1990 Panasonic PR-6000 ex team bike

[ededwards]

Despite being pretty common recently e.g. http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... =panasonic , I thought I'd post up a few photos of my 1990 Panasonic PR 6000 ex-team bike.

It was ridden by John Talen, a Dutch pro from 1987 to 2000. John won the world team time trail championship as an amateur and rode the Tour de France three times, finishing as lanterne rouge in 1994. The bike is stamped 'JT3' on the bottom bracket shell, presumably as the third of John's frames for that year. I have no idea what races it was ridden in (if any) but have convinced myself that it was used in one of the Classics despite no supporting evidence whatsoever.

Frame details - chromed Tange Prestige with paint on top. As with many chromed frames, the paint has flaked off in a quite a few places. Noticeable features are the extended seat tube and large spacer on the traditional threaded headset. Less visible is the 30mm slit cut into the bottom of the seatpost - I have no idea what purpose it serves.

The groupset is full DA 7402 with Cinelli bars, tape and stem and Mavic rims. I've freshened the cables and added some Panaracer Pasela tyres (Panaracer is part of Panasonic, fact fans, so they sit pretty well with the whole package). Saddle is a Rolls.

How does it ride? 300km in two days in Holland and a decent hilly ride back home suggest that it's at home in a blustery headwind as it is when going up or down. Tight but stable sums it up.

Looking forward to getting some more miles in on this one and, hopefully, taking it to the Tour of Flanders next year (taking it home, perhaps?).

 

[KeepItSteel]

nice!
I like the fact its been ridden. And I like the heritage.

 

[Yvo]

Looking good Ed!

 

[john]

Really nice Ed, especially cool with it being at ex-Pros bike.

Don't care for the tyres though. Assume these cannot be the original wheels given you're on clinchers, unless this points to it perhaps being a training bike?

 

[mrkawasaki]

Tidy machine - can I pick you up on some of your normally precise wordsmithery?

'Despite being pretty common...' - don't be so hard on yourself - you are an individual Ed, you are unique...

'It was ridden by John Talen, a Dutch pro from 1987 to 2000.' - that's a long time in the saddle... no obvious signs of wear then?

'Lanterne rouge' - how fitting!

'Freshened the cables' - dare one ask how you do this...

'Tight but stable' - is that the new owner or the bike??

Just sayin...

 

[ededwards]

Thanks for the kind words chaps, really enjoyed riding it on a hilly 70 miler on Sunday, even though I was concerned about how my legs would cope with 39x26 after all these years (we'll leave aside the 26 miles of Hay to Hampton Bishop in 70 minutes ).

Don't care for the tyres though. Assume these cannot be the original wheels given you're on clinchers, unless this points to it perhaps being a training bike?

I know what you mean about the tyres John but wanted something pretty tough given the state of Herefordshire roads (Simplex wrecked a NOS SSC rim and new tub on the recent Road Ride ) so that coupled with the amber wall and Panasonic ownership lead me to plump for the Paselas - guess that I shouldn't have taken a close up.

The wheels certainly aren't original - you wouldn't race on MA2s, would you? - although they are groupset hubs so I'll either convince myself that either a) hubs were built onto new rims once the originals wore out; or b) they were a special sturdy build for the cobbled Classics. Naturally I prefer option b)

Which leads onto whether it is training bike or not. It may well be but equally perhaps not as I don't know how many bikes a pro would have per season, more than three I'd guess? So if it's acceptable to everyone I'll stick with the conceit that it was raced in anger which will allow a flight of fancy about having broken clear on the Ronde with Cancellara and Boonen (my flights of fancy are not historically accurate) in pursuit but not gaining an inch as I smoothly power to victory.

 

[doctor-bond]

Loving this, and would give my eye teeth for something simillar. I suspect that the best bikes ever made were built in Japan from lugged, heat treated steel. Just a suspicion.

 

[Elev12k]

Panasonic self claimed in their 1991 catalogue the PR-6000 was the best bicycle available in the marketplace. Not easy to verify and personal preferances matter too, but it fair to accept it is a really good roadbike.

The of the shelf PR-6000 frame uses 3x 28.6mm diameter tubing in front triangle, is constructed using full Tange Prestige and is brazed with silver. As you can expect from a Japanese manufacturer tollerances will be minimal.

 

[daj]

I have no idea what races it was ridden in (if any) but have convinced myself that it was used in one of the Classics despite no supporting evidence whatsoever.

(Love the bike too!!)

 

[ededwards]

Went out on this today and managed to find the couple of hours when the weather was utterly foul - high wind, spiteful, icy rain. Fortunately I chose quiet country lanes just after the hedges had been cut and where tractors with trailers had shed their load, all good preparation for the Ronde. It was lucky that the rain washed away most of the muck but was still a great day out on an absolutely cracking bike (conceited? Yes. But I am bloody lucky and I know it).

Found this great write up of Paris-Roubaix in 1990 http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/lat ... ubaix.html , but what's the relevance? John Talen, riding for Panasonic, in 10th at 10s - could it possibly have been on the bike I now own? If it is, I should get polishing.....