Miyata frame material
Garrison Hilliard
compares with Colombus, Tange, True Temper, Vitus, et al?
Jim Feeley
> Since Miyata rolls its own cro-moly tubing, does anyone know how it
> compares with Colombus, Tange, True Temper, Vitus, et al?
I raced for a while on a Miyata a lot like this:
http://www.bikecult.com/works/archive/myatatm.html
I can't give you much technical info, but I can tell you something
about the ride.
As you can see in the pix in the above url, the bike used
"triple-butted" splined Cr-Mo tubes. I don't recall the specifics of
the composition. But the tubes were splined for their whole length.
Folklore says that's because Miyata started as gunsmith factory and
reportedly used rifle tubes to make their first bikes. The gunsmith
part is true, but I'm not sure that explains why they used splined
tubes 100 years later.
http://www.jbpi.or.jp/english/topics/enews13.html
Miyata's rap was that the splines made for stiffer tubes at a given
weight. Could be. The bikes we had were pretty dang stiff and kind of
heavy. Our climber guys complained about the rigidity, but I thought
that the ride was not mushy. I'd been racing a Rossin made of Columbus
SL/SP and then a Shula made of Tange before I was given the Miyata. I'm
6' 1" and raced at 166, so I was kinda big compared to the others on
our team (I was also slow compared to the others). Our main sprinter
(and others) felt like the bikes rode and steered like a truck, but
that didn't stop him from winning the Crit nationals on one of the
bikes. The team also did pretty well at most of the big US races
(little thanks to me).
I liked the bike and raced it until the seat tube separated from the
bottom bracket while warming up for a crit. Now *that* made the
steering ponderous. That was a year or two after I'd gotten the bike
and I'd beaten it up pretty bad. Wouldn't mind riding another one, but
a light guy (or guy into light bikes) might not feel the same.
Hope this helps,
Jim
Tony DeAngelo
Jim Feeley wrote:
> Garrison Hilliard <garr...@efn.org> wrote:
>
>
>>Since Miyata rolls its own cro-moly tubing, does anyone know how it
>>compares with Colombus, Tange, True Temper, Vitus, et al
Quality-wise it compares favorably. Since Miyata has been out of
business in the U.S. for a while, it's hard to say what their current
offerings are like (how they have evolved). The old stuff was similer
to Ishiwata 022 or Columbus SP, and the bikes I've seen in Japan in the
last few years seem the same.
>>
>
> I raced for a while on a Miyata a lot like this:
>
> http://www.bikecult.com/works/archive/myatatm.html
>
> I can't give you much technical info, but I can tell you something
> about the ride.
>
> As you can see in the pix in the above url, the bike used
> "triple-butted" splined Cr-Mo tubes. I don't recall the specifics of
> the composition. But the tubes were splined for their whole length.
> Folklore says that's because Miyata started as gunsmith factory and
> reportedly used rifle tubes to make their first bikes. The gunsmith
> part is true, but I'm not sure that explains why they used splined
> tubes 100 years later.
I never heard that lore. Prior to Columbus going spline crazy with TSX I
don't remember the old Kogo-Miyata bikes having full splines.
Interesting idea though, if you lunch your frame you can make a hell of
a projectile hurtler out of it.
>
> http://www.jbpi.or.jp/english/topics/enews13.htmlC
>
> Miyata's rap was that the splines made for stiffer tubes at a given
> weight. Could be. The bikes we had were pretty dang stiff and kind of
> heavy.
Classic Japanese ride.Not owing to the splines, IMO but to the wall
thickness and construction techniques. IMO that's because of the home
market. The frame of reference is the keirin (pronounced K-ring) mount.
The riders are UNBELIEVEABLY explosive and stiffness is everything.
It's hard to make a bike solid as a rock and silky smooth. Hence the
desireability of a Ganwell or Nagasawa which, no matter the tubeset used
rides like a dream...IMO.
Jon Isaacs
>don't remember the old Kogo-Miyata bikes having full splines.
>Interesting idea though, if you lunch your frame you can make a hell of
>a projectile hurtler out of it.
I believe the purpose of the splines is to allow the use of thinner walls
without the tendency to "beer can" ie dent.
jon isaacs
ajames54
wrote:
>
>
>Jim Feeley wrote:
>
>> Garrison Hilliard <garr...@efn.org> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> As you can see in the pix in the above url, the bike used
>> "triple-butted" splined Cr-Mo tubes. I don't recall the specifics of
>> the composition. But the tubes were splined for their whole length.
>> Folklore says that's because Miyata started as gunsmith factory and
>> reportedly used rifle tubes to make their first bikes. The gunsmith
>> part is true, but I'm not sure that explains why they used splined
>> tubes 100 years later.
>
I think that needs to be classed as an urban myth... the splines are
extra material while rifling is material cut away. Splines are created
when the tube is drawn, a function of the draw dies, rifling is done
late in the process of gun making, and gun barrels are (AFAIR) NEVER
drawn.
I still have my 87 - 88 Ridge Runner Team and I use it as a City Bike
(well my girlfriend does now) not what I would call a light bike...
but really stiff and surprisingly responsive.