Today I saw one of my bikes parked on the street. Well, sort of.
As I was on my bike, and in a hurry, I didn’t get a chance
to take a photo. However, I did find an
old photo of a bike just like it.
I rode this Miyata 912 for a couple of years. At the time, it was Miyata’s second- or
third-line racing bike. It came with
Shimano 600 components, or as a frame—which is how I got mine.
As you can see from the photo, I set it up as a sort of
daytripping/light touring bike, with wide-range gearing, a rack and wider tires
than would normally be ridden on such a bike.
The lugged frame was constructed from chrome-moly steel
tubing which Miyata claimed was “triple butted”. I wasn’t quite sure of what that meant. All I knew that the bike gave a pretty stiff
and stable ride. I took it on a few
overnight and weekend trips, with a light load in the rear and a handlebar bag
on the front. The bike handled smoothly,
but I’m not sure I would have wanted to load it for a long tour, or with
camping equipment.
I knew a few racers and other cyclists who rode the Miyata
“Team Pro,” which was the company’s top-of-the-line racing bike. At least two claimed it was the stiffest and
quickest road bike they ever mounted.
Mind you, they were riding Italian bikes before they got hold of their
Team Pros.
While the 912 was not quite in the same class, more than a few were raced. I had the feeling that the differences between it and the Team Pro had more to do with geometry than materials or workmanship: The Team Pro didn’t even pretend to versatility, while the 912 had slightly longer clearances that probably could have taken fenders (albeit narrow ones) if I’d wanted them.
The 912, as you can see, was also very striking,
visually—especially, if I do say so myself, with the yellow cable housings I
installed on it.
For me, there was just one problem: The top tube was a bit long for me. As a result, I rode it with a stem that had a
rather short extension, which blunted some of its handling qualities, at least
somewhat.
I finally sold the 912 to someone whose torso was longer
than mine. He was grateful.
