I happened across this while walking my dog. I’m not even sure if it’s vintage so if it isn’t, I apologize.
Please forgive me, I don’t know a lot about bikes. I used to ride a vintage Peugeot mixte when I lived in Brooklyn. I LOVED it, and was starting to gather tools and books, to learn how to do my own repair and tune ups. Then I had an accident riding it (gear or wheel stuck and I pitched forward over the handlebars, cut up my eyebrow and needed stitches). I was kind of scared to ride it after that, and then shortly after I moved to an apartment with not great space for storage so I sold the bike and gave away the gear. This was about 10 years ago.
Anyways, I found this Shogun on someone’s lawn. Seems about the right height for my short legs. Looks like it was converted to a fixed gear. Definitely used to have brakes. Tires mostly dead flat and missing a saddle. Doesn’t seem rusty. I don’t know anything, just how to ride. To be honest, it caught my eye because I think it once was cute and can be cute again. It has a nice feel, light but not flimsy, and it rolled smoothly. Just walking it home holding it by the frame felt nice.
Worth restoring? Also probably a big caveat: I do not want a fixed gear, so is it hard to convert back to multi-gear? Would that be worth it? Im pretty bad about finishing long projects, so would this be too expensive to bring into a bike shop to get into decent working order? Or am I just too easily influenced by a free cute old bike on a beautiful day?
https://imgur.com/a/Mg4sm1l
by pppowkanggg
7 Comments
The frame looks like a good start if you have a local bike co-op to get parts (and expertise) from, or find a cheap 80s road bike to pull parts from. Otherwise, you are looking at $100+ in parts to get this to be a complete multispeed. Also, that fork is not original. Finding seatposts for old bikes can be a challenge since there were a wide range of seatpost sizes used.
Converting back to multi-gear would be fairly simple but requires parts – replacement rear wheel with multispeed hub, rear derailleur, thumb or stem shifter(s), and a downtube cable stop.
Its a perfectly fine bike, my guess its from the early 1980s. The fork is not original
The cost of new wheels and derailleurs and freewheel and shifters and brakes and labor is more than it would cost to buy a used bike with gears.
Just my opinion: Yes, it would be pretty hard to convert to a geared bike. In addition to needing all the small little mechanical geared-bike components (derailleurs, shifters, brakes, brake levers, cables and housing, etc), you would also need a new rear wheel and freewheel, potentially a new front wheel as well and tires, and potentially a new fork. I think if I were trying to source all those parts where I live (NYC), and mostly buying things on Craigslist/Ebay, I would expect to spend at least $250 on parts, and potentially up to $400 or more. I would also expect to spend at least $300 in labor if I took it to a bike shop, but potentially a good deal more. If you live in a more suburban area or near a bike coop, and/or are very patient, you might be able to find parts for cheaper, or another cheap old bike you can scavenge parts from. People really do often want to just give old bikes away, so it’s not a foregone conclusion! But converting this bike back to being a geared bike would be pretty major surgery.
If you’re okay with keeping the bike as a fixed gear, it could be minimally functional with just a seatpost and a seat, as long as there aren’t mechanical problems that aren’t visible from the photos. To ride safely, a front brake would be necessary at the very least, and potentially a rear one as well depending on preference. This would bring up some questions for me:
1. Are the wheels meant to be used with rim brakes? (What’s the deal with those rims, OP?? Are they wood? 😲)
2. If brakes were put on the fork, would they reach the brake track of the wheels that are currently installed? (If yes, not too complicated and maybe a fun beginner bike mechanics project, if no, you would probably need a new fork and this would be more complicated)
3. Are the frame and fork in good condition? Do they look bent or like they’ve been in a collision at all?
This totally seems to me like it was a cute bike at one point that someone cared about and I wonder what the story is. Whatever you choose congrats on your find OP, and I hope you have some bicycling joy again in your future!
Financially, bikes are like boats.
Wow at least you have a free flip flop hub now.
Headset design has me thinking it’s from the 70s but I could be way off. I don’t see a tubing sticker but it appears to be something better than your standard bike boom high tensile tubing. The fork is not original. There is no way that bike shipped with cantilever brakes only on the front.
It wouldn’t be “hard” to convert. In saying that though it completely depends on your motivation to get it done. You’d have to be really in love with the frame because that’s about the only part you could save.
Co-ops are always helpful. Where are you located? You might have decent luck just selling parts or the whole thing.
Ok… if you can put a freewheel on one side of the hub and fit at least a rear brake then it is a really cool run around bike.
Converting it into a road bike is loads of bits and you’d probably want to change the fork.
Freewheel and brake and be done with it.