It all started with the Schwinn Passage for many reasons; it was my introduction to Japanese built mid 80s touring bikes, a test best for upgrading parts on a vintage bike for fit and comfort, and finally I had to sell it on to bridge the financial gap from being unemployed to employed.
Job secured that left a hole in my quiver and it just so Happened a Nishiki Cresta GT popped up in my size on Bike Forums and from a local PNW blogger - Thanks Josh. The new arrival cost me $185.00, more than I normally pay but was nearly all original and is a classic Japanese touring bike, plus I am a sucker for a cream head tube.
One of my first purchases was new rubber for the Cresta in the form of some plush 27 x1 3/8 Swift Sand Canyons (think fatter Panaracer Pasela's) which cost me $60.00, and I picked up my favorite MKS sneaker pedals for $22.
One thing I learned from the Passage was upgrading the cockpit for a comfortable ride; wider bars, taller stem, larger grip brake levers, and a new saddle. I tried a Brooks Cambium for the first time and have not been disappointed. All totaled I spent $194.50 on the cockpit upgrades and I love the fit.
I am not a big fan of the oval rings and I wanted a broader range and lower low, so I got new Sugino rings at a cost of $90 for 3 rings.
After the issues I had getting the original headset off the bike I overreacted and bought a new headset and while I was at it I also purchased a bottom bracket, this has the added benefit of making the install easier and they will be lower maintenance in the long run. That cost me $89.00 for the pair.
And of course I needed the consumables; chain, cables and housing, brake pads etc. Those items ran me about $73.00.
The total ended up being a bit of a surprise but I got a classic 80s Japanese touring bike, made it fit and I have so far loved the ride, that said I will probably not be doing this much of a splurge anytime soon.
Ride. Spend big bucks. Smile. Repeat?
Wow, Ryan, I never would've imagined a refurb would cost that much...but then whoever bought my Miyata would spend, easily,200. To redo the drive train to get lower gears. Definitely classic rebuilds can empty wallets but they're not a new bike, of course, and maybe why they're called "classic" .
ReplyDeleteMe either Annie not until I added it all up, If I had left the chainrings, HS, BB & FW stock that would have saved about $250 but it would still be over $500 total for the bike.
DeleteIt's hard to stop once you get started. Believe me, I know. But all things considered, it is way more cheaper to rehab vintage bicycles than to rehab vintage ANYTHING else.
ReplyDeleteMotorcyles, boats, muscle cars, victorian houses (!), any one of these will ruin your life way faster than a bicycle build.
I swore to myself I was done spending money on bikes, at least until I started riding again, but then just this very afternoon I found myself, beer in hand, idly staring at Little Miss where she is hanging on the wall. I instinctively reached out and gave the rear wheel a spin to see if it would come to rest with the schrader valve at the bottom. It didn't. Those 40mm tires I put on her are a little too wide and just barely hit the chain stays. Just by a hair, but...
Two new 35mm Kenda Kwest tires will be here day after tomorrow.
Amazon one-click purchasing is like an ATM in a topless joint. There oughta be a law...
Hey TPC
ReplyDeleteI do often give thanks I do not restore cars etc. How many times have I found myself staring at the Amazon site with items picked out while saying (in my head) "hold my beer". There oughta be a law indeed..
Hope LMD roars around the neighborhood on her new 35mm rubber in the near future.
R
Fat tires are all the rage but let's face it...they're slow! Arduous, actually. It suddenly, over the last few days, occurred to me that the drop in my cycling time coincided with the installation of the fattest tires possible on all my bikes.
ReplyDeleteSome kind of inverse reaction to the downfall of He Who Will Not Be Named.
Be that as it may, I am downsizing my skins, taking the 40's off Little Miss and putting them on the Rambler. The 35's from Kenda served her and me quite well for many years and I'm going back to what worked.
The two inch balloon tires on the Rambler will be shelved for the 40mm comfort tires and I predict more saddle time in the near future.
Meanwhile, just this morning (only moments before sunrise) I was at my tool storage looking for reasons to ditch work and do some serious drinkin' when I noticed the old Mongoose Alta. This bike...I almost weep when I think of the thousand (true) miles or so I put on her 26 inch tires, converted to single speed and the grounding off of cable guides and the buying of mid-grade wheels and tires in search of weight loss, both for her and me...I can lift that bike with one finger, sub twenty pounds...
Sometimes ya gotta wonder why we do it. Oh, yeah, now I remember. We do it because it is fun (a lot of fun) and when you are done, there it is: some subtle miracle of engineering that found itself a hundred years ago (I guess) and really, the basic shape and form and works of a bicycle cannot be improved upon, no matter how hard we try.
Me, I'm going back to simplicity and the search for weight loss (both me and the bikes) and the cheap drive train I put on my old Schwinn was an insult to her so now, yeah, there is a Shimano 105 crankset and derailleur in her future...
The Nash(bar) Rambler weighs twice what the Mongoose does and that ain't right...more tweaking, more button clicking...
Where does it all end? Never, I hope...
yer brother,
Tim Joe Comstock, The Trailer Park Cyclist, King of Beers, Friend f Man (and Women), et al
For me Tim Joe it all boils down to what puts a smile on your face? If going with skinny tires makes you feel faster and that makes you smile and ride the bike more then go for it, back in the day I had a "heavy" wheelset for training and a "light" wheelset for when I wanted to go fast. I never tested them head to head but I always felt like I had a tail wind with the light wheel set. although I am sure the gains were marginal.
DeleteRoadieRyan,
ReplyDeleteI must say first, that I enjoy your blog. I too prefer older steel bikes to new. I will also agree with Tim Joe Comstock, that restoring older bikes is less expensive than cars, and just as enjoyable - I have done both. Your Nishiki is one sweet looking rig.
Thanks, I like the way it turned out. And yes I remind myself that working on old steel bikes is a cheap hobby ..relatively speaking
DeleteI like working on bikes because of the time filler it can be. Plus the simplicity of it all verses working on cars or carpentry is that I can sip on a beer and listen to rock and roll and know that I don't have any power tools that would lop off a finger.
ReplyDeleteBeing able to sip beer and not worry about power tools near my digits is definitely a bonus and its much cheaper than the car hobby (I keep telling myself)
Delete