1984 Miyata Ridge Runner

My long sought after and newly found 1984 Miyata Ridge Runner, size 23".

As promised, here are some pics of my most recent acquisition. The photos are of the bike in the condition it was when I got it. Actually, it's a little dirtier than when I got it because it's now been on several short rides in melting snow / goose poo dispersal areas. Note also that I swapped out the seat and pedals, because the original Miyata imprinted Selle Italia saddle and the Suntour XC II pedals had unfortunately been lost to the sands of time. I added my own Brooks B-17 and some vintage beartraps. I also took a little artistic license and installed a Breeze-Angell Hite Rite, the original seat dropper, because I had it in my stockpile and it is also a product introduced in 1984.

I bought the Ridge Runner from its original owner, who bought it new in Sonoma, California just as the mountain bike boom was starting to reach a wider audience. It spent many years in California, a couple in Maui, and several more in Colorado. The bike has been ridden, but sparingly. There's a thick layer of waxy grease on much of the drivetrain, but no component shows anything but minimal wear. The front tire is even the original Miyata branded stock model, with a tread and profile that gives the impression of a downsized motocross tire.

This bike represents the culmination of an on-again, off-again effort to reacquire a facsimile of my first mountain bike, a 1986 Miyata Trail Runner, which was a nice bike, but a couple of rungs down the ladder from the Ridge Runner. My '86 Miyata was the first good quality, non department store bike I ever had, as well as the first new bike I ever bought myself, but that's a story for another time. The seller's regret I've experienced since selling my '86 Miyata back in 1989 is probably no small contributor to my difficulty in letting any bike go, because once they're gone, they're gone. In any case, enjoy the following photo dump, all you old-timer mountain bike enthusiasts!

Nice, slack angles: 68 degree head tube, 70.3 degree seat tube. By the end of the '80s, steeper, less comfortable 71/73 angles were mostly commonplace.

Roomy for its era 60 cm (23.5") c-t-c top tube, with about 120 mm  in stem extension. Wide handlebar. This all equates to comfort and control.

Head tube says, "Since 1890." There's a slight kink in the rear brake housing. All will be replaced anyway.

Yep, made in Japan. Note the over the bottom bracket cable routing.

Nice little graphic flourish on the seat tube.

Rack mounts tucked neatly inside the seatstays for a clean look. Fender mount under the brake bridge and another at the chainstay bridge.

This bike has its stickers above the clear coat, as opposed to my '86 which had them under the clear coat. Maybe during the boom this was a quicker timeframe to market to beat the rapidly expanding competition?

The top of the line '84 Ridge Runner was TIG welded throughout, which is odd as Miyata was a company where every other model at the time was lugged. Even the two other '84 Miyata mountain bike models lower down the line had lugs, so I'm not quite sure why the Ridge Runner was welded.  Did the relatively unusual TIG joints look more mountain bike-y at the time?

Original SR seatpost with an era-appropriate Hite Rite. I'll have to dig up a Suntour quick release to replace the non-original Kalloy unit currently here.

TIG welded fastback-style seatstay junction mimics the fillet brazed treatments on custom frames of the time, primarily Ritchey.

Suntour Power Thumbshifters and Dia Compe brake levers. Hardly a wear mark to be found. The less than a year old Avid levers on my Pugsley look more worn. 

The cockpit is built around a Nitto B-902 bull moose bar. The grips are not original, though the originals were of a somewhat similar ergonomic design.

The angle of the Nitto bars felt familiar, and sure enough, they have almost the exact profile of a Salsa Moto Ace bar (the bar currently on my Pugsley), though the Nitto is wider at 720 mm vs. the 660 mm Salsa. It's a very nice bar. 

Brake and shift levers are nearly showroom fresh.

The little spots on the shifter aren't pitting or corrosion, just antiquated grease and dust. 

The Suntour Power Thumbshifter is one of the nicest, simplest shifters ever made, in my opinion.

Shiny Dia-Compe levers mated to Dia-Compe cantilevers. 

Tange Levin headset. Mirror-like surfaces on the faces of the lock nuts.

Perhaps one of the first headsets specifically designated for off road use. The forged fork crown has a very beefy feel.

The tubing sticker has suffered more over time than most of the rest of the bike.
Fun fact: Miyata was the only company of the era to draw its own custom tubing. Good stuff.

Miyata's own fork tubing, too.

Stem/bar assembly of the black chromed, chromoly Nitto B-902 bull moose bar.

Suntour rear hub. Surface grease and dust on the hubs will be attended to shortly.

The only corrosion I've found is on the surface of the nickel-plated spokes. This is not uncommon for a bike of this age. Note the threaded dropout adjusters.

Suntour front hub. Both front and rear hubs have nut-on axles; no quick release here. Top and bottom eyelets on the fork ends.

Sealed bearing Suntour. This is the pre GreaseGuard era, though.

It's even got a Suntour pie plate under the freewheel. Not even yellowed. How cool is that?

Original Suntour New Winner 14-32 6-speed freewheel. Single eyelets on the rear Suntour dropouts.

Suntour Mountech rear derailleur.

Suntour. Dia-Compe. Sugino. This bike has no Shimano parts at all. See original specs here.

Suntour Tech front derailleur. Dust caps on the cranks highlight that they are cotterless. 

Sugino AT cranks. Amazingly smooth finish and no apparent rubbing or wear. 50-40-28 Sugino rings.

A little hard to see in this photo, but that's a 180 mm crank stamped D-4, which I interpret as meaning April, 1984. Nice long cranks for a bike of this size. 

That's a Sugino sealed bottom bracket down there from well before the cartridge bb era.

I got rid of the plastic replacement pedals that were on the bike, in favor of some older beartraps I had. I like how black anodized parts fade to a bronze color over time. 

Can't forget the original Blackburn USA bottle cage. It's apparently been little used, with no scuffing or wear inside.

Plenty of clearance for even fatter tires. Dia-Compe cantilevers with original pads. No through-hole on the fork crown. Instead, there's a fender mount on the front. The front tire is original, and is good and meaty for its era.

The block knobbed Miyata tire is a lot like the Fisher Fattrax tires that I eventually installed on my '86 Miyata. The original Araya rims show barely any marking from brake use.

Some cracking, but the front tire is in remarkably good condition after 29 years. I think I'll continue to ride it until it disintegrates. It would be a shame to take it off to preserve it, thus cursing it to never being ridden again.

The rear tire is not original. I'd love to find something that performs in a similar manner to match the feel of the original front tire. Perhaps a Kenda K-Rad, or a Comp III. Any other suggestions?

I can confirm that the bike rides as good as it looks. Upcoming project: a strip-down for new cables and housing, repacked bearing assemblies and general sprucing up.