Saturday, August 21, 2010

Miyata 100 Mixte Restoration

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Believe it or Not! The middle chain-stay on the drive-side is supposed to be bent. When I first noticed it I freaked-out a little. Then I located another one on the net. The owner was wondering the same thing I was.
The head-set cups and bearings were in excellent condition. I had purchased a bike form this owner before, So I was not surprised to see the bike had received regular service. Joe was the original owner of my Fuji Gran Tourer SE. Which now proudly resides in the Old Ten Speed Gallery "Hall of Fame"

The front wheel polished and trued. Also axle and bearings removed and de-greased and re-greased. Now it`s ready for a new Kenda K35 27 X 1&1/4 gum-wall.

A nice view of the rear derailleur (SunTour AR) and the SunTour free-wheel. All cleaned up with "White-Lightning" by Clean-Streak. I did eventually remove a few links from the new chain.

The Miyata is equipped with SunTour AR derailleurs and SunTour stem mounted shifters. I wonder, are the AR`s a step down from the ARX`s that were on the Nishiki Sebring?
Here is the crank/chain-rings broke down and cleaned, ready for re-assembly. Not shown here but the dust caps say "Miyata cotter-less crank."  It must have been the first year they did this model with a cotterless system.

Here are two of my favorite up-grades, a micro-adjust seat post and  and a comfort sport saddle. This was the first time I have used this particular saddle (and probably the last)

I think I`m starting to get the hang of this modern method of taping handlebars.  As you can see this is the bike I was restoring when I did the post about eliminating suicide levers. So far they are working well and staying together quite nicely.  I gotta admit, Steve was right about the gum-hoods.Even finished-off neatly, gum hoods would have looked better.

The Miyata 100 mixte finished. Over-all I`m happy with the project, although I am not completely sold on the new saddle yet. I may be making a change "real soon".

Well that`s about it for the Miyata. Right now I am building a commuter bike with fenders and a rear rack. It "might" even get a vintage fork-mount generator light. I usually take stuff off bikes not add to them. But having seen some cool commuter bikes lately, I decided to try to build one. Wait till you see the rear fender! I tried something different, I think you might like it. (Very Ness like)
I should be posting it (commuter) mid to late week. Till Next Time! RIDE SAFE and remember to always RESCUE-RESTORE&RECYCLE Cheers,Hugh

7 comments:

  1. Why would they go to the trouble of bending that stay as it passes the seat tube more so that they had to put the extra bend that made you nervous? Fender clearance? Some odd Japanese magic unknown to us heathen?

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  2. Hey Steve, It hit me after I read your comment this morning. I think it might be curved to accommodate an optional chain-guard. I will try to "locate and post" the pic of the other Miyata I found with the same strange bent stay. I will just add it to this post if I do.

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  3. OK I found it. (see photo above) Not the best angle, but you can clearly see the bend in the stay. The owner was trying to figure out why it was bent. He saw no impact damage that would indicate it was hit by anything. Like myself, this owner was befuddled as to why it was designed or manufactured this way.

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  4. Most true mixte frames have a bend in the middle stay to accommodate the chain when in the small cog in the rear.

    Hugh, your taping is improving. I find the Cinelli finish tape to be lacking, and prefer electrical tape, or pricey silicone tape. A nice touch is to use a colored electrical tape to finish, a blue would look nice on this bike.

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  5. Hey Anonymous,
    Thanks for confirming that about the mixte frame. I was beginning to think I was tho only one who thought it was supposed to be that way.
    Also Thanks I have been trying to get this tape thing down. I agree the Cinelli finish tape lacks adhesiveness. Too bad, because it looks really cool. I actually have some 3M trim tape in blue. Maybe it`s not too late to make the switch. I do really need to change that saddle though.

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  6. To answer your question about the SunTour aR, it was just a small step below the aRX. I believe the aRX was all alloy and slightly lighter. Both were a step below SunTour's then top-of-the-line Cyclone.

    I enjoy seeing your work.

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  7. Hey Mark,
    Thanks for the information. It makes perfect sense that the A in ARX would indicate it was alloy.
    I found the following at DISRAELIGEARS.CO.UK

    With a clever cable route, a relatively low price, exceedingly light weight and with a great shift, the SunTour Cyclone GT was a miracle. To this day the Shimano XTR is heavier than this Cyclone GT - proof of the simple purity of the single-sprung pivot slant parallelogram design.
    The second style of SunTour Cyclone had a slightly redesigned rear knuckle and a captive short hanger bolt (with a distinctive serrated edge).
    Typically for touring Cyclones, this example is well used. The SunTour Cyclone GT was not just for decoration or a talking point - it was the gear of choice for many a cycle tourist setting out from Britain to Istanbul or wherever. For the cognoscenti it was what you fitted on your hand-built Mercian or Bob Jackson - only blow-hards opted for Campagnolo. I loved it.

    Hugh: I don`t necessarily agree or disagree with the part about Campagnolo.

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