It sounds like a Nishiki that would have been sold in the US at that time.
The US model had Shimano 600 equipment and came stock with Biopace
chainrings and another Shimano marketing goof, some really good platform
pedals with snap-in plastic panels so that triathletes could race short
events comfortably in their running shoes; great pedals but introduced the
year that Look came onto the market! That particular Nishiki always looked
like the frame was better than the parts hung on it.
David Feldman
Vancouver, WA
Hey Everybody, I'm new to this list and was wondering if anyone out there is familiar with the Nishiki Triathlon (spelled Triathron on the top tube decal) from the early to mid 80's. I recently purchased one from a friend of mine who bought it new in about 1985. It's the only one I've ever seen and suspect it was a limited production bike designed to cash in on the then very new sport of Triathlon. The bike has a very nice lugged Champion #1 frame and an interesting component spec. It's equiped with Campy Nuovo Record derailleurs, Suntour Superbe brakes and pedals, Sugino Super Mighty crankset with drilled chainrings, Suntour Sprint hubs and Araya rims laced with double butted spokes. Even though the bike doesn't quite have the cachet of one of the nice Italian bikes from that era, it satisfies my need for a classic lugged steel frame and some venerable old campy gear to go along with my (yikes) carbon Trek. One of the neat things about this bike is my friend only put about 500 miles on it then put it away for safekeeping. Now, other than badly dried brake hoods and tires, the bike looks as though it was manufactured yesterday. I started my racing career on a Nishiki in 1980 so I have sort of a special feeling for those bikes.
Bruce Goett
Kelowna, B.C. Canada