Updating 1992 Nishiki Alien SP

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Updating 1992 Nishiki Alien SP
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flag timfred
Posted: Jul 24, 2017 at 12:21 Quote
OK, to start, I know what I'm proposing isn't financially worth it, but that's not what this is about.

So yeah, I haven't ridden much in the past decade as other sports, family, and most importantly, some neck problems have kept me off the bike that I've nursed along since it was new: a 1992 (maybe 1993?) Nishiki Alien SP, bright green, square aluminum tubes, Suntour 8-sp Microdrive, Rock Shox Mag20. Yeah that one.

Then I met up with my brother in Colorado and rode around on his brand-spanking-new Santa Cruz Bronson and it was a revelation. The FS, dropper seat post, 12 speed drivetrain, huge travel, etc were all nice but what really surprised me was the geometry, which felt super comfortable.

I hadn't paid any attention to geometry when I built my bike and obviously since then, so now I'm looking at that Nishiki and wondering what I was thinking. It's a small 14-inch frame with a long seat post and long stem (I'm 5'10"). A lot of weight was on my hands, neck craned. No wonder I had problems.

So I started doing the math and if I replaced the fork with a more recent one with 80-100mm travel, that would change the geometry such that it would be a lot more modern. The head tube angle would go from (near as I can measure) 71-72 down to 68-69 deg or so, but because it's a small frame the standover height would still be generous. Horizontal top tube would be something like 23.5"/595mm. New BB height would be 12"/305mm.

So the idea is to pick up a used longer-travel fork (choices limited because I still need v-brake mounts, but luckily the Alien takes 1-1/Cool , switch to an aheadset and compatible stem, maybe a new bar, and for not much more than the cost of a day's demo on a $7000 bike I can have something that works better for me and could become a decent around-town cruiser after I replace it with something really new.

Please poke holes in my idea...how else might this screw up that bike? What am I missing?
flag lusport
Posted: Jun 15, 2020 at 8:54 Quote
Hi. I just bought a nishiki alien and im hopong u can shed light. Its not plain white...it has this weird scribble design on the frame and the richard cunningham deval is blue...ive seen tons of photos on line and its usually pink. Pls help..not sure if this bike is legit or did i miss smthn...
Hope to heqr from you

 


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