New to biking and thinking of buying this Panasonic as my first bike to ride around the city and on a flat paved trail, any thoughts on the components / overall bike for a beginner?
by tantheta
New to biking and thinking of buying this Panasonic as my first bike to ride around the city and on a flat paved trail, any thoughts on the components / overall bike for a beginner?
by tantheta
6 Comments
It’s a cool vintage bike which is functionally inferior to a newer bike in almost every way. Your personal priorities will be what matters here.
DO NOT BUY THIS!
Reason: the frame was damaged in a frontal collision.
While it was a decent bike for a beginner with all of its components, the frame is beyond repair.
I could be wrong, but the frame appears bent. Are there any pictures from the side with the wheel straight?
Anyways, the bike’s decent otherwise. Panasonic is better known for their appliances, but they actually made some really good bicycles back in the day, and they still make excellent lugged steel bikes that are unfortunately only sold in Japan. The frame is likely decent chromoly steel, and the parts aren’t anything particularly sought after or prestigious, but the light action derailleur works well and IMO looks pretty good once cleaned up.
Again though, the headtube angle doesn’t look quite right and the fork looks like it may be bent. The damaged paint in the picture you show, near the shifters, supports the theory that the frame is bent.
Good buy for less than $50 to further the building up your r/xbiking parts bin. …Recycle the frame n furk.
This frame has had a severe crash. Run away from it
That front wheel does look weird.
That said, if it’s just an illusion. This is very similar to a Schwinn LE Tour of the mid 80s. Good quality steel and OK components. Shimano light action was OK and those cranks are nice.
Decent bike with potential to upgrade by going wider on tires with 700 (those should be 27).