Any information about my nishiki road bike?

Question

i just bought a nishiki road bike at a garage sale. it says sebring on the frame. looks like it has suntor derailers and aluminum rims (maybe). its a huge bike prolly about 61+ cm. i was just wondering if anyone had any other information about these bikes or anything that might be interesting or usefull. thanks.

Answer 1

Nishiki was a fairly big name in the early 1990s.  I had a Nishiki Alien (mountain bike) that was an upper end machine.  Like all makers, they had a variety of bikes, from the lower end to the upper end.  Likely a solid entry to mid level bike, depending upon the type of Suntour parts on it. (Suntour used to be a solid competitor of Shimano's, with a lot of fans, but unfortunately they did not survive).  My recommendation is to give it a good cleaning and have it tuned (or tune it yourself, as needed) and enjoy.

Answer 2

I once owned a Nishiki ... enjoyed it as an entry level road bike.

It's difficult to say much about the bike you have other than the frame was made by a relatively short lived Japanese company. The components varied widely depending on the bike, and could have been upgraded over the years so may not be stock anyway.

See the link for a bit of info.

Answer 3

Nishiki has actually been around since about 1969. They started selling in the US during the "Asian Bike Boom".

About 1995 the name was purchased by Derby Bicycle Company who also owned Diamondback and Univega, previously Centurion. About 1999 these brands were sold to Raleigh USA. Nishiki became a brand name that was used as a "big box store" brand- but only if there was a bona fide bike department- not like Walmart. About this same time Raleigh USA dropped the Univega name.

Since Suntour road drivetrains disappeared right about 1992 or 93 your bike is at least 15 years old but probably is more like 20 to 25 years old.

Answer 4

I had a Sebring for a few years until I crashed it and mangled the main triangle and front wheel.  I think I bought it in 1985, for around $500 or so.  If I'm remembering correctly, the frame was cro-mo and pretty heavy.  That bike was very clunky by today's standards....not great by the standards back then, either, but it wasn't total junk.  

It's a sweet old vintage bike, although it won't have any value except possibly to today's crop of fixed-gear and singlespeed renovators....someone who is looking to rig up an old bike on the cheap.   Unfortunately, none of the parts on that bike was anything special, so even if you parted it out you'd be unlikely to sell most of it (some older road bikes can bring decent money for needed parts as people fix up old frames).  The biggest disadvantage is that is has 27" wheels...finding decent rims is a nightmare, so be careful not to trash them.  There are several good choices for 27" tires, although they may not be around for too many more years.   It also has the older 126mm spacing on the rear wheel/frame, so you're limited to older freewheel hubs or will need to have a competent shop spread the frame stays in the event you wanted to upgrade or need to replace the rear wheel.

I loved that old bike.  It took me from neighborhood riding and a busy newspaper route, right into a love for cycling and teenage fantasies that I was an Italian racer.   My Sebring carried me over a few thousand miles of Ohio countryside and rural hills....lotsa great memories.  :o)  

Nishiki as a company did offer some nicer bikes....the Sebring was a lower-to-mid-level model designed for "sport" racing and touring, a category of bikes that eventually died a slow, justifiable death.

Good find!  Breathe some life into that old bike and enjoy it!