Saturday, November 22, 2008

Nishiki Cascade

The latest bike to be rescued from certain destruction at the town dump is a virtual classic, I think. The is a Nishiki Cascade with CroMo tubing and some pretty good parts. Looks like it was living outside for awhile or in an open walled shed. Haven't been able to pinpoint the exact model year but given the componentry my guess is a 1989 or 1990. This might be the oldest mountain bike in my possession.

There is considerable amount of rusting on the headset and bars.

It has the early Diacompe levers that are pretty cool. They are huge!

These Suguano Cranks with 175mm crank arms are very nice. The pedals appear to be recent additions, say within the last five years and will be a nice winter commuting platform.

I spent Saturday afternoon stripping it down to the bare frame and fork.

The frame is perfect for a 26" fixie conversion with the short horizontal dropouts.


Here is the loot. Cranks, levers, rear derailler, and not shown are the cantilever brakes. The brake pads are brand new, so they are going onto the Bridgestone.


18 comments:

29ner said...

that looks like a real treasure. Can't wait to see what you do with it

Mark said...

If no one wants to buy it I might just build it up. It needs a new headset. I might experiment on it because I never dealt with this type of headset before.

Anonymous said...

I just bought an old Cascade and found your site looking for info on it. Yours looks closer to a 1985 judging by the shifters and handlebar.

Anonymous said...

I just bought an old Cascade and found your site looking for info on it. Yours looks closer to a 1985 judging by the shifters and handlebar.

Mark said...

Anonymous - got any pics?

Anonymous said...

Yes, but I can't figure out how to send or post them.

-John

Mark said...

email them to me and I will post them here. Send me the specs, what you paid, how well she rides, etc...

mark@cyclensack.com

Unknown said...

thats a 1998 nishiki cascade in competition black. notice the front suspension. also i have one. and its identical to yours there

Mark said...

@reddick, you mean 1988 right? The 1998 had a more conventional stem and much better shifters. This bike had componentry that is characteristically mid to late 80s. I saw 1983 Ross the other day at my LBS that had exactly the same set up. The dead give away are the Moose bars.
Check out the catalog in this post. Their first bike, the Bushwacker has pretty much the same componentry as the Cascade.

Anonymous said...

I have a Nishiki Bushwacker owned since new in mid 80s. The alloy built up pedals in your pics were stock at that time so yours are probably original.

Anonymous said...

I have a 1984 or 85 Bushwacker frame. The rear dropouts are vertical and stamped SHIMANO SFR. Your Cascade's are horizontal and stamped SUNTOUR. The brazed on cable bosses are also different.

Anonymous said...

It's a 1984 Cascade, I have one in my garage that I bought brand new in 1984 for $495 and there was a $700+ one that I can't remember. You have the original bear trap pedals, I added toe clips to mine. What front suspension? Nice find.

Unknown said...

How much is a mint 1985 nishiki bushwacker all original worth?

Clay said...

Stumbled across this the other day. I know its an old post, but did you ever end up finding out more information about the bike? Did you end up fixing it up? My mom bought a bike like this in the late 80s and it has been sitting in her garage for a long time. Wanted to fix it up for her myself, but I'm having trouble figuring out information about the bike.

DrDln said...

How do you put the handle back? I removed the hexagonal screw to take the handle out but can't put it back. Please help.

Mark said...

DrDln - when you removed the bars I bet the piece on the end of the hex bolt slipped into the head tube. Turn the bike upside down and it should come out.

Anonymous said...

Is it thread less head set

Mark said...

No, threaded