Kabuki Submariner Conversion
 

Been trying to sell a 1979 Bridgestone Kabuki Submariner on Craigslist and so far no luck. Now I'm considering converting to singlespeed and keeping it.

Anyone out there that has done the same. The bike has stainless steel main triangle and forks with aluminum painted lugs. Paint is crappy and I'll need to address that.

Probably go down to 700c wheels also.

Comments, suggestions please!

Why not keep the gears on it, put a few miles on it and see if you like it before you give up on selling it. It's a very unique bike, though not sought after, perhaps your asking too much. If it comes down to it you could put it on ebay.
My point is, if you wanted to sell it before, why would setting it up as a single-speed change that? If it's a bike you like to ride, go for it, conversions are easy, but if not pass it along.

Good points. I recently sold a 10 speed Kabuki Submariner that I rode for awhile. I bought this one for a good price with the intent on using the aluminum wheels on another bike. I am only considering the conversion because I have no singlespeed currently. I was going to convert a Schwinn Letour over to single, but then this bike became available. I was hoping that someone had converted a Submariner and could share some insight. Thanks for the reply!

What size frame?

I did a kabuki mixte FG conversion build for Mrs. HandsomeRyan but it didn't have the sweet stainless tubes so I just painted the whole thing.

Here is a link to one of the threads about my Kabuki FG conversion.

Here is what Sir Sheldon Brown has to say:

" Kabuki - When Japanese bikes were in high fashion, many companies went out of their way to market bikes under Japanese-associated names, including Lotus, Mikado, Shogun, and probably others. Kabuki was a trade name of Bridgestone (a Japanese company with a non-Japanese name!)
The Kabuki line used some unusual construction techniques, specifically, they had a system of sticking the frame tubes into a special mold and forming cast aluminum "lugs" in place around the ends of the tubes. The most notable of this line was the "Submariner" which used un-painted stainless steel tubing, and was marketed in seacoast areas for its rust-resistance. Because the cast aluminum lugs were not flexible like steel lugs, these bikes didn't use a conventional seat-post binder. Instead, they used a seatpost with an expander wedge like that of a handlebar stem...you had to remove the saddle from the seatpost to adjust the height, then re-install the saddle! Even sillier, many of these frames had what looked like a conventional seatpost bolt mounted in a projection of the rigid lug, simply to provide a place to mount a cable stop for the center-pull caliper brake! "

It is a 23" frame. Tried to upload a pic, but the file is too large. The tubes are in awesome condition, decals are in pretty good shape, but the paint on forks and rear triangle is scratched up. What is interesting is that the front fork is also stainless, says so on a sticker on the seat tube. My first sub might have also been stainless, but it didn't indicate it on the label. The rear triangle is some sort of steel, doesn't indicate whether hi-ten or CR-MO, so I don't know for sure, although it is chromed under the paint. The chrome under the bright blue paint really makes it sparkle, just sucks that the previous owner scratched it up so much.

Tejano, I had seen that on Sheldon's site. I found a bunch of information by surfing different websites. I even found a copy of an original ad for the Submariner.

My first Sub had the centerpull brakes and the "fake" binder bolt. That was a 1974. This one is a '79 and doesn't have the same set up, it has sidepulls and is set up more conventionally. The sidepulls aren't marked as such, but I think they might be dia compe. They say SC in small letters. The cable clamps and stops are all dia compe, so I'm just thinking they are dia compe.

The bike has an amazingly nice ride to it. Stiff enough but enough compliance that it doesn't transmit all the road noise.

I'd buy it from you. It's my size and everything. Too bad shipping it to MD would likely cost as much or more than the bike is worth.

*sad face*

Only junk bikes, overpriced bikes, and overpriced junk bikes ever seem to show up on the DC and B-more craigslists.