Takara custom 12 late 70's - early 80's

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)

Late 70's or early 80's Takara Custom 12  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.

Great representative entry level bike of the early 80's with a Lugged hi tensile steel frame and alloy components with suntour shifters. Takara was an american company building bikes in japan to be marketed solely to the US cyclist, similar to nishiki, univega and shogun. They were not as popular as the univegas and shoguns here in New England but we still manage to find a few every year. They had a  whole range of models such as the prestige, advantage and others. 

From oldroads.com, probably the best forum for vintage bikes on the web: "Takara bicyles were made to spec for an Oklahoma firm, Takara Bicycle Co. The company survived well into the 80's and possibly beyond. Though not confirmed, the bicycles were probably made by Kawamura, the same company that manufactured Nishiki. Ads showed base and immediate models. Road rests from the period vary in opinion from "average" to "outright bargain", depending on the model, though they had nicer than average paint" .

This Takara custom 12 was customized in the shop with brand new alloy wheels, saddle, handlebar tape and the usual tires, tubes, cables and housing.

2002 Jamis citizen hybrid

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 Jamis citizen hybrid:

Rear Wheel: : https://amzn.to/2u4EWRz

Front Wheel: https://amzn.to/2SLdqTA

Tires: (pavement, light off-road): https://amzn.to/2YsSodj (choose 26x2.1)

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)

Front (left) Shifter: https://amzn.to/39rcvxI

Rear (right) shifter: https://amzn.to/2Qygv6y (select 3 speed)

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

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

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

Crank Crank: https://amzn.to/39tFBwf

Freewheel : https://amzn.to/2EZunS6 

Pedals: https://amzn.to/2OUDbyD

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

Brake Levers: https://amzn.to/369erIP

Brake pads: https://amzn.to/2LC8s7d (standard use, original part)

Brake pads: https://amzn.to/3481n4Y (Improved performance and wet/cold condition)

Brakes: https://amzn.to/2rr6dgb

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

Saddle: https://amzn.to/34Wkccn (Casual, street riding, light off road)

Saddle: https://amzn.to/38cAsIe (lightweight, high performance off road)

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

2002 Jamis citizen 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.

Jamis makes high quality bikes at least in the quality of trek and specialized and usually more affordable. They haven't been around as long as the competition but we have sold some of their 80's and early 90's models as well. they are especially  known for their Coda hybrid models which are made of Chromoly and they continue to use steel  for a long time in many of their bikes long after most of the companies moved to aluminum. some more about jamis here.

Used hybrids similar to the 2002 Jamis citizen 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. mid size hybrids similar to this 2002 Jamis citizen 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. This bike was bought from a Gentleman who was leaving Boston to the west coast and didn't want to take it with him. The 2002 Jamis citizen was in mint condition, we gave it a tune up and it was ready to go, probably less than 100 miles on it in total, including the test ride. Sold to a nice girl who came to the shop with her friend who bought a bike from us last year. 

Early nineties GT Pantera

GT Pantera 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.

Parts list for GT Pantera vintage mountain bike

Rear Wheel: https://amzn.to/3526DqZ Front Wheel: https://amzn.to/2RmyIGj

Tires (pavement, light off road): https://amzn.to/2YsSodj (choose 26x2.1)

Tires:(high performance off road): https://amzn.to/2LzPazq ((choose 26x2.1)Shifter cables and housing: https://amzn.to/38g40ol

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

Front and rear (set) Shifters (better): https://amzn.to/2Qzzv4X (3x7 only)

Front and rear (set) Shifters (good) : https://amzn.to/2u89Usc (select 6 or 7 accordingly)

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

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

Crank: https://amzn.to/2qp6e3H (choose 42/32/22 tooth type)

Freewheel (7 speed): https://amzn.to/2EZunS6 

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

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

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

This GT Pantera is a great example of an affordable and reliable commuter. After we perfected the process of refurbishing vintage road bikes (10 speeds) and than english 3 speeds, we took on the challenge of refurbishing the early mountain bikes made from the late 80's to the late 90's. The correct term for these bikes is "Rigid" as they have no suspension, unlike the hardtail (front shocks) and full suspension (front and rear shocks). I have a lot of respect for these bikes as I used to race rigid mountain bikes back in the days when suspension was still considered unreliable and energy waster (the shock absorbs some of the pedaling energy) plus they were not that efficient as the early hardtails did not have more than 2" of travel (the distance the shock compresses).

GT was a strong player in the Mountain bike scene throughout the 90's. This early GT Pantera has an Aluminum frame and a U brake in the rear but the location is quite unique, placed on the seat stays unlike most U brakes which were located under the chain stays. U brakes were wildly popular between 1986 to 1988. They were very strong but due to the location under the chain stays they were hard to service without flipping the bike up side down and also were basically mud traps when you actually took it off road. The GT Pantera screams early 90's Orange-pink Neon paint scheme and punk-rock style decals. The goal in refurbishing bikes like the GT Pantera is keeping it under budget as these are the most affordable bikes in our shop. The parts these bikes came with were quite hi tech but not all of them survived, especially the Suntour thumb shifters which were not as good and crisp as shimano's. We had to replace front shifters since finding quality thumbs shifters is quite hard these days. We ended up replacing the tires to the semi slick and thin type  We had the chain and freewheel replaced along with a comfortable suspension seat post. All the cables, brake pads and some of the housings were replaced as well. GT was a unique company and were readily identifiable due to the famous triple triangle geometry which, in my opinion, was mostly a gimmick. GT merged with schwinn in 1998 and was later bought by the pacific company and than by the dorel industries bicycle conglomerate. 

sold to a nice girl looking for a reliable point A to B bike for short commutes in the somerville area.