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1980's Nishiki Bel Air ATB

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Mr.RED

Finally riding a big boys bike
Does anyone have any info on the vintage Nishiki/Kawamura built 1980's mountain bikes ?? Got Nishiki Bel Air recently the bike is all over the place for components Suntour XC rear derailleur, Deore XT front, Shimano Bio pace crankset, Shimano Deerhead/Deore thumb shifters, Shimano 600 freewheel, Shimano canti levers, Suntour FX stem, Suntour Le Pree hubs. Any help or info will be gladly appreciated.

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That appears to '85 or '86ish and in really good condition. I am fairly sure that the RD is a replacement, the original was likely Deerhead. Around that time companies were mixing parts, so the hubs and stem may be original. How about the bars, headset, and seatpost - don't forget the serial number.

If you post that info over on the bikeforums site, T-Mar may give you a more definitive answer.
 
From the fork I'd put it a year or two earlier. Suntour parts have easy to find date codes which could narrow it down more. By 1986 almost everyone was using unicrown forks- there is one on my 1987 Nishiki Ariel.
 
From what I could make on the BB the serial number is 6324 its the only 4 digits I could make out thru a little bit of surface rust. The shift and brake levers are Shimano the stem is Suntour. From the mismatch of components I am gonna assume it could have been purchased as a frame only but then again I don't know everything.

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If you decide to part it out, I would dibs on the stem and maybe the seatpost.
 
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