Headset question for 1985 Miyata Seven Ten
 

Does anyone know if the 1895 Seven Ten had a JIS or ISO headset? I dont have any calipers to measure it. Just ordered a Nashbar carbon 1 inch threaded fork and its ISO. Changing out the headset wont be a huge problem but I would rather keep the Tange Falcon I have. I am assuming it would be an ISO because it is upper middle range but i really dont know....

I don't have your answer but I used that fork on a '89 Miyata 312. Perfect fit, delight to ride.

Hard to say without taking it apart and measuring things. The good new is that it's trivial to mill a JIS frame/fork to accept an ISO headset.

Actually, with a frame that old, it's likely still JIS; shouldn't be any trouble to measure it, though. ("Measure twice; cut once.")

This kinda touches on something that's been on my mind lately as I've searched for a 1" JIS, threaded, sealed bearing HS for my '84 Panasonic (ideally, a JIS version of the King TwoNut). The only headsets of this type that I knew of are vintage Shimano 6400 & 7400 units that command a pretty penny on the collector market. I was looking for something newer and more predictably priced.

In the course of my search, I had a pretty detailed look at both Tange & IRD's current offerings and noticed that the Falcon is still readily available in both JIS & ISO versions, in a variety of finishes, and remains inexpensive & virtually unchanged from the early models. The nicer 'Levin' is also similarly available.

Beyond that, with regard to adapting your fork steerer & HT (from JIS to ISO), it's a pretty simple process of milling that any competent bike shop can do in one afternoon & for about $30. I've had this done this before and it's no biggie.

Btw, FWIW, I did eventually learn that, yes- they do make some very stylish & (relatively) inexpensive threaded & sealed JIS 1" headsets; and, no- aside from very rare company product samples that occasionally turn up on eBay, they usually aren't imported here to the U.S. ("no discernible market for them," or so everyone says) and there doesn't seem to be an online retailer that will ship them directly from Japan, one at a time.

So.

I've since settled on V.O.'s new 'Rinko' headset, which basically matches the performance profile I'm after and is pretty much a dead match for my Panasonic's original HS (although to be honest, I still think the TwoNut beats it on aesthetics).

Anyway, good luck!

That's a pretty sweet little headset, you've gotta like the crew at V.O.

They DO get it right sometimes.

I owned an early 80's Miyata 912 for about a month and there was a small JIS stamp on the fork's steering tube.

Both of the Miyatas I owned--one was a 912 and I can't remember what the other one was--used ISO cups and a JIS crown race.