1985 Bridgestone 400
Bill Solomon, owner
Roswell, GA

My first "good" bike was a Bridgestone from the mid-70s; eventually stolen. I've had a fondness for B'stones ever since, but not owned another.

I was looking for a lugged steel "beater" bike to ride to work. I had planned to buy locally (Atlanta, GA), but came across a B'stone 400 on eBay and by chance at a good deal. I couldn't resist. It was a dry-stored, rust free bike, albiet with a number of recent paint scratches from poor handling and packing. There is no apparent wear on the original Izumi chain or the cogs and chainrings. Even the old foam handlebar pads were in great shape.

I hoped to keep the bike near original as functionally possible, or within 80's era. I dumped the heavy 27 inch wheels for a set of Mavic 700 MA2-32 hole rims I had with 7 speed Shimano Hyperglide cassette (12x23 close ratio racing setup which I will replace).

Style wise, I didn't care for the B'stone printed bands on both ends of the silver panel on the seat tube, so I used some 3M decor tape (no residue) for a better (to my eye) look.

Note the "unusual" off-angle of the Bridgestone decals on the top tube. I wondered if the decals were added during bike build-up in the USA, as an off-angle decal would be so untypical of a Japanese craftsman. I'm thinking of using a different stick-on decal to lay over the original (instead of removing the orig.).

Riding wise, I rotate this bike with 2 other road bikes, each with a different feel and gearing. I plan to add an old Blackburn rack I have and a set of silver fenders to match the paint theme for light touring. I love the feel of this bike and its stable yet quick response.

All components are original unless noted. I did keep all of the original parts, just in case.
- Ishiwata cro-mo triple butted frame tubing, 21 inch frame (53.3 cm)
- carbon steel crowned fork, smooth forged ends (no lips!)
- Mavic MA2 700, 32 hole rims (replaced heavy 27 in. Araya wheels)
- Shimano RSX hubs (replaced orig.)
- Quick release skewers, Sunshine
- Sakae CR crankset, 52x42, 170mm, drilled for triple (36T ring)
- Sakae square taper BB
- pedals from MTB (unknown brand) with Grip Clip straps (replaced SR Road)
- Izumi gold chain
- Shimano 7 speed Hyperglide freehub, 12x23 (replaced Suntour 6 spd. freewheel)
- Suntour Arx front and rear derailleurs
- Suntour power ratchet downtube shifters (bolt on)
- Tektro 520 low profile brakes (replaced Dia Compe dual pivot)
- Dia Compe levers with rubber hoods
- original coil-type cable housing and cables (still smooth)
- SR Laprade fluted seat post
- Brooks B-17 Narrow saddle, well used (replaced Selle Italia Anatomica)
- headset, Bridgestone Diamond Road
- Kalloy 100mm stem (replaced SR Custom 90mm)
- SR Randonneur SL handlbars (replaced SR Custom trad. bend bars)
- Bar Tape, Stella Azura Eleganza black with white stitching (no padding)
- Bar end plugs, Cateye chrome compression type
- Tires, Panaracer Pasela 700x26 (non Tourguard)
- Bottle cage, satin silver alloy (unknown brand)

roadscrape88@gmail.com