Trainer bike -1987 Miyata 112

I have been keeping an eye out for a Hybrid bike but haven't found one yet in the price range I am looking for, however, I have seen other interesting bikes.  This Miyata debuted at $60 but by the time I went to see it a few days later it was down to $50.  Since that is about right for this bike after making sure there were no stuck stem or seat post issues I paid the man.

I didn't need another bike or even this one in particular but I was intrigued for a few reasons;

• The price was right, I am pretty sure I could part this out and get my money back or refresh it and recoup my costs but..
• I wanted a bike to use as a trainer bike and didn't want to use any of the existing fleet for one reason or another, 2 will get rebuild, 1 is my workhorse and the other two I felt were too good to be strapped in the trainer, so no good excuses just a justification to get another bike lol.
• Even thought this is an entry level sport touring bike, its a Miyata and I have always liked them and as you'll see it has some features that make it a cut above entry level.
• I liked the color and the contrasting head tube color.  Oddly the catalog lists the color as Gracier blue which I suspect is a misprint of Glacier blue/

Same triple butted chromoly tubing as some of the more expensive frames in the line up.

Catalog shot showing the optional platinum red color scheme.  

Decent tube set.

Made in Japan, very nicely put together

Shimano SIS 6 speed indexed DT shifters.

I also liked that the paint and decals are in fairly nice shape for the age of the bike.

The pantographed fork crown is one of those features that make this entry level sport tourer a cut above the standard entry level vintage bike.

There are a few issues to deal with. aside from the fact the rear brake isn't hooked up; the sidewalls looked like a dried up river bottom, the front quick release needs some dremel attention and the bar tape is my least favorite -foam.  None of that should be a real issue, and as a trainer bike the tires will be fine for now.

Ride.Acquire.Smile.Repeat.

European style Sunday

I rode my sturdy steel practical workhorse bike to...

...the local farmers market.  Where I did my shopping with a ..

A string bag.  As I wandered the booths I sampled...

Fresh made Greek yogurt, lemon curd in this case.  This booth has been tempting me for weeks and I finally decided to try some.

I needed a place to sit down and eat my yogurt so I guess I could have a 4oz sampler of beer, right?  Party of five Imperial IPA by Cloudburst in Seattle.

And back at my practical bike with rack and panniers I loaded up my goods.

My string bag yields the following.....

I have been juicing this week in and effort to get healthier and lose some weight.  After the 3rd day of juicing, however, I was getting hangry on just juice.  So I decided to add in some oven roasted veggies to supplement things.  We'll see how it works out.

NOTE:  In this age of Instagram I have had a increasing number of blog posts over the last few years and have now hit 100 posts in a year for the first time ever!  I am such a Luddite lol

Ride. Do practical stuff. Smile. Repeat.

Eight is Great: Coffeeneuring 2019 extra credit

In honor of it being the 8th year of the Coffeeneuring challenge there is an optional Eight is Great ride that you can do this year.  I figured what the heck.  Although the HD is not vintage it is vintage inspired with its: steel frame, lugged fork, bar end shifters in friction mode, Nitto bars and Brooks B.17 saddle.  It is also the 8th different bike I rode in the challenge this year.  If I hadn't sold 3 of the bikes I used in this years challenge my apartment would be overrun with bikes!

I decided for ride #8 to treat myself to Bakery Nouveau a local, award winning French bakery that has spoiled me for croissants.

But that isn't all they have, the above is just one of the cases in the shop and there are no bad choices.  I went with something I hadn't had before but have noticed on my last few trips

It sounded like Queen Aman when they pronouced it and it didn't disappoint.

I had a latte to go with my pastry and it was decent but not as good as the other places I have been this challenge, however you don't come here for the coffee and the pastry was excellent.  I also remembered my patches this time!

Parking was decent but there is nothing right out front, the store is down where those white tables and chairs on the sidewalk are.  It wasn't sunny but it did not rain. 

The data:

1. Where: Bakery Nouveau, 4737 California Ave SW, Seattle WA 98116
2. Date: November 14th  at 10:20 am.
3. Consumed:  latte and Kouign Amann pastry
4. Details:  Cloudy, 50 degrees, bike parking down the block from entrance
5. Mileage: 2. miles
6. Bike Used: 2009 Handsome Devil

Ride. Caffeinate for extra credit. Smile. Repeat

In which I trade a 6 pack for a Specialized Allez

I have told this story in bits and pieces in previous posts but I thought I would put it all down in one go as this kind of a deal will never happen again.  Earlier this year I sold a 93 Allez sport that was sized 56cm because it was too small.   I had commented about it on Bike Forums, where I spend way too much time, and was lamenting about oh I wish I could find a 58 Allez.   Well as it happens a local member had a 58 cm nearly complete Allez and he was kind enough to offer it to me.

There were a few conditions; 1) I would pay him what he had paid for the bike, a stupid cheap $25 and as it happens I had just sold a pile of vintage MTB wheels for that exact amount so the bike was essentially free 2) he asked that when I completed the bike he would get the chance for a test ride - done! and 3) A 6 pack of nice Pilsner.  Since I live close to an excellent source of PNW beer that was no problem.  As I recall the Pfriem Pils was about $12, its top shelf stuff.  With that deal how could I possibly say no?

no pictured seat post and saddle

As you can see from the above the only issue with the deal was that the bike had no wheelset, which I was aware of going  in.  I did alot of looking at vintage wheelsets on ebay and new wheelsets on ebay and decided to think out of the box and look for a complete bike for cheap on CL that had 700c wheels I could salvage.

Enter the this Takara that was on CL for $75.  The ad indicated the wheels had been upgraded to 700c and I could see from the photos what I took for Mavic stickers on the rim so I figured decent quality and the bike had Suntour BarCons which are a valuable part.

When I arrived to look at the bike and saw the hubs were Ultegra I immediately paid the man without a haggle.  Score!

I ran new brake and shift cables, spent $10 at bike works for a front fender, and stem shifters, used a rear fender, 27" wheelset,tires and tubes, lightly used bar tape and a pletscher rack from the parts bin and put this bike up for sale as a winter commuter.  And it sold for $50 and I got an additonal $26 from selling the barcons on ebay.  So after all was said and done I got a really nice 700c wheelset for $10.

And so I had a 700c wheelset, I ordered a 7 speed cassette and spacer and I was all set with the Allez, not bad or a Six pack and $10 for a wheel-set right? but this tale was not over just yet....

wobler rims and Sntour GPX hubs

The same BF member who sold me the Allez alerted me to a set of vintage 700c wheels for sale on the BF sales site.  Not only were they vintage they were the EXACT spec that would have come on the Allez in 89, Wobler rims  and Suntour GPX hubs, with a rear FW hub for a 7 speed FW.  Just for the heck of it I reached out to the seller for the cost, $100 shipped to Seattle.  I resisted, I had wheels, very nice wheels, I was unemployed.... that lasted for about a day.  I talked the seller down to $90 as the wheels had been listed for months and he agreed.  I figured I could sell the Ultegra wheels and recoup my costs.  Some might say I should have just kept the Ultegra's and I can't argue that but the idea of have a nearly stock Allez really got to me and I figured if I ever sold it that would be a nice thing to advertise.

mavic open pro rims with Ultegra hubs

Just this week the Ultegra wheels sold for $100 so once again the equation reads Allez = Six pack.

My 6 pack Allez is nearly stock, the stem and bars are not and the crank was spec for a different model of Allez but everything else, including the wheel-set, is stock.  I am hoping for a few more rides before the tear down comes. I think long term if I really like the bike it will get a transformation to a compact crank, bigger gears out back and that will require a new RD and shifters.  I actually have a 7 speed mega range FW and a nice Deore LX RD so I would just need a compact square taper crank and some (probably) Shimano 7 speed indexing DT shifters.  The Suntour indexed shifters don't play well with other RDs and have a reputation for being meh in friction mode.  That's all for down the road, however,  for now it will remain stock and I will test just how hard it is for me to climb with a 39/26 low gear.

Ride. Luck into great deals. Smile. Repeat.

Coffeeneuring Challenge 2019: Ride 7: Brews & Blends at Whole Foods

 Another lovely fall day for the final ride of Coffeeneuring 2019.  And my last vintage ride is the 87 Cresta GT, it was nice to get out on the Cresta as it is the bike I have the most invested in and I will be adding to that soon when I put on some fenders this winter.

The coffee shop is where those windows are just over my handlebars, had I been a bit more fortunate in my seating choice I could have kept and eye on the bike while sipping, as it was I locked it up and hoped for the best.

My final choice for coffee was Whole Foods,  its only been open in my neighborhood for about a month and this was my first visit and the first non repeat coffee shop for this year.

I was excited to find out that the coffee shop in the store does both coffee and juice since I am planning to start doing a juice fast soon and on those days I am tired of making my own I can come here to get some.

I went with the classic mocha and croissant which were both good, the coffee shop was fine but it didn't make you forget you were in a grocery store, a very upscale grocery store but still.   While I didn't meet my original goal of getting out of the neighborhood for coffee, I did ride a different vintage steel bike for every ride and 3 of the 7 are now sold!

The data:

1. Where: Brews and Blend, 4755 Fauntleroy Way SW.  Seattle, WA 98116
2. Date: November 5th  at 2:20 am.
3. Consumed:  mocha and croissant 
4. Details:  Sunny, 50 degrees, bike parking around the corner from entrance
5. Mileage: 2.45 miles
6. Bike Used: 1987 Nishiki Cresta GT

Ride. Caffeinate. Smile. Repeat

Hankering for a Hybrid

91 Schwinn CrissCross

I spent all summer into fall pairing down my bike herd but that doesn't stop me from visiting CL or FB marketplace just to see what's out there.  A few years back I did a tune up on my friends Diamond back Hybrid and ever since I have thought it might be fun to try one out.  I would probably end up building it up as a monster commuter and then sell it but it would be fun to play with.  It was the route I was going to take for this years clunker challenge until I lucked into the Trek 520.

The bike above is a Schwinn CrissCross which was the middle bike of their hybrid line up in the early 90s.  Its lugged steel, 700c wheels, thumb shifters, canti brakes, all the things I was looking for in a candidate.  It had been on FB marketplace for weeks steadily coming down in price and I had reached out to confirm size with the intention of buying it when I got back from my trip to Spokane over the weekend.  I think I could have had it for $50 or less but alas it was gone when I checked the listing on Sunday night.  Oh well.

I did a bit more scouring and found this Bridgestone XO-3 the price is right and the brand has allure but the frame is not lugged and its a sloping top tube which is not what I am looking for.  And it feels like a bit of a rebound after waiting too long on the CrissCross.

And this morning I saw this Trek 750 come up, it ticks alot of boxes but its double what I am currently willing to pay and it appears to have butterfly/trekking bars which I am not a fan of, still not too hard to change if the price drops.

Miyata Triple Cross

There were lots of hybrids being made in the early 90s so I just need to be patient, I might even stumble onto a cool Miyata Triple cross like the one above.

In addition to being a fun project to play with a Hybrid could also stand in as this winters trainer bike.  We'll see maybe I will come to my senses and keep the stable at 5.

Ride. Smile. Repeat.