Koga Miyata Skyrunner Carbolite vintage mountain bike
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- Опубліковано 19 лис 2021
- This video features a 1991 Koga Miyata Skyrunner Carbolite.
This bike belonged to a former bike mechanic who’d sadly passed away since. And only 7 of these bikes were sold in the Netherlands at the time, which makes this mountain bike extremely rare indeed.
It’s a competition cross country mountain bike, and as with all top models of that period, it features a frame triangle composed of Carbolite tubing
Since the use of carbon in the bike industry was still in the early stages, it meant it wasn’t until 1994 that Koga Miyata would introduce their first monocoque carbon frame
But earlier models had the frame made of carbon, which was reinforced from the inside with a 0.7mm. aluminium tubes. This was glued into aluminium lugs, which gives the frame its unique look.
Only the top-, steerer-, and down tube were made from Carbolite. The seat- and chain stays were still made from aluminium.
1991 would be the only year Koga Miyata mountain bikes would feature the massive “Big Champ” steel rigid forks. It kind of marks a turning point in MTB history because rigid mountain bikes and steel frames would loose favor in this decade, especially for high-end mountain bikes.
From 1990 to 1993 four rigid Skyrunner Carbolite models were made. The unpainted naked carbon and elaborate bolted frames make the first two the best-looking ones by far if you ask me. They would also offer the more classic-looking frame geometry, with an almost horizontal top tube.
But the 1991 version has several features that make it stand out from the rest of the pack. It has a bigger 1.125″ headset and 73mm. bottom bracket shell with anti-chain-suck-teeth as part of the frame itself.
Both the 1990 and 1991 bike feature 1st-generation Carbolite frames, which means they have aluminium seat- and chain stays.
The 1991 version has all of its cables visibly routed along the top tube.
It features the Miyata CO2 cartridges underneath the down tube, which were only installed on the Koya Miyata lineup of 1991. Later versions did have the mounting point.
The fork is the aforementioned “Big Champ” chromoly one, with bolted on brake bosses front and rear.
It’s the last 7-speed version, which feels kinda outdated and almost cute considering the futuristic look-and-feel of the rest of the bike. 8-speed STI shifters would be introduced in 1992.
It’s the last mountain bike with the fitted Deore XT groupset being top-of-the-line before the XTR M900 groupset would be the new king of the hill.
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Music is from the UA-cam Audio Library
Songs are "Koto San" and "Rewind" from Ofshane - Навчання та стиль
Got the Miyata Century version with the gold luggs and the Ridge Runner team from 1990. Lovely bikes to ride!
Very cool bike! My daily commuter is a pink-purple 1993 Skyrunner, with the gorgeous Fat Max fork and carbon seat stays. Converted it to singlespeed and it rides 50 mm Big Apples, super fast bike for typically hectic Amsterdam traffic.
VERY nice condition! I had a Miyata Century at that time, so same / similar frame but with the limited edition gold plated lugs. The one piece composite bar/stem combo that it originally came with was the most horrible piece of garbage ever. Heavy as f… and flexed all over the place. I ran dura ace 8 speed freehub on the XT hubs. In 1993 I bought the Ridge Runner S. Man, that was expensive at that time! Still have it plus another 1995 Ridge Runner S. None of them are stock, though, cause I speced them out with Ringlé, Race Face, Rock Shox and orher stuff H Ball ran at that time (not 100 authentic I have to admit). The larger frames are very hard to come by unfortunately! Smaller ones show up much more frequently. Cheers, Tadek
Cool frame, similar to sakae litage
Lovely bicycle. Do you have any comments on the Humptulips Ridge tires?
They are fantastic! Super fast-rolling, super-lightweight, and super duper looking. ua-cam.com/video/bV8JzuB8pjc/v-deo.html
Goodmorning, in English (while being Dutch).
I've laid hands on a Koga miyata Terraliner Carbolite from '92 with a near complete XT M730 groep on it 😀
The first steps in restoring it was to rub off the damaged decals and replacing them with non-original, self-plotted ones (sorry purists!)
Original specs show panaracers gravelkings and a Syncros stem; search for these components is in full swing.
However, I'm desperately looking for a 25,8 mm XT M730 seatpost!! It would be the crown (or the nose of the salmon)
There are (although not much) brand spanking new ones (Ergotech) and it would be a pity to install one of those.
Posting this below an article of my bike's nephew would increase my rate of succes?!
The gravel king won't be the original tires because they didn't exist in 92. They were probably the Panaracer Timbuk II, but I would go for new tires. I have fitted the Rene Herse Humptulips, but the Panaracer Dart/Smoke combo is also a good one. I've never found the Syncros parts online, and similar Skyrunners, like yours, al came without these parts. Probably because they are the rarest, and will prove to be almost impossible to find. The Deore XT seatpost is readily available on Ebay, but of all places to buy loose parts Ebay is by far the most expensive.
@@restorationdotbike Hi there, thanks for the answer, based on your answer you seem to have the wrong bike. I do not own a skyrunner (26") but a well-preserved Terraliner (28", blz 21 of the brochure of '92).
The gravelking history is interesting, it makes the search for a fresh replacement (Hutchinson?) a lot easier.
Take a look at the picture and note the syncros stem, but if you say that it is near impossible to find one, I'll go for a cheaper substitute; as I will for the seatpoat. (I've made a quick search and the cheapest one is a m730 XT for €180,-!!
Thanks for your answer and keep on saving older bikes!!
Doesn't get more ultimate then that