I was going to part out this bicycle, but ended up keeping it after just making minor changes.
I put on Deore XT BL-M733 brake levers and Ritchey grips that I took off of an Univega Alpina Team. Then I put the original Concept bar ends back on. I also put on some slick tires (Specialized Nimbus EX) since it gets ridden more on pavement than off-road.
Drive-side w/ Specialized Nimbus EX slick tires (6/13/12)
Went on an extremely lazy and short ride to the bank and to the local Goodwill, and took this photo to commemorate it. The picture makes it looks like I'm in middle of a open field, but I was actually right off of a pretty large boulevard. They just have this strip of undeveloped land for the electricity towers.
It's been raining a little bit lately, so I wanted to check out the trail nearby that has a creek at the start of it. I've been wanting to take some pictures of my mountain bikes at a more nature-filled scenery, but the creek's been dry all winter since we got little precipitation this year. The water level is probably embarrassingly low to be called a creek at elsewhere than Southern California, though. And unfortunately, you can't ride bicycles on this trail, so I just took some pictures and left. (I have yet to try riding my bikes on a trail)
The only mountain bike that's ready to be ridden right now is the Univega Alpina 5.7, but hopefully I'll get to work on the others and post them here soon.
Taken at the side of the street on the way to the trail (4/16/12)
I'm guessing there was once a creek under this bridge (4/16/12)
I got off at a different Metro station on the way back from work, and decided to take a couple of pictures. That's the 210 Freeway before the rush hour in the background, and you can also see the San Gabriel mountains. Sometimes the smog gets bad enough that you can only see a silhouette of the mountains. When that happens it makes me think that I need to ride my bicycle more, but at the same time, I worry about all the smog I would be breathing in.
210 West on the left, 210 East on the right (4/2/12)
The Sportour has eyelets on its rear dropouts, but no rear rack bosses on its seatstays. Fortunately, I saved a rack from a 70's Centurion Super LeMans that clamps onto the brake bolt. The eyelets on the dropouts were unthreaded 5mm holes, so I tapped it to fit M6 x 1mm screws. I also had to enlarge the holes on the rack to fit a 6mm diameter bolt. Since I don't have any cutting oil, I used PB Blaster for the job, and it turned out alright. I also had to re-bend the mounting arm that goes on the brake bolt. It probably took me much longer than others to do these simple tasks, but I think everything turned out decent in the end.
I also added a Specialized bottle cage that I had lying around.
A few pictures:
1983 Univega Sportour - Drive-side with new rack (3/24/12)
I am not sure why I keep running into so many Univegas, but I acquired this bike back in December 2011 from Goodwill for $56.10. I was originally planning to either give it to a friend or flip it for a profit, but it was in such a good condition that I decided to keep it. It appears to be an upper-entry/low-mid level bike, but it looks well-built and the ride feels especially solid. There are minimal signs of wear/use, despite most of its part being original. The only thing not original in the current form are the handlebar, brakes, bar tape, pedals and the bags. It originally came with a flat bar and flat bar brake levers. but I replaced them with a drop bar and Dia Compe brake levers taken off of a Centurion Elite 12 (plus pedals).
From my readings of forums, the serial number on the frame suggests that the frame was actually manufactured in 1982 (by Miyata?), but the Suntour aRX components point it to the 1983 model. It appears that the '82 model was equipped with Shimano 600 Arabesque components, so the aRX seems like a step down. The rear dropouts look stamped, not forged, but has a derailleur hanger, which I haven't seen before. The frame material is double butted Tange Champion, so it's definitely not a gas pipe bike. I'm guessing the fork is a hi-tensile steel. The 27" rims also look like Araya 20A rims, which are double-walled with eyelets, and they're laced onto Sunshine (Sansin) Gyromaster hubs that use cartridge bearings. However, given a decent selection of rims and hubs, the spokes are not stainless steel. Overall, the bike is a healthy mix of decent and entry level stuff.
I read on Disraeli Gears that the aRX never shifted as well as the older models, but personally I think it does just fine One major drawback I do see is the steel cage because it seems to be pretty soft and I can see it going out of alignment. Maybe it feels alright just because it hasn't been used much.
I'm planning to keep all the original parts since they're relatively unworn. I do plan on changing the bar wrap with cotton ones (the current ones are those that my friend was going to throw away). I'm also going to add a rear rack so that I can use the bike for short commutes. Since the bike is a bit small, it feels a little cramped when my hands are on the drops. So I may experiment with a different length stem sometime in the future.
Specs then pictures:
Frame: Tange Champion Chrome Molybdenum Double Butted tubes; 49cm center-to-center; fully-lugged; stamped rear dropouts
Fork: Unknown; single eyeleted dropouts
Headset: Unknown chrome steel
Crank: SR Super Custom; "Univega Cotterless" dust caps; 52-42t chainrings
Shifters: Suntour Symmetric friction
Derailleurs: Suntour ARx GT
Pedals: SR SP-100BL; CyclePro toe clips
Chain: Sedis
Seatpost: SR 26.8mm
Saddle: Selle Italia(?); Univega Logo inscribed
Stem: SR Custom
Handlebar: SR Custom
Brakes: Dia Compe G
Brake Levers: Dia Compe non-aero; Dia Compe gum hoods
Hubs: Sunshine Gyromaster; 6-speed Suntour Perfect 14-28t freewheel
Rims: Araya 27 x 1, double-walled, eyeleted, presta valve
Tires: 27 x 1 1/4 Performance GT-k rear; 27 x 1 Forte (Performance) GT2-K front
1983 Univega Sportour - Drive side (3/21/12)
1983 Univega Sportour - Front view; Schwinn Voyageur handlebar bag (3/21/12)
1983 Univega Sportour - Dia-Compe brake lever w/ original gum hood (3/21/12)
1983 Univega Sportour - SR Custom stem; Schwinn Voyageur handlebar bag attachment (3/21/12)
1983 Univega Sportour - Cockpit (3/21/12)
1983 Univega Sportour - Front view; Schwinn Voyageur handlebar bag (3/21/12)
I took these on the way back from work at the Union Station, using the Camera 360 app with the Sketch effect. Thanks to the super vibrant color of the flowers, I think they turned out pretty cool! I've included both the regular picture and the same pictures with effects.
The fourth part of the updates is going to be about the 1994 Univega Alpina 5.7. It is very much similar to the Alpina 507 I wrote about a while back (which was bought before this one, but has been just sitting). I bought this one because the Alpina 507 felt very light for a steel MTB, and I thought a smaller member of my family could use this one. But unlike the first one, this one just has a steel fork instead of a suspension fork, and is a 21-speed instead of 24.
It's in a great cosmetic condition, and I only needed to do only minor overhaul/replacements. The original Shimano Deore LX Rapid Fire shifters were malfunctioning, so I put on Shimano Deore thumb shifters that I had in my parts bin. And since the brakes were integrated with the shifters, I put on the Suntour XC Ltd. brake levers that I took off from the Trek 6000 that I wrote about in a previous post. The grips had worn off the bicycle when I got it, so I took off the bar-ends and put on a pair of End-Zone integrated grips.
It has the bent chainstays like the Alpina 507, which I read are supposed to help with mud build-up that leads to chain suck and shifting problems. Not sure if that's really the case, but it's pretty cool looking. It also has three sets of bottle cage bosses, and also rear rack bosses. That makes me wonder what the intended purpose of this bike was, since it doesn't have the clunker-like relaxed geometry of my Univega Alpina Ultima. It actually seems to have a pretty tight geometry/short wheelbase since the ride feels a slightly bit more twitchy. Or maybe the bicycle is just built wrong.
I got a bit lazy with this bicycle, so I didn't spray Boeshield T-9 inside or wax the outside. One thing I need to figure out about this bicycle is the seatpost size. The current seatpost is supposedly the same diameter as the Alpina 507, with both of them having the same tubing. But the seatpost lug (is it called that even if there's no actual lug?) on this one appears slightly bent, and the quick-release binder needs to be tightened quite a bit to prevent the seatpost from slipping around. I'm also going to replace the current stem with a shorter one.
I don't know how I ended up with so many Univega mountain bikes.
Here are the specs and pictures.
Frame: Welded Formula 969 Race Lite; Cr-Mo 969 Double Butted tubes & 969 Chainstays (couldn't find any info on this tubing..maybe .9/.6/.9 butted?); Bi-Axial Power Oval (also no clue what this means); made in Taiwan
Fork: Formula 1.3/.7 Chromoly; 1" threadless steerer
Crankset: Shimano Deore LX; 175mm
Shifters: Shimano Deore friction thumbshifter front (from 6 speed group); Deore 7-speed SIS thumshifter rear
Derailleurs: Deore LX top-pull front; Deore XT rear
Pedals: Wellgo
Chain: Hyperglide
Hubs: Deore LX Parallax; 7-speed cassette
Rims: Mavic 230 SBP
Tires: I think Ritchey something (too lazy to walk to the garage and check)
Headset: Dia-Compe Aheadset
Handlebar: Concept
Stem: Concept; 1" steerer threadless
Brakes: Deore LX low-profile catilever
Brake levers: Suntour XC Ltd
Saddle: Vetta SP
Seatpost: Concept
Accessories: Cat-eye reflector on the fork, and on left seatstay.
1994 Univega Alpina 5.7 - Drive side (9/16/11)
1994 Univega Alpina 5.7 (9/16/11)
1994 Univega Alpina 5.7 (10/21/11)
1994 Univega Alpina 5.7 - The cockpit; Shimano Deore thumb shifters; Suntour XC Ltd brake levers (10/21/11)
1994 Univega Alpina 5.7 - Shimano Deore thumb shifter; Suntour XC Ltd brake lever (10/21/11)
1994 Univega Alpina 5.7 - Dia-Compe Ahead Set (10/21/11)
