When the new, plush offices of Cycling Dynamics were finally
occupied, the move came with a nice, albeit neglected surprise: A bicycle. And not just any bicycle, but a steel
bike. A 1983 Nishiki Sebring to be
exact. So, not being one to miss an
opportunity, I began to think about getting the bike back on the road. And, I thought. And, I thought a little more. And, before I knew it, three-months had gone
by. See, whist the new building was
being remodeled, the Nishiki fell to the bottom of the “To-Do” list, as electrical
plumbing, flooring, appliances, cabinetry, and paint were at the forefront of
available resources. Moving truly is an
adventure.
So, whilst in the full-grip of DIY bliss, there it sat. And it sat.
And, finally, its day had come. And
even though it was not my style (the Sebring’s are more of a hybrid frame), it
was still an old, lugged-steel frame, therefore, by all laws of Heaven and
Earth, it was cool. It just remained unknown
how much of the bike could be saved, and how much had to be trashed. Turns out, it was not too much of the latter,
and joyously, a whole bunch of the former.
The bones of the bike looked good, and though its life of
being left outside in a coastal environment had overall negative effects, I was
surprised that corrosion on the Chromoly 4130 frame and components was not much,
much worse. One good thing about bikes
from that era was they were built tough, and this particular Sebring was no
exception. The Suntour gruppo was still
in working order (Hah! Try that on today’s components!), the bar, stem, post,
brakes, wheels, and yes, even the chain were all still in good working order,
plus the wheels, one steel, one aluminum, were still true and stout. Even the 52-42 rings and the 14-28 cassette
(six-cogs out back) were still in great shape.
Everything just needed some love and a good cleaning. So, I cleaned up what I could, and then, it
was time for surgery.
Enter Bicycle Discovery of Fountain Valley, California.
Upon arrival in my new part of town, I had done an emergency
bike shop tour of all of the bicycle shops in the area to get a bead on things
and to sort out who’s who. Through the
grapevine, I kept hearing about one particular shop’s reputation for knowledge,
service, and reasonable cost, and it was the fine folks at Bicycle Discovery I
kept hearing about. Turns out, people
were right about them. The staff’s
knowledge base of all-things-bike was quite deep, and that includes older bikes
of all construct, especially steel. When
presented with my patient, they immediately assessed the bike, ran-down what it
needed, what it did not need, and gave me a darn good quote on the overall
job. Particulars agreed upon, I left the
bike in capable hands, and two days later it was done and ready for pick up. For two Ben Franklin’s, the Discovery Crew
cleaned up the whole bike, rebuilt the bottom bracket, the hubs, serviced
headset bearings, put on new tires, tubes, new shifter cables, brake pads, bar
tape, and gave it an overall tune-up.
“Mr. Bustamante, meet Mr. Nishiki.”
No doubts as to its identity. Nice lugs, too.
The stock 52-42 crankset and derailleur. Still going strong.
Stock rear derailleur and 14-28 cassette.
No STI shifters here.
Lugs & Steel. Beautiful!
The icing on the cake: A way-too-cool head badge.
Now that the Sebring has been back in my possession, the
best way to describe my time on it to date is thus: I have been riding the shit
out of it, and it is one of the smoothest rides I can recall while astride a
road bike. Yeah, the narrow bars, top-mount/drops
brake lever combo, flat pedals, big seat, and vastly different geometry from my
regular Trek 2.3 made for an interesting initial experience, however, I really
like this bike! Sure the fork has a
funky rake to it, and the funny colored frame is the same concept as an early
80’s racing motorcycle (straight path from the head tube to the swing arm, or
in this case, the rear wheel), and in the frame triangle, where an engine would
hang on a motorcycle, I put a carbon cage for some bling. I also added front and rear lights, adjusted
the Brooks’ styled seat height/fore-aft, and that was all it took to make it
mine. Did I mention it has one of the
coolest head badges I have ever seen?
Well, it does. Hey, it's classic, road
steel, so one truly cannot go wrong. And, the price was right!
Overall, I am extremely pleased with the results of my
rebuild. It is exactly the experience I
was seeking in a second road bike – Something I could just get on, no shoes, no
kit, and ride for the sake of riding, just like I did when I was a kid.
Oh, and when you stop in at Bicycle Discovery, and highly I recommend
you do, tell Richard or Darryl (my other brother Darryl) I sent you.
Those two lads know their classic bikes, very well.
Nice! I've got the exact bike in blue. It was used 3 times, then relegated to the garage for 37 years. Sans dead tubes, it's flawless.
ReplyDeleteAbout to rework mine. I purchased it in early 80's.
ReplyDelete