Mid 70's Motobecane Mirage

Are you looking to repair this bike?
Links below for parts you can buy now on amazon.

Over the years we repaired thousands of these and became experts in finding alternatives to original bike parts. 
Buying parts for older bikes is confusing, as most of the original parts have been discontinued. 
We use these parts everyday and created this list to make it easier for you to repair your bike.

Shifter cables and housing: https://amzn.to/38g40ol

Brake cables and housing: https://amzn.to/2DZqPPk

Handlebar Tape: https://amzn.to/2qxHiaf

Rear Wheel: https://amzn.to/2RuAB3X

Front Wheel: https://amzn.to/2PuFaIM

Tires (good): https://amzn.to/2s9eipE (similar look, casual use, choose 27x1 1/4)

Tires (better): https://amzn.to/33YwOyl (super flat resistant and fast rolling, choose 27x1.25 or 27 1 1/4)

Shifters: Front and rear (right and left): https://amzn.to/347vWrv

Rear Derailleur (good): https://amzn.to/2DYUOXF (choose w/ direct attachment)

Rear Derailleur (Better): https://amzn.to/2PupyVA (choose GS type)

Front Derailleur (good): https://amzn.to/3415IXm (choose double)

Front derailleur (better): https://amzn.to/2LAI262 (better quality, fit and finish)

Bottom Bracket: https://amzn.to/2RydlSI (Likely 68x122.5 but must measure spindle length before purchase)

Crank (good): https://amzn.to/2Yw7miQ (better quality fit and finish, will likely need a new bottom bracket)

Crank (better): https://amzn.to/2rg0YQx (lesser quality option, likely will not need a bottom bracket)

Freewheel: https://amzn.to/2qx4c1t

Headset: https://amzn.to/38EkfvQ (Choose 27.0 but it's better to remove crown race and measure inside diameter for sure)
Pedals: https://amzn.to/3593fvC (Modern style)

Pedals: https://amzn.to/2DZbNZP (same style as original)

Chain: https://amzn.to/38ayVCI (fits 5, 6, 7 and 8 speeds)

Brake pads (good): https://amzn.to/36eEldP (casual use)

Brake pads (better): https://amzn.to/38ixNN7 (Improved performance and wet/cold condition)

Brakes (rear): https://amzn.to/2P31N8o

Brakes (front): https://amzn.to/2Prqcn2

Brake Levers: https://amzn.to/2LQALz9 (similar to original

Brake Levers: https://amzn.to/356h3Hc (modern style)

Mid 70's Motobecane mirage road bike we refurbished here at Bike Boom. If your'e not familiar, Bike Boom is a used bike shop in Davis square, on the border of Cambridge and Somerville , near Boston MA. where we specialize in restoring and refurbishing used and vintage bikes and offer professional bicycle repair services.

This Motobecane mirage was bought last year from a person who was getting divorced and had to sell the whole content of his house. He was somewhat of a bike collector, we ended up buying 2 more bikes from him. I was on the look out for this specific Paint scheme for a long time. Motobecane mirage was an entry level model for motobecane even though they also had the Motobecane Nomade which had lower end components. The Motobecane mirage was similar to the Motobecane super mirage but had steel rims instead of alloy rims in the super mirage. the Motobecane mirage is definitely not rare, most of them came in either the metallic red or the gold-tan  color. This neon green paint with golden accented lugs is relatively rare and 've been meaning to find one for a long time. When we got Motobecane Mirage it had cottered cranks, steel rims, different shifters, seat and housings. We ended up replacing the wheels with a brand new alloy wheelset and crank, seat, tape, cables, etc. Basically only the frame, fork, stem, brakes and handlebar were original. If we hadn't picked it up that day, it would have probably been in the landfill today. The most interesting part of this refurb was the bottom bracket. We had to take it off because the crank was bent and motobecanes are known to have either french or Swiss bottom brackets. When we took it off we tried to install a standard sealed English bottom bracket and to our surprise the motobecane mirage accepted it without any problems. you learn a new thing every day. We sold it to a student in UMASS who came all the way from Natick with his father (about 40 mins away from somerville, where the shop is) super nice guys.

some other motobecanes we refurbished Here

1989 Miyata Sandstorm

1989 Miyata Sandstorm road bike we refurbished here at Bike Boom. If your'e not familiar, Bike Boom is a used bike shop in Davis square, on the border of Cambridge and Somerville , near Boston MA. where we specialize in restoring and refurbishing used and vintage bikes and offer professional bicycle repair services.

 The 1989 Miyata sandstorm was marketed as a bike path or a light cruiser, basically a bike you can easily ride on the weekend with an upright riding position. It was made to look similar to a mountain bike which at 1989 were starting to be very popular. It has a mountain bike frame and wheels but is equipped with caliper brakes and a 1x6 drive train. It also had a one piece crank and chain guard, similar to a cruiser.

We received the bike with a torn seat and dry tires, installed a nice cushy mattress seat off an american 3 speed columbia and fully refurbished it with thin , semi slick tires, new cables, housings, brake pads and grips. here is the 1989 Miyata catalog, it does show a different crank and handlebar/stem set up

Back in the late 80's and early 90's almost every manufacturer had this kind of bike in their arsenal, some even came with cruiser bars. The 1989 Miyata sandstorm is a cross between a comfort bike and and an old school cruiser with a very similar geometry to the Bridgestone BB-1 even though the Bridgestone BB-1 had more features of a mountain bike with the cantilever brakes and a triple crank. We love bikes like the Miyata sandstorm because they are already set up as upright commuters with the high stem and riser bars and that allows us to sell them cheaper. Very often we get nice rigid mountain bike but the have low stem and flat bars which result in a crouching position and then we have to spend time and replace parts to change them. People around Cambridge and Boston seem to like the relaxed up right riding position which is more suited for the beginner commuter who wants to see the road and cars around him at all times. Sold to a student in tufts university.

Late 80's Nishiki Century 1988 (?)

Are you looking to repair this bike?
Links below for parts you can buy now on amazon.

Over the years we repaired thousands of these and became experts in finding alternatives to original bike parts. 
Buying parts for older bikes is confusing, as most of the original parts have been discontinued. 
We use these parts everyday and created this list to make it easier for you to repair your bike.

Shifter cables and housing: https://amzn.to/38g40ol

Brake cables and housing: https://amzn.to/2DZqPPk

Handlebar Tape: https://amzn.to/2qxHiaf

Rear Wheel: https://amzn.to/2RuAB3X

Front Wheel: https://amzn.to/2PuFaIM

Tires (good): https://amzn.to/2s9eipE (similar look, casual use, choose 27x1 1/4)

Tires (better): https://amzn.to/33YwOyl (super flat resistant and fast rolling, choose 27x1.25 or 27 1 1/4)

Shifters: Front and rear (right and left): https://amzn.to/347vWrv

Rear Derailleur (good): https://amzn.to/2DYUOXF (choose w/ direct attachment)

Rear Derailleur (Better): https://amzn.to/2PupyVA (choose GS type)

Front Derailleur (good): https://amzn.to/3415IXm (choose double)

Front derailleur (better): https://amzn.to/2LAI262 (better quality, fit and finish)

Bottom Bracket: https://amzn.to/2RydlSI (Likely 68x122.5 but must measure spindle length before purchase)

Crank (good): https://amzn.to/2Yw7miQ (better quality fit and finish, will likely need a new bottom bracket)

Crank (better): https://amzn.to/2rg0YQx (lesser quality option, likely will not need a bottom bracket)

Freewheel: https://amzn.to/2qx4c1t

Headset: https://amzn.to/38EkfvQ (Choose 27.0 but it's better to remove crown race and measure inside diameter for sure)
Pedals: https://amzn.to/3593fvC (Modern style)

Pedals: https://amzn.to/2DZbNZP (same style as original)

Chain: https://amzn.to/38ayVCI (fits 5, 6, 7 and 8 speeds)

Brake pads (good): https://amzn.to/36eEldP (casual use)

Brake pads (better): https://amzn.to/38ixNN7 (Improved performance and wet/cold condition)

Brakes (rear): https://amzn.to/2P31N8o

Brakes (front): https://amzn.to/2Prqcn2

Brake Levers: https://amzn.to/2LQALz9 (similar to original

Brake Levers: https://amzn.to/356h3Hc (modern style)

Nishiki Century road bike we refurbished here at Bike Boom. If your'e not familiar, Bike Boom is a used bike shop in Davis square, on the border of Cambridge and Somerville , near Boston MA. where we specialize in restoring and refurbishing used and vintage bikes and offer professional bicycle repair services

The Nishiki Century was in great condition when we got it. we replaced the original dry tires to a couple of miss matched lightly used tires and left the original tape in order to offer the bike for a lower price.The cables and brake pads were replaced as well but the bike had been in an almost untouched condition, for some reason the Nishiki and century decals didn't survive but the paint was shiny without a single scratch. this was an early indexed bike from a 1987 or 1988 equipped with one of the first Suntour Accushift stem shifters.

there isn't much info on Nishiki models, mostly on the Nishiki brand , here's what I found, feel free to ad more in the comments. 1987 catalog shows a very similar bike but with friction shifters. so this one might be a later model (?). a nice wiki page discussing mostly the West coast cycles company which had the Nishiki bikes built imported from various manufacturers in Japan and Taiwan. An extensive Nishiki wiki style fanpage  and a vast collection Nishiki bike photos and some catalogs and also an extensive post from bikeforums.net on Nishiki identification and serial numbers. Though this wasn't a complete refurb the girl who bought it was thrilled, she was looking for a ready to ride bike in a limited budget which didn't look too flashy, Boom, exactly what she wanted. 

Nishiki Century

Nishiki Century

Nishiki Century

Nishiki Century

Nishiki Century

Nishiki Century

s

Early-mid 90's Diamond Back Approach Hybrid

Diamond Back Approach Hybrid we refurbished here at Bike Boom. If your'e not familiar, Bike Boom is a used bike shop in Davis square, on the border of Cambridge and Somerville , near Boston MA. where we specialize in restoring and refurbishing used and vintage bikes and offer professional bicycle repair services
The Diamond back brand is relatively new. it was actually the predecessor of centurion, a brand of WSI an american company who manufactured and exported bikes from japan. in the early 80's WSI introduced the diamond back brand for their mountain bikes and later for the BMX series. throughout the 80's both names were utilized until centurion was dropped in 1990. Great article from sheldon brown on centurion models here. Used hybrids are hard to come by as they are pretty modern bikes, the first ones were produced in the late 80's. Most bike companies started offering several models  in the early 90's. They are considered all around bikes and it seems like they are probably the best selling bikes right now. They are so popular that people who don't even know what  a hybrid bike is, still want one. Hybrids rarely stay in our shop for more than a couple of days and women's hybrids with an open frame such as this Diamond back approach usually don't survive 24 hours in the shop in the biking season as usually the first person to try them will make a purchase.
We usually replace tires on all of our bikes unless it's clear that the tires are recent replacements or of high quality, these tend to survive for longer period. this Diamond back approach has undergone the standard refurb and was fitted with new tubes, cables and brake pads on top of the tires. More diamond backs  we refurbished here and a brief history of Diamond back and its predecessor Centurion and also a wiki page on diamond back

Are you looking to repair this bike?

Links below for parts you can buy now on amazon.

Over the years we repaired thousands of Vintage bikes and became experts in finding alternatives to original bike parts. 

Buying parts for older bikes is confusing, as most of the original parts have been discontinued. 

We use these parts everyday and created this list to make it easier for you to repair your bike.

Parts list for Early-mid 90's Diamond Back Approach Hybrid

Rear Wheel: https://amzn.to/36dGCGE Front Wheel: https://amzn.to/2Qf7lgI

Tires (Standard for leisure riding): https://amzn.to/36aCvLz (choose 700x35 or 700x32)

Tires:(Flat resistant, heavy duty): https://amzn.to/2MLhUpj Select (700x35 or 700x32)

Shifter cables and housing: https://amzn.to/38g40ol

Brake cables and housing: https://amzn.to/2DZqPPk

shifter set: 3x7 https://amzn.to/2Qzzv4X

Rear Derailleur: https: https://amzn.to/2sHJOeL

Front Derailleur: https://amzn.to/2Pj0QHH

Crank: https://amzn.to/39tFBwf

Cassette: https://amzn.to/37oL9pN

Pedals: https://amzn.to/2OUDbyD

Chain: https://amzn.to/38ayVCI (fits 6, 7 and 8 speeds)

Headset: https://amzn.to/38EkfvQ (Choose 26.4 but it's better to remove crown race and measure inside diameter for sure)

Brake pads: https://amzn.to/34TYUMF (standard use, original part)

Brake pads: https://amzn.to/369Nvbs improved performance and wet and cold condition 

Brakes: https://amzn.to/2s2IfIg

Saddle: https://amzn.to/34Wkccn

Handlebar (25.4 clamp): https://amzn.to/34SU2XT

Brake Levers (good): https://amzn.to/2smGpT6

Early 90's Bianchi Avenue

Bianchi Avenue we refurbished here at Bike Boom. If your'e not familiar, Bike Boom is a used bike shop in Davis square, on the border of Cambridge and Somerville , near Boston MA. where we specialize in restoring and refurbishing used and vintage bikes and offer professional bicycle repair services.

This early ninties Bianch Avenue, probably 1993 or older is a nice old school chromoly lugged hybrid with comfortable semi upright riding position. Binachis are very popular  in Boston for some reason. This bianchi avenue has received new tires, tubes and cables.  Original shifters were replaced to thumb shifters as the old shifters didn't survive. It was in pretty good condition when we got it with relatively low miles. Hybrids were first produced in the late 80's and gained popularity during the nineties but today they are probably the most popular type of bike. People look for a fast commuter or a bike path bike with a relatively upright riding position and indexed shifting. A lugged hybrid like the Bianchi Avenue is a rare bike as lugged bikes were replaced with welded bikes by the mid nineties. Today, lugged bikes are only made by boutique brands like rivendell and small one man shops as they are hand made and usually silver brazed. Other hybrids we sold can be found here and the  history of bianchi here. 

sold to a student during the yearly rush of September when students come in town for the beginning of the college year. great times.

Parts list for  early 90's Bianchi Avenue  Rear Wheel: https://amzn.to/36dGCGE Front Wheel: https://amzn.to/2Qf7lgI

Tires (Standard for leisure riding): https://amzn.to/36aCvLz (choose 700x35 or 700x32)

Tires:(Flat resistant, heavy duty): https://amzn.to/2MLhUpj Select (700x35 or 700x32)

Shifter cables and housing: https://amzn.to/38g40ol

Brake cables and housing: https://amzn.to/2DZqPPk

Rear shifter: https://amzn.to/2tomiUl

Front shifter: https://amzn.to/2QCHKwX

Rear Derailleur: https: https://amzn.to/2sHJOeL

Front Derailleur: https://amzn.to/2Pj0QHH

Crank: https://amzn.to/39tFBwf

Cassette: https://amzn.to/37oL9pN

Pedals: https://amzn.to/2OUDbyD

Chain: https://amzn.to/38ayVCI (fits 6, 7 and 8 speeds)

Headset: https://amzn.to/38EkfvQ Choose 26.4 but it's better to remove crown race and measure steerer diameter)

Brake pads: https://amzn.to/34TYUMF (standard use, original part)

Brake pads: https://amzn.to/369Nvbs improved performance in wet and cold condition 

Brakes: https://amzn.to/2s2IfIg

Saddle: https://amzn.to/34Wkccn

Handlebar (25.4 clamp): https://amzn.to/34SU2XT

Brake Levers: https://amzn.to/2smGpT6