should i even bother?
 

im riding a fairly nice schwinn (?model?) conversion right now and i found this abandoned miyata 610 in a ditch. theres no damage that i can see from inspecting it. just wondering if you guys think its worth it to repaint that mutha and swap all my parts to it. i did notice that even though its a geared bike its as light as my fixed. i will have pictures up in a little bit

First, make sure it's not stolen. (check with the cops, post an ad on craigslist, etc.)

I wouldn't convert it, the 610 is a touring bike and they are very nice bikes. Some of them had triple butted tubing. I think it would better serve you (or someone else) as a touring/commuter bike. If a touring bike isn't your style, you could sell it on craigslist and buy a similar road frame for less money. They guys on C&V might be able to help you more on the value, but I'm guessing it would be worth about $300.

If you convert that bike, I will personally come beat you up.

especially if you file off the cable guides and cut off the canti mounts. :(

well the thing is it was abandoned for a long time. its all beat up, missing a back wheel and the front wheel is certainly not safe. im positive it is abandoned and not stolen. if i kept it geared i would still have to buy all new derailers and such but maybe thats worth it?

This reminds me of the fixed gear Bridgestone T700 I saw this weekend. Made me sad.

if you are set on converting it, make a single speed cross bike but please don't put 23c tires on something thats made to take 40's.

Do it. I love miyata conversions. I did this one (miyata eighty SE) last summer. They can be very light! Better than schwinn.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ata_bike10.jpg

the 600 was the same frame as the 1000 (triple-butted tubing), just with lower grade components. if the components are toast, convert it and ride it as a single speed cross or touring bike. or rebuild it and ride it as is.

the point is, yes, you should bother. it's a great frame. one of the great touring frames of all time, i'd say.

if you don't want it and it's a smaller frame, you can sell it to me.

That's a nice bike. If you do convert it, in the name of all things holy, please don't modify the frame. It's fairly high-end, and eventually you'll either want to set it up geared or flip it for crazy profit.

Good find. Post some photos!

ok here they are. the miyata in all its glory, my schwinn, and this old prince i dont know what to do with...
the flash certainly brings out all the scratches ha.
whatchyall think?

edit: heres higher quality pictures
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2304/...8960237a_b.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2235/...95ce8a17_b.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2284/...71f7a258_b.jpg

i think i see nothing.

i luv hooters i remember seeing that miyata on CL. did you end up selling ?

haha really youv seen it on CL? it certainly wasnt me. it was locked up to a pole off the side of the road for months and the city finally put an abandoned warning note on it then a week later they cut the lock, slapped a free sign on it and i snatched it real quick

The miyata is a nice bike and worth some money, though with as excited as people get for touring bikes around here you'd think there was this whole cadre of people out there just itching to bust out and go slug out day after day of long boring flats, murderous climbs, and sketchfest descents with a bandana keeping the sun off of their neck and 30 lbs and 3 water bottles hanging off the bike.

People get excited about touring bikes around here because they're rare. While this thing is kind of classic because of what it was in its day, not too many people are actually going to buy a 20 year old frame with no rack braze ons, no canti posts, and only one set of eyelets per axle and actually tour on it. Randonneur, maybe, but most of those guys have way more bling rigs than this. This frame is way better suited to be a light, comfortable daily-use rig, so if that's what you want, you should run it. If you're into trick skids, sprinting, and beating the crap out of bikes, keep the schwinn, it's way tougher.

The prince should be sold to some wino for $5 or some hipster for $105. The red details on the crank are pretty awesome.

no i was talking about i luv hooters bike

oh haha. i gotcha. me dumb

Miyatas are nice but all the models below the Team and Pro level are good but not
so great that converting them is a sin. Unless maybe you are talking a Miyata 1000.
The 610 was midrange. Had butted tubing drawn by Miyata in the triangle and hi-ten
stays. Solid bike. Good basis for a conversion.

I'm not a fan of top tube pads per se but those cable guides may catch your jeans
if you hang your junk over them while skidding. . .

There is dispute on this, but I've read a lot of claims that the 610 was the 1000 frame with junky parts.

Hmmmm. Interesting. If that is the case I may scour the bay.
There is an old Miyata catalog online that specs out the tubing
and stays for all the bikes.

I just checked. The 84 catalog says that the 1000 had double butted
cro-mo tubes in the triangle and cro-mo stays. The 600 was cro-mo
in the triangle only. Still a good bike--just something I was curious to figure out.

Yeah, I saw that, but there are old threads on here that suggest that later on they were both triple butted. Some of the 1000's also apparently used splined triple butted tubing, which isn't exactly an innovation that caught on.

Miyata was a great company. I kind of resent their merger with Koga
or whatever they are now. I really dig the Miyata track frames I see. . .
but I never see them in my size.

miyatacatalogs.com

Dear sweet Jebus, there is some 80's graphic design up in that place.

Edit: looks like the 610/615 was triple butted from '85 on

Hmm, that's an older one without canti mounts. It's still a nice bike and it looks like the drive train is intact so you could just pick up an old wheelset and give it a good once over.

yeah, i used that picture to sell it. the first person to ride it paid full price, so i think i priced it too low. :(
i really miss my miyata. this one in this thread looks good, too.