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Univega Viva Touring

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HARPO

Cruisin' on my Bluebird
Let me preface this by saying that this bike was shown a few weeks ago with other bikes I had purchased when I got it. Here it is all cleaned up.

The story is, I was on my way to purchase a couple of Schwinn's when I saw a bicycle wheel sticking out behind some garbage cans. I drove by, slowing down to get a look at the bike that was upside down. I saw a rear rack and figured it might be something decent, so I got to the next corner and parked the car.
I was shocked at what I saw. Missing only a pedal (how the heck did that happen?), I picked it up and saw what it was...and in my size frame! Even the original Univega tires were on it, and not that dry either. The bike was 100% original and JUST brought to the curb, because as I was initially approaching it, a woman was still bringing boxes to the curb. Talk about timing!

I've replaced the tires and tubes with new ones, and put on a pair of pedals I had. Overall, the bike was pretty clean and barely used from the look of it. And I love the striping around the lugs. Front wheel is barely out of round and the bike tracks straight. Italia leather saddle is soft and pliable, and overall the bike appears to have been kept all these years in a climate controlled environment.

The Bike Magnet strikes once again, lol!

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Now that it's posted and the pics are large, I see some wax I didn't remove! Need to take care of that...
 
The frame construction looks a lot like the Nishiki Cresta and Riviera GT models of that time. Nice find.
 
now that I think about it I got a free Univega about 25 years ago. a guy came by the body shop my buddy owned ans asked if he could toss it in the dumpster. all Shimano 600..the bike probably from 1980 or so. absolutely nothing wrong with it. I put upright bars on it and rode it quite a bit.
 
I do want to change out the foam grips, though, for some nice tape along with possibly a more comfortable saddle.
 
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