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VISTA Islena...say what?...

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HARPO

Cruisin' on my Bluebird
OK, here's one I never heard of!

I bought this because it was only 6 blocks from my house and it was still with its original owner since 1982! Bike was given to her (yes her) as a Graduation gift from college, and she used it to tour Italy and England that summer. Considering the miles its seen, pretty nice shape. Its been sitting for years, she told me, so it was time to let it go.

Components are pretty cool...Suntour...Dia-Compe...Araya (considering they made the frame and 700c rims)...631 frame tubing...???. I haven't even gone over it thoroughly yet, but the story behind it was cool as was the final price...$40...:cool:

In anyone has any insight into the bike, PLEASE let me know. Not much on the interweb about it!

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That Araya 631 sticker looks a little like the Raleigh USA 555 stickers from back then, which look alot like the Reynolds 531 stickers. It seems that if it were other than hi-ten they probably would have/should have said so on the sticker. Just common sense marketing. That Jim Blackburne rack was almost worth the $40. Nice project! How many miles on that cyclometer?
 
That Araya 631 sticker looks a little like the Raleigh USA 555 stickers from back then, which look alot like the Reynolds 531 stickers. It seems that if it were other than hi-ten they probably would have/should have said so on the sticker. Just common sense marketing. That Jim Blackburne rack was almost worth the $40. Nice project! How many miles on that cyclometer?

Bike doesn't weigh as much as it looks like it should, so maybe it's something decent...until someone can find out for sure. And yes, Bikesmiths usually always have the best prices on tires. Usually the 700c tires are so much more anywhere else.

Oh, and the Cyclometer shows 649.2 miles...
 
The model name of the bike sounds like it belongs on an island near Jurassic Park...:cool:
 
I had a Vista Silver Shadow before all Shimano 600 AB group cool bike and from a distance the tubing decal looks like a Reynolds 531 sticker .
 
Cleanup is coming along quite nicely. Check out the difference in the front forks... a Peugeot chrome fork would have been toast. Have to love the 80's frames from Japan!
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Also, to my surprise, the spokes are stainless steel. I'm going to assume that the bike was at the higher mid-range grouping.
 
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