My not-so-aero, aero Team Miyata

[Badsam]

The Background

 

Below, I have documented the entire build process of my Team Miyata. Be forewarned that there is a lot of words to follow, but a lot of pictures too! It includes absolutely everything I could think of, in an incredibly unnecessary amount of detail. Enjoy 

[Badsam]

The Origin

 

I woke up one morning to a slurry of pictures being sent to a vintage bicycle WhatsApp group. Among the steel Italian frames was something that immediately caught my eye. A blue Team Miyata. I didn’t know how many of these existed in SA as up until before that moment, I had never seen one locally. I had to have it, but my ‘student’ bank balance suggested otherwise. By the time I was able to make a plan, it was too late, she was sold!

 

A few restless months later, I was able to track down the new owner. He agreed to sell, and to my luck, at a higher price than before! Now as some of you may know, this is a very emotional game we play, so I bought it without hesitation. To put it into perspective, I could’ve had a Colnago Master in my size with immaculate original paintwork instead. But I didn’t want a Master.

 

Now to understand this, I should probably go a few years back in time. Whilst sitting in a Mechanics of Solids lecture, as one usually does, I was on my laptop browsing something vintage bicycle related. I came across this weird looking brake caliper and moments later, had to regain consciousness to avoid drooling over my keyboard! The caliper on the screen in front of my eyeballs belonged to the Shimano AX group. Shimano’s attempt to reinvent the wheel with science. After spending the next few days learning everything there was to know about the AX group, I decided to start asking around about where I could find one to call my own. Loosecog had a lead on a 600 AX groupset for sale at Hunter Cycles. Now luck would have it that I would be in JHB a few weeks later, so I went to have a look. I met Dane and after some talking, had him bring out the goods. To my surprise, it wasn’t 600 AX, it was the mighty Dura Ace AX group. It obviously went home with me.

 

The groupset lived in a box under my bed for about 2 and a half years, where I would on occasion take the box out and pop the lid to marvel at what is without a doubt my favourite groupset. During that time, even though I knew it wouldn’t work 100% (due to the rear derailleur cable routing), I tried building it onto my TT World Champion Battaglin, only to strip it down and return it back to its box. Sometime later, I found myself married and living in a small apartment where I could no longer keep the box under the bed. The box sat in the corner of our study, but only until a bigger box arrived with a blue Team Miyata frameset inside!

 

[Badsam]

The Awakening

 

Shimano is for fishermen. Yeah, okay. But there is something about all Dura Ace groups, 7700 and prior that float my boat. I can’t really put this into words without feeling like I’m offending someone, but to me there was nothing incredibly unique about doing an ‘all Italian build’. Take that with a pinch of salt and let me explain myself!

 

There are tonnes of builds locally and internationally of Italian bikes being restored in every manner possible. There are the all-out NOS restorations, neo-retro restorations and everything in between. Once you start looking at it enough, and in high doses, it kind of loses its edge if you will. While I can certainly appreciate a Stelbel restored to perfection with NOS Super Record, an old beat-up Rossin brought back to life with 11s carbon Campagnolo and am particularly fond of the quirky frames that came from small Italian builders we’ve never heard of, I wanted to do something different. And what better way to express my interest for Japanese engineering with a full-blown, balls to the wall, Japanese build.

Edited October 21, 2019 by Badsam

[Badsam]

The Search

 

This was the most difficult part of this build, but without a doubt the most rewarding! Difficult, because the cool Japanese parts are incredibly tricky to come by. Unfortunately, they don’t have the cult following here like the Italian stuff does. And to make matters worse, I wanted to be able to source and find everything locally. Rewarding, because… Well, there’s no better feeling than unboxing a part you’ve spent months looking for!

 

I couldn’t find a DA AX headset anywhere, and right before settling on buying a previous generation, easier to find 7200 DA headset, Kamaalo came to collect something from me. Having explained my dilemma to him, he took me down to his bakkie and showed me an old Peugeot wearing a Tange Aero headset. I needed to have it and contacted the owner to sell it to me however, he wasn’t too keen. Research showed that this headset was produced around the same time as the AX group and that they were becoming increasingly rare. A NOS NIB example was going upwards of R2000 on eBay. Although I considered it briefly, I hadn’t yet lost my marbles. I consulted Nils from WCW and he gladly sold me one he had, at a bargain too. He also let me raid his cabinet of gold for a first gen Dura Ace front mech. The ever-elusive 7300 front derailleur… I still need one please.

 

 

The next issue was finding an AX stem and handlebars. More difficult than finding a unicorn apparently, and it will set your wallet into the negatives if you do! Not to worry though, because other Japanese manufacturers also jumped onto the aero-bandwagon in the early 80’s. I eventually managed to convince Danthunders to sell me his Nitto Crystemblue and matching ADB125AA aero handlebars – Thanks Dan! These have got to be one of my favourite parts of this build. I also managed to score a NJS Kashimax Aero from him, and then a Nitto 65 seatpost as well.

 

 

Next was the wheels. It had to be a set of Araya Super Aero’s. But my luck had run dry when all I could find were a set in a 24-hole configuration. It needed to be 32 to match my AX hubs. Now while looking for a Kashimax saddle, I met David from Everyday Cycle Supply Co. They deal with brands like Araya and Nitto and all it takes is placing an order with them, making a payment, and waiting a short while to receive your new parts! I went for a set of Araya SA-730’s in black to make the bike stand out a little more. These are a reproduction of the original Super Aero’s and share all the same dimensions, whilst having increased strength. Nitto parts are incredibly expensive, so I did what any normal person would do and spent all my money on some awesome Nitto bar-end plugs – This may be the point I realised that my marbles were lost. Anyway, Nils built my wheels and I chose to wrap them in a set of gumwall Panaracer Pasela’s. Made in Japan.

 

 

 

 

[Badsam]

The signature One Key Release crank bolts were important pieces to finish the build off, but I knew immediately that it would be difficult to source and that the generic bolts would have to do. Fortunately, and once again, WCW to the rescue. I managed to pry from Nils an Aero Shimano branded frame wearing a combination of 600 AX and Adamas AX. I removed the One Key Release bolts and discovered the BB which had the correct One Key Release spindle. I tested the Adamas hoods and found that they were an exact fit for the DA levers. Unfortunately, they have some holes in them for safety levers - but they would work as a good template to make new hoods from one day! Or one day I thought. Right before starting the build, Loosecog let me know that he was busy making reproduction AX hoods. I ordered my pair immediately and awaited their arrival. Although these hoods were never available in black, it suited my build perfectly and I couldn’t be happier with the timing.

 

 

For some bonus points, ScottFoil advertised an AX bottle and I couldn’t believe my luck – Yet another rare item found locally. It was a tossup between the AX and OGK style bottle I got with the groupset, but I obviously had to go with the AX one.

 

Finally - I made a trade with HeyYou to secure some aero mount DA AX shifters. Thanks, HeyYou! But that was not without some major issues. Enter the rabbit hole below.

 

[Badsam]

The Problems

 

The Team Miyata frames are supposed to accept a 26.8mm diameter seatpost. Mine could fit a 27.0mm. My Nitto 65 was 27.2mm. Long story short, the reamer had to be broken out to lose 0.1mm overall wall thickness.

 

 

Then came the headset. The crown race flopped around on the fork like one of those circus ring-toss games. A steel shim sorted that out. Now when a fork is too long by a few threads, one or two spacers can make your headset work, however the Tange Aero headset looked horrendous with spacers. Farewell to the top few millimetres of the fork. Headset issues sorted. One would now think that the stem can go in, but the Crystemblue decided otherwise. Some sandpaper to the inside of the fork quickly changed its mind.

 

Now came possibly the biggest issue of this build. The aero mount shifters, once removed from its aero boss, became normal shifters.

 

 

With the correct boss covers, this would have been an easy install, but they just didn’t work. Diving into the depths of the internet revealed that Shimano designed a boss known as the Type B - for no specific reason apparently, just to  make my life more difficult. Before committing to taking the Dremel to the boss cover, I had an idea. Spend some time taking measurements, whip something up in Solidworks, and then have it 3D printed. A whole six South African Rands later, and that issue was sorted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

While playing with Solidworks, I also realised that the hub seals looked extremely tired. They were a faded yellow colour, from the futuristic powder-blue, and had become so brittle that I broke one of them in half by looking at it. My trusty nylon Vernier did the job once again and I was able to have these guys printed. Unfortunately, not in the original blue, but in a silver that matches the rest of the hub. Schweet.

 

 

 

Edited October 21, 2019 by Badsam

[Badsam]

The Frame

 

Specifications:

Size: 59 cm F.P.D. (Full Power Drive)

Frame Material: Tange Champion – Chrome Molybdenum Double Butted Tube

Rear Dropouts: Shimano EF

Fork Material: Tange Champion - Chrome Molybdenum Complete Fork

Fork Dropouts: Miyata TF

 

Dating frames are always fun. I can’t tell if I’m being sarcastic or not, because while I really enjoy scanning the internet for information, it also tends to get a little frustrating when you find information that does not 100% line up how you’d need it to. And that was exactly the case with this Miyata.

 

It was easy to narrow down the year of manufacture, or so I thought. A Vintage Miyata Bicycles blog suggested that from 1972, the first letter in the serial number corresponded to a year of manufacture. Mine was J – so 1981. But going through the ’81 catalogue proved that these things are never this easy. The 1981 Miyata, while sharing most similarities with my frame, had some notable differences. The frame wasn’t available in a 59 cm and the shifter boss was an aero mount. The Tange Champion decals were different on the downtube and fork, although they read the same. My fork also had “Professional” painted down either side, which the catalogues did not.

 

From 1982, the Team Miyata lost the aero shifter mount, but it also lost the head badge and in 1985, the colour scheme for the Team changed, all whilst still retaining the Tange decals different to mine. That ruled out production from a later year, and I couldn’t get access to catalogues prior to ’81 to rule out production in the previous years. Still following?

 

I then thought the frame may have been a rebranded Koga Miyata, which at the time was still made by Miyata in Japan. Koga Miyata’s website has access to all its brochures since 1976 – Pretty cool!

 

In 1981, the top of the range Koga’s was the Fullpro-L and the Fullpro. The L was the aero frame fully equipped with the Dura Ace AX groupset. The Fullpro had a mixture of DA AX and EX. The Fullpro was available in a 59 cm and it didn’t have an aero mount shifter boss. The Tange Champion decals were the same as mine on the downtube. The fork also had “Professional” painted down either side, but it was an aero fork shared with the L. It obviously didn’t have the Team Miyata decals, as it was branded “Koga Miyata”, and the head tube was not painted gold. The head badge was also slightly different. Two steps forward and several thousand steps back.

 

I gave this whole issue a rest as it seemed the more I tried to learn, the more confused I became. A bigger sized Team Miyata then appeared in the Bikehub classifieds and the details were identical to mine. It lost its head badge, but it was proof that these frames were indeed sold in this guise. I must also add that I did find a matching frame on some international forum, but I did not bookmark it and I was never able to find it again. In conclusion, I think my frameset was made in Japan in 1981. The brochures I consulted were for the US, Canadian and Dutch markets – This leads me to believe it was down to a regional specification, where the frames were made in Japan and exported to certain countries in different configurations.

 

Aside from all that, Miyata frames were known to ride exceptionally well. Unlike Italian frame makers at the time, Miyata used specific tube lengths to build each frame size. The Italians used one size - Meaning that a double-butted tube would lose material off the ends where it was butted when they made a smaller frame size compared to a larger frame.  

 

[Badsam]

The Groupset

 

 

Japanese engineering really interests me. Combined with this groupset, even though it may have failed in many more ways than it succeeded, the engineering and story that followed the AX group is fascinating.

 

Come the turn of the 80’s, Shimano’s Dura Ace was competing to better Campagnolo’s Record groupset. While the 7300 AX group wasn’t the solution, it sparked a revolution in the cycling industry - Aerodynamics. Every component of this groupset is amazing to look at. Sleek design coupled with scientific purpose. This is not usually a pair that go together, but in the AX’s case, it did.   

 

 

The crank arm was repositioned relative to the chain wheel to increase the strength without compromising mass. This also allowed for the crank axle to be shortened to reduce flexibility and the crank arm to be reshaped to avoid smashing your ankles. The chain ring was redesigned with smaller teeth behind the crank arm and directly opposite it. This is where the least amount of chain tension was and so allowed for smoother shifts.

 

 

 

The most noticeable feature on the crankset however, is a 1-inch threaded hole. This is to house the Dyna Drive pedal system. The pedal axle sits above the pedal body, allowing for greater stability, hence transferring more energy into pedalling. This also allows for a lower centre of gravity and coupled with its sleek design, is aerodynamically more efficient. Couple this DD system with the FPD Miyata frame, and it allows for a rider to ride a smaller and therefore lighter frame, amongst the other benefits. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Badsam]

Aside from having just released the first commercially successful freehub in 1978, Shimano was by no means finished with tinkering with their hub designs. Spurred on by the fact that building wheels was no easy task for the layman, the Direction-6 Hub was thought to be the solution with its specially designed flanges. The holes were designed to face the spokes in their respective positions, with every second hole being recessed. This allowed all spokes to be threaded on one side of the flange, making assembly easier. According to Shimano’s data, this spoking method allowed equal tension on each spoke, increasing lateral and vertical strength. The front hub axle structure was revised and allowed for greater aerodynamic efficiency.

 

The 7400 group was the first successful indexing system in cycling history, and it is part of what made the 7400 group so legendary. But the 7300 AX group boasted an indexing system of its own. Yes, it was completely rubbish, but there is no denying that it set the stage for everything you use today. The rear derailleur was indexed, giving the rider a clicking feeling on the friction shifter on every successful shift, supposedly. It worked sometimes. To further enhance the shifting performance, the rear derailleur outer cable was done away with due to energy being lost to compression in the housing.

 

 

One of the most beautiful pieces in this groupset are the brake callipers. Apart from looking great, they were built for performance. The triangular cam which activated the movement of the brake arms were so direct that it enabled the shoes to sit further from the rim. This disallowed the need for a quick release. The design also eliminated brake bias to a specific side and allowed even braking with unevenly worn pads. To help with assembly fuss, Shimano designed the calliper after the keel of a ship which meant the brakes needed no adjustment once fitted in the right position. The brake pad was also integrated with the brake arm.

 

 

Focus was then moved to the brake lever and it was ascertained that conventional levers simply waste too much energy. The fulcrum was moved for increased leverage. In keeping with the aerodynamics policy, the cable was routed through the lever and along the handlebar. The cover housing the mechanism was also redesigned, to allow for more comfortable riding. Basically, the natural shape a rider’s palm took when riding was taken and the housing designed around it, or within it technically speaking.

 

 

Other small improvements included a One Key Release, which allowed the crank to be removed in one simple step, eliminating the need for a crank remover. A sportier appearance was given by upgrading all bolts to hex heads and almost all the mechanisms on the components were now sealed, to improve longevity. 

 

Unfortunately, the AX groupset was a disaster. It was unreliable, and sales suffered. Production which started in 1981, ceased in 1983, to make way for the all new 7400 groupset. While the 7400 group quickly became a commercial success and while Shimano had finally one-upped Campagnolo, this was all due to the AX group and the vision of what it wanted to be.

 

[Badsam]

The Build

 

I had a simple vision for this build – make it as Japanese as possible, with as many period aero parts as possible. I wasn’t trying to do a catalogue build, nor was I going to date every part to their time of manufacture. I wanted to do something unique and something challenging.

 

As much as I would have loved for this to be a FULL Japanese build, I had to make some sacrifices. I would have loved to have some Hoshi aero spokes, but I was already 4 times over budget. Things like the chain, cables, cable housings and toe straps were things I let slide. Yes, I could have gone for Kashimax toe straps, but I wanted to stay true to the original nylon blue straps over leather straps. I thought black straps would fit better so I went with a black set of nylon straps from Sportsmans Warehouse 

 

One part I had some OCD with though was the bar tape. I’m not sure if any Japanese manufacturers made similar tape but the Benotto Cellotape was what these legendary aero machines rolled with. So I had to do it!

 

All in all, I’m extremely happy with the result!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Badsam]

The Future

 

I’d like to wrap this up as the end of Phase 1, but I certainly already have some plans for Phase 2. Maybe after my next project?

• I want to have the saddle recovered with some custom touches.
• I also want to have the blue top of the stem reanodised and the stickers made for the stem and handlebars.
• Some  of the groupset could do with a light restoration but I don't want to make it too perfect at this stage.

That will all come in time and I’ll be sure to update this thread in as many words as humanly possible.

Edited October 21, 2019 by Badsam

[BuffsVintageBikes]

Such an awesome build and very interesting read, thanks for sharing it Badsam

 

I still have much to learn about these vintage bikes and parts so write ups like this are music to my ears   

[HeyYou]

Bravo BadSam, great story. Shows plenty of passion.

 

Gives those who might not understand an idea of the labour and research that goes into restoring an iconic bicycle.

 

Can't wait to build my FullPro, but with period Suntour parts!!!!

Edited October 21, 2019 by HeyYou

[HeyYou]

Do you still have the 3D printing plans for the hub seals?

 

I need some for my AX hubs.

 

I'll pm you.

[Badsam]

Do you still have the 3D printing plans for the hub seals?

 

I need some for my AX hubs.

 

I'll pm you.

 

I actually printed a few sets to see what colour I'd like. Black, silver and transparent which ended up being a lighter grey. I have the files and have things printed regularly, so let me know!

[Loose cog]

Wow! That is some build and I am glad I was able to assist in a small way. 

 

Not wanting to hijack this beautiful thread I attach a pic of a Team Miyata pista frame I acquired a few weeks ago.

 

I like the way you haven't polished the groupset and I believe this is more attractive as an original used rideable bike rather than a concourse piece.