The Nishiki conversion; it lives!

This is part 2 of the  The Nishiki Conversion

A more intelligent person probably would have kept the frame and thrown the rest away. I still think that would have been easier. There are also some badly rusted chrome parts that did not clean up well. Still I really like the old Dia Comp parts. As usual as the build took shape some of my plans changed.

I discussed the wheels earlier, which are the original Araya 27” hoops and one Shimano 333 hub (front). The rear is a Formula loose ball fixed/fixed hub. Further I bought a Surly 22T cog and lockring. I also replaced all the spokes; the front spokes were extras from another build and the rear spokes came (along with some extra long nipples).

Frame wise, I ended up stripping off the my rattle can copper paint, which was an awful looking color for the frame anyway. I entertained trying the rattle can approach again with a different color and then came to my senses and took the frame to the powder coater. Okay, $100 is a bit much for this project, but I won't have to deal with it again and it will look really nice. My first choice was a burnished brass, but gold metallics require a clear coat and that’s another $60. Turns out my son got his first choice, with a dark green metallic (my other green bike is an emerald green).

Second there were these pedals. I actually threw away these OEM pedals (twice!) before I took a wire wheel to them and knocked off all the rust. Mechanically they work as a well as new, but the rust really did a job on the chrome. I was left obsessing over a set of Kyokuto pedals. I have seen them in several incarnations. The first is the all steel version I was dealing with, which include a strap guide on the outer edge of the cage. I tried using theses guides but they did not put strap in a postion that seemed shoe friendly. There is also NJS style, which have an abreviated aluminum cages. The NJS style also have rivets that hold on the cage on the body, all the other versions use a tab on the body through a slit in the cage. There is an aluminum caged version with no flip tab and another that does. I checked eaby for a better set, but had trouble finding a pair for less than $50. Then lo and behold I finally managed to find the above pair for $16.50. These have an aluminum cage with a flip tap.

The Nishiki also has a Suntour Sakae steel chromed headset. While in better condition than the pedals, the chrome on top lockring took the brunt of the corrosion. The lockring is also made for a 21.1 stem? The stem steps down from 22.1. After a little investigation I discovered this the use of a 21.1 stem is common on BMX and crusier. If I wanted a replacement, I would best look for a Crusier style headset. In the mena time I bought a similar style JIS Bottom bracket that tuned out to be mismarked (this was before I realized the need for a 21.1 top lock ring. I was able to send that back, but I replaced it with a much cheaper BMX headset, where the top lockring fit, but was a might puny. I may just stay with what I have (it's not THAT bad). The bottom bracket was in questionable condition with the spindle races being pretty shot, but the cups were pretty smooth. The owner of one of the LBS(s) in town, is a friend who lets me rummage around through most his old parts bins. He used to charge me a nominal fee, now he just lets me have them gratis. The original spindle had threaded studs at the ends and was asymmetrical. I found a replacement spindle and the short side fit pretty close, but I was hoping for perfection.

The Maxy crank has a pressed on 52 tooth chain ring and is therefore flat on the mounting side. To get a perfect chain line, I needed a spindle a few millimeters smaller. I poked around in the LBS and after trying about 8 spindles, I finally found one that gave me a 1mm gap. The Bottom Bracket itself was Tange, but there was something I didn’t like how the bearings (or the bearing cage) fit into the cups. I had some Sakae cups that seemed to like the bearing cages much better so I used them.

The chain was just an NOS Parts bin 3/32 KMC. The handle bar was a chromed Champion drop bar (this bike originally had a much narrower aluminum bar; but I happened upon this bar as a replacement) that is OEM on Nishiki(s) along with the Dia Compe center pull (770) brake caliper and the classic Dia Compe lever with the "safety" bar. The 770 brakes are still available and a good compromise for those who want cantilevers but don't have the bosses. The OEM seat was shot and I temporarily replaced it from the old parts bin seat.

I really like the look of the Dia Compe brake hanger and release. Rust really hurt the aesthetics of these parts, but I managed to find similar replacements on Ebay. OEM Replacements. The difference may not seem like much, but in real life it was worth the $20 extra dollars. The original budget was estimated @ $100. The was pretty much dashed when it turned out both hubs need to be replaced; fortunately a friend supplied me with a front hub gratis. Also the original paint job was supposed to be rattle can. When that didn't work out the budget was blown out of the water when I deceided to powder coat the frame.

Rear hub- $ 40
spokes/nipples $ 20
cog and lockring $ 50
Powder coat $100
Brake hanger $20
Pedals $25

So we're looking @ $235.

Still not done. Nope. Since these photos were taken I have already added a grip to the handle bars and will soon add the new pedals. Also the old tires are trash. Fortunately 27" tires are dirt cheap. Finally I took the bike by an LBS that has helped me with some parts. After much appreciated praise, he had a question of criticism; where's the leather saddle? And of course he's right. A true hipster bike needs a leather (aka brooks/ ) saddle. For a while I have had my eye on a brooks B-17 Special; green w/copper rivets in mind. While you may see them for $80, they are back ordered. A search found the best one in stock for about $100. So;

Brooks seat- $100.00
Tires-$16

All the above items are on order. So I am probably looking at about $370 after tax and license. I will add more photos when it's together.


And here they are! As finished as it's likely to get.





My first ride on these tires show this bike to be a pig. That's right, at only 63 gear inches (52/22) it's like riding through the mud on smooth pavement. Of course, that doesn't really matter, it's all about the joy of riding it. OTOH the Brooks saddle is surprizingly comfortable. I didn't really expect much, so I am quite pleased.

The Nishiki Conversion

It’s a common idea, convert an old Nishki to a fixie. My 9 YO found this old bike on the side of the road with a sign that said, “Take me, I just need a little TLC”. Well the bike obviously needed much more than that. Still, it had a steel frame and I’m always up for a new project; especially if it’s has something to do with my son. But this bike was on the edge. The rule of thumb is the worse the bike, the more money to bring it back; this bike just about killed me. The wheels were shot; first I figured I could just R and R with new spokes. A good plan because even though I have been wrenching for about 20 years I have not built a wheel; the curse of having a really good wheel man. I figured I’d end up with a classic suicide fixie hub.

Unfortunately both hubs had cracks around the spoke holes. I ordered a fixed/fixed Formula hub for about $40 and a friend turned me on to a similar front wheel with the same Shimano 333 hub. The rims were the old aluminum Araya type. New they have a mirror polish, but even aluminum polish couldn't bring these back; so I opted for a stain finish via a wire wheel. I already had the spokes for one wheel and by the time I ordered spokes for the other and figured out the spokes for both wheels were a couple millimeters too short, I ended up buying some 16mm nipples, but still rebuilt both wheels 3-4 times. . I can now claim the ability to build an acceptable wheel.

Next came the drive train. Like all old Sakae cranks, the big chain ring is pressed on and the inside is bolted to the big ring. If one is to have a clean looking drive train you’re stuck with a 52T chainring. The bottom bracket (Sugino) was not in too bad a shape. The spindle was shoot, but fortunately the old spindles are pretty easy to come by. I replaced a few ball bearings on the drive side and it was ready to go. While I was dealing with bearings I also rebuilt the headset. Both the bearing cages were pretty much dissolved. Even though Sheldon Brown says they are not necessary, a quick trip to a small time LBS fixed me up with some replacements.
Now the frame. I gave my son the choice of color; almost. He gets up to three picks and can veto 2. His first choice was green, but I have a green bike already so we ended up with copper. I worked for 15 years in a paint shop so I have my standards. Still I figured I could do a rattle can job that would look nice. I bought some Rustoleum paint and soon found out the limitations. Turns out Rustoleum paint is not compatible with any paint containing acetone; and of course I used a primer with acetone. The paint wrinkled up in a number of spots, but they sanded out okay and I put on a couple coats of clear. Unfortunately I missed one spot with the copper behind the seat tube and when I tried painting over the clear, it was a disaster.

The handlebars have one of the strangest bends I have ever seen. Still, I'm sure a flop and chop will work just fine. The brake levers look pretty beat up, but they are aluminum and should still clean up pretty good. At first I considered the pedals are shot so bad that they would never look right again short of painting them. However after more work with a wire brush and cleaning/ repacking the bearings I have decided they are good enough to use.

Of course there was a lot of Dremal work with a wire wheel on other parts as well. Most the of the chrome was shot but the aluminum shined up pretty good.

Talking about bad chrome, Dia Compe has a very cool old school brake hangers and releases on this bike. Unfortunately, much of it is chromed, which leaves many of these remaining hangers badly rusted. I cleaned them the best as I could and this was the result. The front hanger and rear release tab needed to be painted silver. They may not look too bad to you but they end up being the focal point of the bike because they look so bad; then I found these on ebay. Granted they are a slightly different design, but the chrome is still intact and they still have a the old style release. At this point there are some decisions to be made and possibly a few more upgrades. The high point here are the wheels; I laced and trued the wheels myself. First time. Cool.

For Part 2 go to  The Nishiki Conversion; it Lives!