Retro commuter bike

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Autore: vedranre

19797vista

1m 38sunghezza

39valutazione

This is a quick look at my trusted 1980s Japanese-made commuter bike. I commuted with this bike to work for two years, 15 miles each way before I built up my Fuji Touring bike. I don't ride the Azuki bike much any more, but it is still one of my favorite bikes. This Azuki road bike has 27 inch Araya rims, which are fine to ride, but can be difficult to find good quality replacement tires for. 27 inch wheel size is obsolete, and has been supplanted by 700c and 26 inch. On this bike, I had to install generic $10 tires of dubious quality as these were the only ones available. I have never had problems with Araya rims, but they are substandard to most modern double-wall rims made by reputable manufacturers. Steel bikes from 1980s are simple, strong and reliable. This Azuki bike is made of light-weight cromoly 4130 steel, which gives comfortable ride and provides plenty of strength for any cargo hauling. In general, I trust 1980s cromoly bikes much more than today's lightweight aluminum alloy bikes. With the light weight of modern aluminum alloy bikes comes a penalty: diminished reliability and impaired cargo-hauling ability. I wouldn't trust most aluminum bikes for tough year-round commuting. I really like the frame and the geometry of the Azuki bike. I made quite a few modifications to the bike, to suit my riding style. I installed a new adjustable stem to get a bit more height and reach, new Origin8 brake levers, new tires... I never liked the oversized stem shifters on the bike, but have left them untouched. The sprung seat on this bike came off of another bike of the same vintage. I've always liked sprung saddles (my favorite is Brooks Flyer). The one that's currently on the bike is a cheap, generic one, but it's fine in terms of comfort. It may be a bit too bouncy... Azuki is one of many Japanese brands that flooded the U.S. market in the late 1970s and 1980s. I believe that Azuki is a branch of the Nishiki / Kawamura bicycle company, which produced fairly nice bicycles but also some not-so-great Walmart-type products. In general, I really like Japanese bicycles from the 1980s. My favorite bike I used to own was a Japanese-made Miyata 610, which had a wonderfully responsive ride, and an ultra-strong yet lightweight frame. ------------------ If I lived somewhere else, I would call this bike differently: bicicleta para ir al trabajo, vélo pour les déplacements, Fahrrad für Pendler, bicicleta para ir trabalhar, bicicletta per gli spostamenti, велосипед для поездок на работу, cykel til pendling, ποδήλατο για τις μετακινήσεις, rower na dojazdy, cykel för pendling, bicikl za putovanje na posao, fiets voor woon-werkverkeer, 自行車上下班, xe đạp cho đi lại, bisikleta para sa commuting, biciclete pentru naveta, baiskeli kwa commuting, gidip gelmek için bisiklet, आने के लिए साइकिल

Commenti

i commute on my 1995 gary fisher..13 miles each way.it does the job.thanks for the video.one question what year is the bike.is nice though

I still have my Araya bicycle from 1975, bought new. I replaced the 27 inch rims with 700c Araya rims, had to stay with Araya rims. They were used high end Araya's from the late 80's. Put on 23 mm tires, 120 psi, wow. Like a new bike. Suntour VGT with barcons.

is it comfortable to ride in reverse barend for a long commuting ride?
i got to know man coz im having second thoughts of buying one

Best minute and a half I've had in a long time.

I wanted to ask, what is that saddle like? I am thinking about buying one identical to it with the springs and cross-hatch pattern on the top. I know some people hate saddles with springs, I was curious as to your experiences? Very nice bike BTW.

I have a Northwoods Crosstown and it works pretty good

I guess there are some good tires available in that size, but it's increasingly becoming a tall order to find them. Miyatas are awesome bikes. I used to have a Miyata 600 from about 1982 that I loved and rode for two years. It was just a bit too tall for me, so I sold it when I built up my Fuji touring bike.

Panaracer, Vittorria, and Continental all make excellent 27" tires. I have Panaracer Tourguard tires on my 1986 Miyata 100 (great bike with a triple butted CroMoly frame). The bike and tires are on my Youtube channel. That is a cool old bike, like the head badge. It looks like a japanese Showa symbol is included at the top, same symbol featured on WWII japanese swords.

Why would I want to do that?

You should convert into a single speed!

Sounds nice. Touring bikes are the way to go.

nice bike. I have an old Raleigh Royal with Reynolds tubing and the gears on the frame. Good touring set up and a very viable bike for the daily commute. Luck

Nice job cleaning the Schwinn

i have a vid on my commuter on my page... check it out

Sounds like a sweet setup. 700c is the way to go.

Looks a lot like my 1975 Araya tenspeed. It too has 27 inch Araya wheels. I have great tires, Avocet 260 grams. But they are very old and starting to show there age amd miles. I'm in the process of changing to 700c with vintage Araya 20a rims. Since it is an Araya bike, I had to go with Araya rims. These bikes were about 25 - 30 lbs. Steel frames ride great. The fact is the faster bike will be the one with the faster rider.

Sure, you could buy an old steel beater, that's easy. You could also use your carbon fiber race bike for errands and commuting, no problem. In fact, you would finish all errands faster. The plastic bike wouldn't last as long as steel, but it's built to be disposable and last only about 2 racing seasons anyway. And it's a lot lighter!

It shifts super-smoothly :)

Cool video. But I wanna see the derailler shift a gear.

@LedusWheelus Sure, that would be one way to deal with an old bike like this. I've never had a single speed bike, and I probably wouldn't know how to ride one. Single speeds definitely look nice and clean though.