Shogun or nice Nishiki?

+1, lugs BB braze ons don't look like Miyata to me, nor the fork crown. If it was mine I would cut the threaded part of the fork off , use a insert and weld a longer steerer on making it a threadless 1" . Groovy cycles shows how to do the fork repair on youtube. I did it to a GT 3D fork , worked out great.

My 1987 Miyata has cast seatstay caps that say Miyata on them. I've seen those same rear rack mounts on a bianchi randonneur from the early 1980s... but that bike didn't have low-rider braze-ons. Might be worth offering 40$ if it's really been for sale since the 5th of December... might make a neat "gravel grinder" assuming you can get the fork fixed cheap.

It still looks like a decent enough touring frame (shame about the fork), but it's not a Miyata 1000. It's kind of funny how any time any old touring frame loses its decals and gets a repaint, it magically becomes a Miyata 1000. I've seen plenty of 'repainted Miyata 1000's on the local craigslist :)

Last year at the Chicago Bike Winter event (no not Palatine, the one in town), one of 'the regulars,' late in the day, pulled a bike out of the corral and bought it cheap. It was wrapped in electrical tape, black and I think some colors, and looked like a very beat urban assault bike. However this guy noticed that it had nice canti brakes, and with a little investigation, that the fork crown, under the tape (yeah it was everywhere), had an incised 'M.' Yes, it was a Miyata 1000, date 1987 or so. The tape he pulled off revealed a pretty blue paint, in good shape, though that may not have been the case throughout. It almost seemed like someone had tried to disguise the bike and then forgot how nice it was himself so let it go!