Carbon Based

Well, this was my father's old bike. He has no idea what it is, although he thought it originally came with all Suntour components, which leads me to believe it may be Japanese, along with the Japan institute of standards logo on the bottom bracket. It has double butted Cro-Mo tubing, probably Tange (considering the worn sticker stating the tubing type reads "T NG "), forged dropouts, chromed fork and chromed stays, so it looks to be a somewhat decent frame. Odd looking ornate headbadge reads "CS". Here are pictures, sorry about the quality as I was in a hurry (click for larger):









Thanks

Gary Fountain

To be brutally honest, your fathers frame is a lower quality bike. I would say that it is a department store bike.

That said, it is your fathers bike and that's where the value lies. That cannot be replaced. Is it worth rebuilding? Yes - It has a family history.

Looking closely at the frame, I think I can see a crease in the top tube. Are you going to repaint it? If yes, then it would be easy to cover up these blemishes.

If you're not going to repaint then it would be easy to live with the blemishes as they were put there by your father. Polish up the chrome with metal polish and give the paint a light cut and polish.

It would be easy to replace the components. Shimano or Suntour would suit and it would be easy to put a decent groupset on the frame (probably an upgrade). You could also change the stem and bars and put a nice set of wheels on the bike. You could probably buy another bike for the parts, clean them up and throw away the frame. Measure the width of the bottom bracket to make sure you are buying components that will fit your threads. The reach of the brake calliper arms may also be a problem.

If you don't want to spend a great deal on the components, there would be nothing wrong with cleaning up the components you have like the bars and the crank set. The crank set seems to have its own charm.

It could be a Japanese bike but I don't recognise the badge. Good luck with your project, it will probably be a nice bike to ride.

greyg8r

I agree with what Gary said that it is not an expensive frame but I think it came from a LBS and not a department store. Maybe department stores in Australia carry better bikes than in the US? IIRC, bikes during that era (early to mid 70s based on the lack of braze-ons, suicide brake levers with center pull brakes and the faint shadow of the downtube shifter band) that were sold in department stores would not have had forged dropouts, lugs, tapped eyelets, or the stem with recessed allen bolt.

Carbon Based

I think that it is at least a low-end LBS bike, due to the features greyg8r mentioned, as well as the tubing and lack of stem shifters. The suicide levers, rear reflector, and kickstand do tell me that it's probably not a high-end bike. This doesn't really bother me, as I was not expecting something fantastic. I'm not going to attempt a full restoration on this, probably just a fixed gear conversion. I would like to know what it is though, out of sheer curiosity.

Gary Fountain

Greyg8r is probably correct about the frame being beyond a department store bike, as you no doubt know. I think your plans of building it up as a fixed gear fun bike is a great way to go. I don't think it would warrant a full resto. job as it is quite presentable as is. It will still represent a memory of your father.

I would say that Aussie Dept. stores went out of their way searching the world for the 'crappiest' bikes they could still sell to the unsuspecting public. It could have been a plot to rid the roads of potential life-long bicycle riders - give the kids something that looks good but is horrible to ride.

Antipodes

The bike, going on the "rhinestone" CS badge alone, is a SEKINE. Made a number of different models such as SHB, SHC, SHT etc. - the one in question is most likely one of their better ones judging by the forged dropouts/integral derailleur hanger etc. They were a Japanese company who started up a factory near Rivers, Manitoba in the '70's. Yours however appears slightly earlier than the Canadian models I've seen, so it was probably Japanese-made. Anyway, that's enough - there is a whole thread on Sekine in the C&V section if you search for it...

Carbon Based

Leigh30- Thanks for the information, that's great to know. I'm off to read the Sekine thread, then.

Gary Fountain- I often suspect a similar plot among American department store bike sellers as well.