Help Identify Step-Through U Frame?
 

Hi - I found this bike among a collection of a dozen or so mostly low-end mostly vintage bikes that a guy was selling out of his front yard.

This aluminum step-thru frame caught my eye, and I've been curious about the Nexus IGH hubs for a long time, so I brought it home.

I thought it was a Breezer Villager that had been repainted, but it's got a curve or bend in the seat tube that's not present in the Villager. Anybody have any ideas?

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=379864

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=379865

Looks like some older version of the Bauer Venus 8:

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=379884

The Fuji Barnabey and the Fuji Crosstown 2.3 are also similar, although the Crosstown has a derailleur, and the Barnabey has a slightly longer cross piece at the bottom. Could be an older version of the Barnabey.

Thats a tough one. Handlebars are throwing me way off.

- Andy

The whole thing has a weird BMX build on it. It appears to have a Schwinn BMX specific seat, Dotek cranks, and a Salsa Moto Ace stem. Schwinn BMX grips, and a Kalloy seat post, too. The handlebars don't have any identifying info on them.

It probably doesn't even matter what it is, but it's driving me NUTS!

Might be a Fuji frame. They used the poly chain guards for a long time on their town bikes. They have an archive, but it's not 100% complete.

- Andy

serial number on bottom of bottom bracket?

I just flipped through about 100 pages on google. I saw nothing. I wonder if it's a Chinese frame or some other thing they got from some obscure source. I like it!

- Andy

Here's the Fuji 2008 Saratoga 4.0 Step-through. Very close I think:

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=379991

There are two separate numbers stamped in the bottom bracket. I tried google, but my google-fu produced no leads:

AS4011031

and

GIB9401277

I'm thinking it's probably an obscure source - early demo frame? Custom frame? Chinese frame? Could be any of the above. I rather like it, too.

It's that bend in the seat tube that keeps it from matching up with ANYTHING I can find on google. Univega Zig zag and Breezer Villager seem to come closest, but they're just not quite right.

I suppose if I ever want to sell it, I can claim it's a very rare frame. So rare, no one has ever even heard of it!!

If it's not custom it's a Fuji prototype. The welding is too rough & the chain guard is... I mean who else had that kind? And the cranks & the hub?

- Andy