Koga Miyata Fullpro-S 1984 Resto

[jason1788]

I can't believe it's one year on since I started this.

Anyway the frame is more or less finished now. I decided to clearcoat over the decals which is probably a mistake, as I had to layer it on pretty thick to allow for some cutting & buffing. Regardless I went through the clear in a few places so it's a long way from perfect. Still, at least I did it myself and I'm happy with it.

 

[jason1788]

In the last couple of months I've rebuilt the wheels. All were astonishingly good condition but I stripped it all so I could clean up the rims. The original finish is a matt clear anodize which is terrible - it soaks up dirt and is hard to clean. So I cleaned up the anodizing without removing it, and clear-coated, so the rim and spoke rivets should stay looking nice. Hubs rebuilt, relaced with new DB spokes.

A shame the rims are 36h, not 32 or at least 32F / 36 R. At least they should support my 90kg & counting

 

[jason1788]

Been playing around with rear cassettes. The bike came with a hotch-potch of so-called "super-shift" cogs, with the hooked teeth and some plain reversible uniglide cogs. Colour? Supposedly gold finish but really a faded yellow chromate on some of them. Teeth? 13-23 vs the catalog 13-25. Not very well spaced, and with a 39 front ring the 23 isn't going to be fun hauling my carcass up hills.

Found a great condition 14-26 on Ebay. Has the small diameter thread on the small cog which confirms it as Dura-Ace (I believe) but no gold finish

Digression: I have a bit of a thing for gold cassettes having bought one as a spotty 14 year old from Rory O'Brien in Romford. It was a 13-up 6-speed in gold and it looked the business. I fitted it and found it almost impossible to ride, especially as I was using a single 54t chainring. Anyway, I don't know what happened to it, ended up in the bin probably, grrr. So I've been sentimental about gold cassettes ever since.

Fast forward to today and I messed about gold plating the uniglide DA myself. Looks alright, no idea how durable it will be.