I got this bicycle back in April, 2010 for $208.37 from a police auction site. There were no useful description and the pictures were of very poor quality, but the model seemed rare enough that I took the risk to buy it. It turns out that the frame is only a Tange 2 Champion, and the drivetrain and brakeset were lowly Suntour Edge. It did have Suntour Superbe Pro chainrings, Cinelli stem, 3TTT handlebar. The seatpost was Strong 26.6mm, bottom bracket was Hatta High Cup, hubs were Maillard CX500, and the rims were Matrix Titan (realized that it was spec'd similar to the '89 Trek 1000 or the 400). It also had cello tape that matched the frame color, but I threw them out because they were worn out.
I was a bit disappointed at the frame material and the components group, but the paint scheme is pretty cool (Panasonic Individual Custom System, or P.I.C.S), and it's a great fit for me. Plus, I do think this is a somewhat rare find. Sometime after I acquired the bicycle, I luckily came across the older Dura-Ace derailleur set for very cheap (in addtion to a pair of MKS RX-1 pedals, among other quality parts), so I decided to replace all the Suntour Edge parts with Dura-Ace (This is also before I had so many bicycles). The used Dura-Ace hubs/Mavic Open Pro CD wheelset was bought for about $50. The Dura-Ace bottom bracket and the Dura-Ace AX seatpost were taken off of an old CCM (Canada Cycle & Motor Co. Ltd) bike, which had some other quality parts. The crankset was an eBay find. I just installed Shimano 600 SLR brakset since I came across them for pretty cheap on Craigslist. I did recently buy the Shimano 600 dual-pivot brakes from eBay, so I will be installing them soon. I wanted a stem with a shorter reach, so I currently have an SR Soul forged duralumin stem taken off from an old Centurion Super LeMans, with Nitto Olympiade 115 that I bought off eBay for $5.
I also recently put on a different used cassette with bigger cogs, but I am having some gear-skipping issues. I'm not exactly sure why that's happening since the derailleur seems adjusted well. I am thinking it may be a chain thickness issue, but we will see.
Here are the current specs.
Frame: Fully-lugged Tange 2; dropouts are stamped "Panasonic"
Fork: Tange Cr-Mo; dropouts are stamped "Panasonic"
Size: 53cm
Color: P.I.C.S.
Crankset: Dura-Ace 7402
Chainwheel: Suntour Superbe Pro 42x52
Chainring bolts: Campagnolo
Bottom Bracket: Dura-Ace
Shifters: Dura-Ace 7401 front; Dura-Ace 7402 rear
Derailleurs: Dura-Ace 7402 rear; Dura-Ace 7400 front
Pedals: MKS RX-1; Lapize toe clip
Chain: SRAM
Hubs: Dura-Ace 7402, 8 speed cassette 12-26T
Rims: Mavic Open Pro CD
Tires: Continental Ultra Gatorskin 700 x 23c (I'm not a huge fan of skinny tires, but they look nice on this bike)
Headset: Tange Levin CD
Handlebar: Nitto Olympiade 115
Stem: SR Soul; forged duralumin; 80mm
Brakes: Shimano 6400
Brake levers: Shimano 6402(?)
Saddle: San Marco Ponza Power
Seatpost: Dura-Ace AX
Accessories: Planet Bike rear light; Detours saddle bag, Bell handlebar wrap
And (a lot of) pictures:
 |
| 1989 Panasonic Team Custom - Drive side (2/3/12) |
 |
| 1989 Panasonic Team Custom (2/3/12) |
 |
| 1989 Panasonic Team Custom - Head tube (2/3/12) |
 |
| 1989 Panasonic Team Custom - Front half (2/3/12) |
 |
| 1989 Panasonic Team Custom - Head tube lugs (2/3/12) |
 |
| 1989 Panasonic Team Custom - Head badge decal (2/3/12) |
 |
| 1989 Panasonic Team Custom - Shimano 600 brake lever (2/3/12) |
 |
| 1989 Panasonic Team Custom - Nitto Olympiade 115 handlebar (2/3/12) |
 |
| 1989 Panasonic Team Custom - SR Soul (forged) stem (2/3/12) |
 |
| 1989 Panasonic Team Custom - Tange Levin CD headset (2/3/12) |
 |
| 1989 Panasonic Team Custom - Dura-Ace hub (2/3/12) |
 |
| 1989 Panasonic Team Custom - "Team Custom Special Hand Made" decal...the left side is in better condition (2/3/12) |
 |
| 1989 Panasonic Team Custom - Seat cluster (2/3/12) |
 |
| 1989 Panasonic Team Custom - Panasonic Individual Custom System (PICS) (2/3/12) |
 |
| 1989 Panasonic Team Custom - Dura-Ace 7400 front derailleur (2/3/12) |
 |
| 1989 Panasonic Team Custom - Panasonic seat tube decal (2/3/12) |
 |
| 1989 Panasonic Team Custom - Dura-Ace crankset (2/3/12) |
 |
| 1989 Panasonic Team Custom - "Lowly" Tange 2 tubes (2/3/12) |
 |
| 1989 Panasonic Team Custom - San Marco Ponza Power saddle(2/3/12) |
 |
| 1989 Panasonic Team Custom (2/3/12) |
 |
| 1989 Panasonic Team Custom - Rear view (2/3/12) |
 |
| 1989 Panasonic Team Custom - Dura-Ace 7402 rear derailleur (2/3/12) |
 |
| 1989 Panasonic Team Custom - Rear Panasonic dropout (2/3/12) |
[/2/10/12 EDIT] Forgot to upload this video of the rear derailleur. I'm going to try to record these shifting videos from now on. I don't think they really provide anything substantial, but I like to watch them, haha.
No comments:
Post a Comment