Kawamura produced early Nishikis in Japan and production was later done by Giant in Taiwan for West Coast Cycles which later sold the distribution rights to Derby Cycles which distributed Nishikis from 1989 to 2001. Some of these Derby models may have been manufactured by Colnago and their high end models are pretty exceptional bicycles.

The Japanese models are superior to their Taiwanese counterparts and the Nishiki name was retired in 2001.

West Coast Cycles is also responsible for Kuwahara's line of rather legendary BMX bikes that were the first to bear their company name and making Kuwahara a well known brand.

Many Nishiki models carry the same names as Kuwahara bicycles due to their connection with W.C.C.

Kuwahara is a builder that has been in operation since 1918 and has built bikes for many companies including Schwinn... they currently market their bikes under the Asama brand and I believe this may precede a re-release of more high end Kuwahara models.

My first road bike was a Kawamura made Nishiki Competition... it was a beautiful bicycle in every respect.

Nishiki bicycles were very popular here through the 1980's and were widely distributed and sold... they have stood the test of time very well and I see tons of them on the street and in my shop.

They used to be the choice of messengers as they were relatively light and rugged frames and a friend of mine used his old early 80's Nishiki touring bike for a world tour which he is still on... his bike was destroyed in Iraq by an errant driver and probably had over 50,000 miles on it.

Norco and Nishiki also had a long business association as Norco used the Nishiki name to distribute Asian made bicycles which were built in Canada to avoid import duties and reduce their prices.

Oh, no kidding. I knew Kuwahara made Soma bikes but didn't know about Nishiki. I sold both brands from one shop in 1980 and 1981. Yes, they were well made, durable, and reliable. You've told us before about how well regarded the Kuwahara brand is in Canada.

The later Nishikis (generally, the ones with unicrown forks like the two most recent examples in this thread) were made by Derby in the Kent, Washington, plant, alongside Raleighs and Univegas. Derby retired the Nishiki and Univega lines to concentrate on Raleigh in 2001. I dated my Nishiki serial number using Sheldon Brown's page on dating Kent Raleighs.

At our co-op there is rarely a lack of nice Nishiki bikes coming as as donations and we have seen an inordinate amount of 25 inch road frames of late... most of these have required little work and their finishes have held up beautifully. These are just about all Kawamura models although we also got a nice 5 speed Nishiki townie that is of Taiwanese origin.

My Nishiki looked exactly like this and cost $900.00 Cdn in 1983... our exchange was very poor but the bike was worth every penny.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikep...n1983small.jpg

Well, I am finally got my commuter (which happens to be my only bike) ready to go again. A rear wheel replacement was in order. Between the bum wheel that necessitated it and a few feet of snow, I haven't commuted in two weeks, and I'm going nuts!!!

I've had the new wheel for a several days now, but couldn't mount it until the 4.5 mm spacer I needed to use my 7 spd cassette on the 8/9 speed hub arrived. I finally got it Friday. So, no commuting lately, but at least I was able to get some wrenching time in this weekend and install the new wheel, cassette, some new brake pads, and some other general maintenance.

Anyway, I've been posting here a while, and I hadn't properly introduced my ride, so here she is, w/o further ado. The bike is a garden-variety Target-bought Schwinn Trailway hybrid (LBS types, please forgive me - I didn't know better at the time). Over time I've had to replace the stock wheels. The front is an old Hoopster wheel from an old Giant MTB I picked up used from a local bike co-op, and the rear is a 36h Velocity Dyad built up around a Deore LX hub. The Dyad replaces the front Hoopster's opposite, which had a freewheel (not a freehub/cassette) but which was giving me problems w/ spokes. The Hoopster, in turn, had replaced the stock rear wheel - which was really crappy.

Over time, I've also added a Topeak Explorer rack, rack trunk, MiniMorph pump, mirror, bell, and Cascadia fenders. I run PB flashers on the back and have a 1 LED blinkie as my be-seen light up front and a Terrlaux 220 lumen flashlight mounted on TwoFish lockblocks as my headlight.

Links to pics below. I live in an apartment w/o access to a good garage door, so I've substituted the white cinder block wall of the basement/laundry/bike storage room in our building.
Profile view
My dash
Cassette/RD/Wheel
From Behind
3/4 Profile
Lights

As with any bike, this is a work in progress. Some planned and/or imagined upgrades and improvements:
*Swap out the pedals for a another set with toe clips that's laying around (this could be my first step towards going clipless)
*Grommet for front wheel valve hole and switch it to Presta tubes, too (so I don't have to carry two spare tubes anymore and since I think I really like the Presta valve)
*Bar ends for more hand positions
*New saddle (and suspension-less seat post?)
*Computer
*Go with flatter handlebars w/ no riser or so I have a little more room for my "dashboard"
*Replace the front fork with something rigid (current suspension fork doesn't even lock)

*Keep this as a beater bike and buy an LHT! :P (Some day, perhaps...)

Except for the horrible stock wheels, this bike has actually served me quite well for my 14 miles of round-trip commuting daily (when my route isn't buried under a foot of snow, that is). Last year I put over 1,500 miles on it, and I'm gunning for at least 3,000 miles this year. Might even attempt some overnight weekend camping touring sometime this summer.

ekw always cool to see my bikes twinn!

now take a lane and ride! ;-0

cross post with c&v. its old, and its for commuting!

single-speed crap weather commuter. parts bin build.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...e/IMG_4227.jpg
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...e/IMG_4229.jpg
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k7...e/IMG_4234.jpg

So here is my Frankenbike a.k.a. Kommuter Mk2 :D

Nashbar MTB frame.
Nashbar fork
Shimano Deore FD and RD
Shimano Deore XT dual action shifters - just bought from BF member :)
Old triple Truvativ crankset from my Jamis MTB that I took apart.
9-speed Shimano cassette
Alex rims that came with the Jamis too, they seem solid, have eyelets, just need new hubs.
Topeak Supertourist rack (disk specific)
Cheap Hayes brakes (I just ordered Avid BB7s)
Continental Town and Country 2.0 tires.
Magic Shine
Cheap Serfas blinkie for bikeways
Nightrider Cherrybomb and Princeton Swerve taillights
Axiom Monsoon panniers
Planet Bike Freddy fenders
Some WTB saddle
BMX pedals

http://a-world.net/files/bf/kommuter/04.jpg

Adam

Twinn. I like it.

I'm trying to find an alternate commute route right now, but the options are fairly limited coming from the Virginia side of the river into DC. Just look at Google maps and imagine trying to get from Alexandria to DC on bike-friendly (or even bike legal) roads. There's not too much out there. If only the blasted snow would melt (since they sure as hell aren't plowing the MUP), I could just get back to my regular route.

I'm posting to a local Yahoo! group at the moment and looking over maps again just in case I'm not thinking of a good alternative. If I have to spend another solid week riding metro, I might just shoot myself! ;)

now that is a commuter! i like it!

You've made a lot of changes since we last talked about the Schwinn Trail Way, EKW in DC! Thanks for the descriptions and pictures. I'm sorry I didn't get back to you about my own progress with attachments for the bike. It looks like you're doing great, though. :thumb:

Yup. It was brought to live with that single purpose. It'll see some weekend trips soon too, however, it worked hard in the snow, ice and sludge so it deserves to see some open roads and trails:D

Adam

Yeah, it's coming together pretty well. Can't wait to get on the road w/ it now and get back to commuting. Maybe by the end of the week I'll come up with an alternate commute route that avoids the unplowed MUP... Options are limited, though.

Vive les Twinns! (Twiplets?)

This is my winter, commuter bike. I just bought it a few weeks ago. An hybrid with panniers and studded tires : nothing fancy, really. This model is called "Super Tool" by the manufacturer (MTB Cycletech) and is plenty useful.


http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=137911

nice clean look. cool bags

a very nice bike indeed.

Yes, the frankenbike of it shows that it has been refined over time. How much does it weigh?

Call me old fashioned but even over rough terrain, I still like my 28mm tires.

here's my rig....stock LHT, lovin' it!


http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/a...w/IMG_0006.jpg

28's seem to offer the nicest blend of performance, ride, and fit (if you are running fenders)... had a fun time building up the new rain bike as with my mismatched 32 / 28 combo my rear clearance is just a little tight when I was using the existing hardware for the Bluemels. Thankfully, I have longer fender rods which should make everything skippy.

Mind you, the frame was made for 26 by 1 1/4 EA1's and not 700c tyres so I expected some little fit issues and will be putting on a set of 28's or a narrow running 32 cross tyre like the Kendas I have on my hybrid.

Always nice to see another Nashbar rider out there!

She is almost ready for the spring commute... :)

#12

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikep...rtsnowrap1.JPG

I will wrap and shellac the bars once I get my position dialed in.

:)

I am enjoying watching the progress on your old Raleigh. It makes me want to start working on my 48 Rudge. It has a dynohub, but I am having a hell of time finding reasonably priced light that will fit the Rudge light bracket. I may try to fabricate a bracket attachment for a Onward dyno light I picked up.

I am going to lace up a Dynahub for the front and re-lace the bike's original 1954 hub to a new rear wheel and plan on using a modern 3 watt headlight for purely practical reasons as the bike will be a daily driver and designated rain bike.

Finding some retro styled lights would be nice.

Which water bottle is that?