# Filling the void? Univega help?



## Squidward (Dec 18, 2005)

I did a search both on here and on Google and couldn't find much. Is there a website out there with information about Univega bicycles? Something like First Flight Bikes where they show the type of tubing used, components used, etc.

I'm trying to find info about a road bike that I have a line on. I don't want to say anything more about it because I don't want to jinx it, but I will post more information after it's in my grubby little hands.


----------



## Squidward (Dec 18, 2005)

I guess no one knows anything about old Univegas, eh?

Here's the bike that I picked up today, a Nuovo Sport. It was covered in dust and the rear hub needs to be torn down and rebuilt but it did seem rideable. I'm going to fix it up, get it running, then give it to my brother-in-law because a few years ago his wife gave me his Univega Nuovo Sport that was too big for him anyway and I gave it to a tall coworker. Little did I know that she didn't discuss it with him before giving it away so I have always felt that I owed him a bike.

I'm sure that this will be suggested so I'm going to nip this one in the bud: No, it will not be converted into a fixed gear or a single-speed bike.

Pictures:
1) Drive-side picture
2) The front end
3) The shifters on their pod
4) The rear end of the drivetrain
5) The larger bike that I gave away


----------



## Peanya (Jun 12, 2008)

Looks like the chain, aside from being in the wrong gears, has been cleaned of all lube. Give close-up shots of the seat tube stickers.
The first bike pictured seems like a much older, 70's I'd say by the suicide levers. I'm thinking it's a Japanese brand, a little bit better than department store quality.


----------



## Squidward (Dec 18, 2005)

More pictures:

1) The front end of the drivetrain (yes, it's missing a chainring bolt)
2) Araya rims, 27X1 1/8
3) Handlebar/stem
4) Sticker showing what the frame is made of
5) Rear brake. Yes, that's a Suntour Superbe brake caliper!


----------



## Squidward (Dec 18, 2005)

It's a new chain.

Even more photos:
1) The bottom bracket cable guide
2) The other side of the bottom bracket
3) After removing the brakes and the controls, replacing them with a flat bar and appropriate brake levers
4) The brake cable guide showing bubbling paint
5) Another brake cable guide showing more bubbling paint


----------



## Squidward (Dec 18, 2005)

Final round of photos:

1) More bubbling paint
2) Rust!
3) More rust!

I'll probably be tearing everything down, including the paint, then repaint everything before reassembling it for my b-i-l. The reason for going with a flat bar is that he's shorter than I am and the 53cm frame size is a bit too big for him so I thought that a flat bar would make it easier for him to reach the controls.

I will post more pictures as I make progress on this project.


----------



## Squidward (Dec 18, 2005)

Peanya said:


> Looks like the chain, aside from being in the wrong gears, has been cleaned of all lube. Give close-up shots of the seat tube stickers.
> The first bike pictured seems like a much older, 70's I'd say by the suicide levers. I'm thinking it's a Japanese brand, a little bit better than department store quality.


It's a new chain. I removed the shifter pod and dropped it into the small-small combo before taking the picture. The stickers on the seat tube, at the top, are the California bike registration stickers (from when they used to do that here) and one of them is sitting right on top of the "Univega" sticker. The bottom two are in the last picture.

I seem to think that the bike is from the mid-80s as the aRX derailleurs and friction shifters should date from the mid-80s. Not only that but mounting the shifters on top of the downtube was part of the "aero" movement, right? The Japanese bike boom started in the early '80s, didn't it?


----------



## Quattro_Assi_07 (Jan 13, 2006)

Squidward said:


> I seem to think that the bike is from the mid-80s as the aRX derailleurs and friction shifters should date from the mid-80s. Not only that but mounting the shifters on top of the downtube was part of the "aero" movement, right? The Japanese bike boom started in the early '80s, didn't it?


Here are pictures of my 1984 Univega Competizione with 7 speed Suntour Superbe Pro group. I don't know much more about the Univegas other than what can be found on this site and the web in general. My understanding is that my particular model was made by Miyata and was comparable to the PRO. Having both in my collection, I can tell you that that is probably the case. The ride is spot-on that of my 1982 Miyata PRO. I am not aware of who built the rest of the Univegas. Since Univega was not a manufacturer itself, they were all contracted out and during the 1980s, the majority or the work went to Japan. I am very pleased with my Univega. Kind of hard to go wrong with any of the higher end Miyatas in my opinion, which is what these essentially were.




























Here it is with it's cousins, a TEAM and a Pro both from 1982





































Suntour Superbe Pro brakes versus Dura Ace AX and EX.



















Diamond cut-outs in the lugwork versus the "M" on the Miyatas.

















Uses the same fork that is on my '82 Miyata PRO. Same downtube placement of the shifters as well.


----------



## Squidward (Dec 18, 2005)

Nice bikes! I'm extremely envious!

I absolutely love Suntour Superbe components. Unfortunately, so does a lot of other people and this has caused prices of these components to rise into the stratosphere. The Superbe brakes from this Univega are the first Superbe components I have ever owned. Hopefully, not the last.


----------



## Quattro_Assi_07 (Jan 13, 2006)

Squidward said:


> Nice bikes! I'm extremely envious!
> 
> I absolutely love Suntour Superbe components. Unfortunately, so does a lot of other people and this has caused prices of these components to rise into the stratosphere. The Superbe brakes from this Univega are the first Superbe components I have ever owned. Hopefully, not the last.


Thanks for the compliment. I normally wouldn't have bought the Univega as it is so similar to my Miyata PRO but I always wanted a Superbe Pro equiped bike and the price was right. Not to mention the fact that it was made by Miyata. (I have a thing for Miyatas obviously!  ) I had wanted to build up an 8 speed Superbe Pro bike but after picking up that Dave Tesch built Specialized Allez Team recently, I am afraid I am out of storage room. So, I guess I will have to be satisfied with the Univega for now. It's really a very nice bike and the Superbe Pro shifts flawlessly, much crisper than the Dura Ace AX or EX on my Miyatas, although they are not too shabby either but definietly nowhere near the modern Ultegra and Dura Ace. My brother has a late '80s or early '90s steel Zinn and it has the 8 speed Superbe Pro group and he loves it. You can't go wrong with any of the Superbe components. :thumbsup:


----------



## Squidward (Dec 18, 2005)

Update:

It looks like I have my work cut out for me on this one. The paint is in bad enough of a shape that I'm going to strip it down to bare steel and repaint it. I'm probably going to remove those top-tube cable guides altogether and use cable straps (I have a pair of those kicking around) while I'm at it.
The bottom bracket looks like it's in okay shape but I cannot get the non-drive side lockring and adjustable cup off so I may just cut the lockring with a Dremel and be done with it. Shimano BB?
I cracked the crown race while removing the headset so I may be replacing that as well.
I have decided to replace the 27" wheels with a set of 700c wheels that I have laying around because it looks like the rear wheel was rebuilt at one point and they used spokes that were too short with nipples that, likewise, were too short resulting in a scary amount of threads on the end of the spoke exposed. At least they used DT stainless spokes as the replacement spokes. This means that I will need to come up with long reach brake calipers or make drop bolts for this bike, ala Sheldon Brown. I've decided to make my own drop bolts out of scrap aluminum that I have laying around.

The shifters, derailleurs, cranks, seatpost, stem, and saddle are fine, as far as I can tell.


----------



## Peanya (Jun 12, 2008)

Haha you sure post those Miyatas and Univega a LOT here! The difference in yours and the OP's is one is a basic model, with 27" wheels and had "suicide" brake levers. What's interesting is, that none of those Miyatas had pump pegs, as was the case on upper-end cycles of that era.


----------



## Quattro_Assi_07 (Jan 13, 2006)

Peanya said:


> Haha you sure post those Miyatas and Univega a LOT here! The difference in yours and the OP's is one is a basic model, with 27" wheels and had "suicide" brake levers. What's interesting is, that none of those Miyatas had pump pegs, as was the case on upper-end cycles of that era.


LOL! I guess it ain't a real race bike unless it has a pump peg! I'll have to remember that one. :thumbsup:


----------



## Squidward (Dec 18, 2005)

*Update*

I cleaned up the derailleurs and shifters the other day. Someone had ridden the bike on the small chainring with the cage rubbing on the chain so there is a nice groove on the inside of the FD that I never saw until I cleaned it up. I even went so far as to polish the shifters since the left shifter showed some patina and the right shifter showed wear from usage. I got the bottom bracket removed (hammered the lockring with a chisel and it finally came loose) and there was plenty of rust on the plastic sleeve inside. It does not appear that anyone greased the seatpost so water got inside the frame. There wasn't a hole in the bottom bracket to let the water out, neither, so it sat, collecting on the plastic sleeve. I drilled a 1/8" hole into the shell at the bottom of the BB to allow the water to drain. I also made some drop bolts to allow the brake pads to reach the 700c rims. Pictures of these tomorrow.

I still need to talk to my b-i-l to see if he wants to pay for a paint job on this bike or if he just wants it the way it is, in which case I will be assembling it this weekend. We shall see.


----------



## Squidward (Dec 18, 2005)

Pictures, as promised:

1) The rear drop bolt adapter plate thingy
2) The back side view of the same
3) The front brake drop bolt adapter thingy
4) The back side view of the same
5) The polished shifters


----------



## Squidward (Dec 18, 2005)

Last two pictures for now:

1) The cleaned up front derailleur
2) The cleaned up rear derailleur

The pulleys on the rear derailleur are from a newer Suntour GPX RD. They looked to be in great shape so I used them here. The original pulleys were a 9-tooth pulley on top and a 10-tooth pulley on the bottom. These are both 10-toothers.


----------



## Squidward (Dec 18, 2005)

Some final pics of this bike before I give it away.


----------



## Squidward (Dec 18, 2005)

Last round of pictures.


----------



## Jesse D Smith (Jun 11, 2005)

*Another*

I rode this mid '80's Univega Super Special during the end of last summer, fall, winter and spring here in Tucson. After ten years of riding fixed gear bikes, I got sick of the bike telling me to do, so I transferred the crankset to a Fuji Touring frame set up with an internal gear hub. When I get the time and money, I'll probably restore this to downtube shifting commuter status, find a 120mm spaced rear hub, etc. I'm glad I didn't do something bridge-burning-stupid like grind off the braze-ons. 
I have a link to a site that contained the exact same font used for the Univega decals. I could try to dig that back up, have some new decals made, get it repainted, and properly restored. 
I'm led to believe it's a Miyata version since the bottom bracket shell has a stylistic "M" cut out at the bottom. It has Campy dropouts and Tange Prestige tubing. Definitely far above a department store bike.


----------



## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

Squidward said:


> Last round of pictures.



I missed this post....wow....that is one beautiful bike....very well done...


----------



## David Loving (Jun 13, 2008)

I really like univegas; those bikes are beautiful! Thanks...


----------



## Squidward (Dec 18, 2005)

Jesse D Smith said:


> I rode this mid '80's Univega Super Special during the end of last summer, fall, winter and spring here in Tucson.
> 
> (snip)
> 
> I'm led to believe it's a Miyata version since the bottom bracket shell has a stylistic "M" cut out at the bottom. It has Campy dropouts and Tange Prestige tubing. Definitely far above a department store bike.


That's a very nice bike! I'm glad you didn't grind off the braze-ons, neither.

Thanks, Dave H and David L! Glad you like it. I really wanted to keep this bike but I have too many bikes as it is so it had to go. Plus, like I said previously, I felt like I owed my B-I-L a bike so now my conscience is clear.


----------

