Tired Wheel Deal II: Miyata 310
I am a big fan of Japanese lugged steel bikes. As a general rule, even the cheaply made ones are strong and reliable. Miyata crafted some of the most beautiful bikes ever made every by anyone, often using crazy firearm technology. This is not one of those high end models, in fact it is an entry level road bike, but a nice all-around rider despite the heavy hi-tensile tubing. I picked this frame up during one of the strangest bike purchasing experiences of my life, when I went to a guy's house in Puyallup to buy a glued and screwed Vitus frame and came home with 8 wheels, endless quantities of random components and handlebars, and this frame.
One unique feature this frame has is the dimensions: If you look closely you'll notice that the gloriously tall seat tube (62cm) is paired to a rather short (54cm) top tube. If you were a dandy, a bike like this coupled with some sweet Nitto bars, bar end shifters and $800 in other accoutrements from Rivendell could make you the envy of all the rando nerds in your "posse."
Since this bike came from that strange era when brazed on cable and housing guides were out of fashion, I decided to build this up as a single speed. Here's a quick breakdown on the build (very cheap, all parts from the bins in the shop):
- Wheels: Suzue Jr. flip-flop hub laced to Mavic MA3 / can't remember the front wheel. nothing special though.
- RX100 cranks
- steel riser bars
- dia compe brake and lever
- this doesn't take very long when it's a fixed gear, does it
4 comments:
Beautiful frame, I don't ride with a fixed gear but like the short wheelbase and geometry for singlespeed riding around town.
If you ever consider selling this frame I'd be very interested.
Kind regards
from Copenhagen, Denmark
alfons_x@hotmail.com
hi alfons,
i actually sold this bike a while ago. it would probably cost more to ship it from seattle to copenhagen than its worth anyhow. i hear you've got a few bikes in copenhagen, hopefully you can find something similar.
Too bad. In fact I've recently purchased a used lugged frame made from Tange 1000 tubes, it has almost the same dimensions (seattube 62,5cm - toptube 54cm), but I wouldn't mind having an extra.
I have the same frame set up as a fixed gear right now. Fits like like a dream and is probably my favorite bike,but I had no idea what the model was until I saw it here, Thanks a lot. By the why I actually am planing on getting some bar end shifters and some other crap from rivendell and set it as a rando. If that makes me a dandy then so be it.
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