Shogun Appreciation Society

[timax]

Very nice bike. love the triple triangle. Yours may be the last year they did that. From memory they stopped hand making the frames in Japan in 1987 or 1988 . I can only speak of the mountain bikes here but the later ones were made in Taiwan or China I thought??, were heavy and thought of as being crap because of that. 2 wildly different machines with only the brand name being the same. Fair call I think also as everyone else at the the time were making better , lighter bikes and Shogun take a step backwards???? The triple triangle was seen to be too fiddly for mass production. Gt then did it but these frames were also heavy compared to the early prestige tubed Shoguns and it was really only the GT Zaska in alloy that was close to being race light.

[whitestivo]

That samurai is a lovely bike

Took the katana out on my regular 65km saturday loop, stuck with the quick group (34km avg) until the 60km mark, then the final sprint through the hills did me in. still top bike. still WIP, need get stafford get those hoods.

whitestivo

[axeman74]

Add me to the list of happy shogun owners.

I have a Shogun Alpine GT Touring bike that I absolutely love. Apparently it was one of the last few imported into the country before they stopped making them.

Lovely light Cro-Mo frame (I have had it stripped to a bare frame, and it is lighter than many alu frames I have owned), full set of rack/mudguard mounts, beautiful ride, Shimano RSX Sti shifters etc. An all round great touring/commuting bike.

My bike seems to have been made just before Shogun went from making nice quality mid-high range bikes to making the mass produced lower end rubbish they are putting their name on nowadays. Such a shame, I could always recommend their older bikes knowing they were good quality and very well made for their price.

Wish I could post some pics, but alas I do not have enough credit! Only two more posts to go.....

[rustguard]

I was visiting my dad at christmas so I snapped some photos of his shogun prairie breaker, which is a long cut above a trail breaker. My dad brought the bike of my uncle, its deore equipped, double wall rims. but it is the frame quality that stands out to me. all cromo, double butted frame. Its not down to an ultralight, not heavy either, but solid as a rock and very well finished.



















Its a shame I didnt give it a good clean before I took the pics, not sure the images do the frame full justice.
Also check out the diameter of the brake cables, they are like motorbike cables.

[hartleymartin]

Looks like one of the earlier ways of routing the cables form the top - if your BB smacks down on a rock, at least then your gear cables don't go with it. The pulley on the seat-tube and using the regular derailer is very interesting (I have a spare Sturmey-Archer pulley somewhere...)

[brendan03]

Think I'll be busy for a while.

Bought this eBay Shogun for $80 before I realised it was in QLD and I had to ship it to Melbourne. Anyways, $150 worth of postage later, it's mine.

The seller was very short on details (Shimano "6000" gears & "Campyanolo" wheels) and with only one tiny low-res photo to go on, I took a punt and bought it before anyone ele noticed it.

In reality it has a mix of 600 & 105 with "Lasco" cranks (anyone know anything about them? Cheap Taiwanese gear?) and a pretty beaten up Rolls saddle.



















Not sure what to do with it yet - just re grease it, clean it and ride as is? Or maybe i'll strip it and give it a new paint job. Maybe even try complete the 600 Ultegra group...

Anyway - thats my Shogun Samurai

[rkelsen]

Nice pickup Brendan03! The Japanese made frames are better finished than the later Taiwanese ones.

I'd give it a good clean, replace the consumables and ride...

[brendan03]

I think thats what I'll do - I'm keen to hit the road!

I'm worried about the amount of (innocent enough) surface rust - if I leave it as is, maybe even leave it in the rain at the train station a couple of times I'm worried the rust will get out of hand. Perhaps a quick & dirty spray-paint job might help preserve it till if/when I decide to put some more effort in.

Unless anyone knows of a way to treat the rust without sanding it away?

Also - anyone know if this would have originally featured a full 600 group? Or more likely a full 105 group? We're they sold with mish-mash groups?

[rkelsen]

You can give the frame a wipe down with an oily rag to prevent the rust spreading. I want to get my old Shogun powdercoated for the same reasons as yourself, but can't live without it for the couple of weeks it'll take... So I wipe the frame down with WD40 every few months.

[Old Hutcho]

I picked up an Alpine GT tourer from Melburg a few years ago as just a frame and rims and some odd bits. I spent some time on it and built it into my commute bike. Long lazy chainstays, full guards, MTB rear derailleur, original chain rings (triple) new second hand set of 7 speed sti changers, original front derailleur, 27 " Araya rims, new front hub and a Brooks B17 narrow saddle to top it off.

I ride this bike in all weathers and its a beautiful bike for what I use it for. I only ride about 6 km to work so its not a long commute. Ive got a fairly impressive little hill to get home and the triple front rings make easy work of that. Between me and the payload it carries 110kg around so its quite a little workhorse. So far its been trouble free and I am mighty impressed with the quality of the frame and the workmanship thats gone into it. I am not sure how old it is but my best guess is about 1983.

One day when I learn to post fotos I will do so but if anyone wants a look just e mail me and I will send some pics.


regards


Old Hutcho

[drubie]

You can wipe (carefully) with "rust converter" - mild acid based stuff, that turns the rust black-ish. Most car polishes will remove rust staining.

I suspect rust converter will discolour paint so wash it down as per the instructions on the bottle.

[ve safari]

Maybe even try complete the 600 Ultegra group...

Anyway - thats my Shogun Samurai

I've got a pair of 600 Ultegra dual pivot callipers in VGC condition if you are interested. They'll be off my bike in the next week or so.

[X-Infinity]

Wooo. finally an interesting thred!

ok so i found an old Shogun Selectra on the street, and very hastily decided to adopted it.
it sat in my garage for a while till i had the cash to start work on her.

She was in very bad condition when i found her and i was forced to strip alot of the parts. to the point where i decided to turn her into a fixie since it would be cheaper and easier then re gearing her.

however i have come across abit of a problem. the Headset has a second Locknut / Top race kinda thing which is quite stuck.
It dosent have any surface which i can use any sort of tool i know of. It's just got a sort of grip on it. Iv tried to remove it manually but after about 8 rotations it has gotten jammed on a thred on the neck / stem.
what should i do to remove this thredded ring?

also i was wondering if any one knows the specs on the bottom bracket slot of the shogun selectra. since i need to purchase a new BB.

[rkelsen]

Wooo. finally an interesting thred!

lolz.

The BB should be English threaded and 68mm wide.

Have you tried spraying the steerer with wd40 or crc or rp7? Be careful not to strip the threads.

[brendan03]

the Headset has a second Locknut / Top race kinda thing which is quite stuck.
It dosent have any surface which i can use any sort of tool i know of. It's just got a sort of grip on it.

Is it like this?



If so, you might need to pictured tool to remove it.

And if it is, you should try to keep it intact and un damaged because it's a rather awesome headset.

[X-Infinity]

heres a photo of my head set.





as you can see, there is a thredded nut sorta thing with a thin gripped surface around its circumfrence. how can i remove it!?
i have attempted to remove it using WD40 and a coarse towel for grip but it has gotten stuck on the thred of the stem i think. :S

[brendan03]

Yep, thats a pretty standard 80's headset - I've got a few of them in the shed.

Remove everything you can from the head set, the stem, locknut, reflector, etc.. then just try get a good grip on it and turn. You might need to get the vice-grips onto it. Also, screw it down as far as it will go and try clean the threads with a toothbrush & WD40 to remove any grim that might be getting caught.

Best of luck

[familyguy]

Its the top bearing cup/race (it should have a bearing surface on the underside). It should be threaded, and wind straight off. Take your head stem out first. There's a chance its binding if the stem is still tightened down.

Screw it back down and visually check the threads too. They might be chewed out if you've cross-threaded it.

Jim

[X-Infinity]

ahk thanks lads. ill give that a shot.

[LG]

Remove everything you can from the head set, the stem, locknut, reflector, etc.. then just try get a good grip on it and turn. You might need to get the vice-grips onto it. Also, screw it down as far as it will go and try clean the threads with a toothbrush & WD40 to remove any grim that might be getting caught.

If you're using vice grips, cut up an old inner tube and wrap it around the nut. Install the vice grips over the tube, that way the vice grips do their job ... 'grip' ... but won't damage the part.

[brokenbus]

Here are some pics of my wives and my Shogun Metros. Got them around 93 or 94 and they have been pretty good except my one had an annoying habit of breaking spokes in the rear wheel and totalling the wheel in the process. I did use to give it a hard time riding down footpaths and jumping kerbs but my previous bike used to stand up to that so I couldnt see why one with bigger tyre and similar wheels couldnt. After the 3rd failure I switched brands of wheel and didnt break another spoke until last week. Other than that they are both pretty standard apart from the seats and a few accessories such as racks.
Cheers
Nicko

[Spork!]

Must give mine a cleanup and take some pics.
57cm Shogun ??? (roadie) of unknown age - I bought it second hand in early - mid 90's.
Was my first road bike, and so much faster than my MTB - I loved it! Fitted longer stem, alloy bars with new tape, new saddle and seatpost, 19mm tires and SPD pedals. Recently replaced the super skinny tires with 28mm ones.
No stickers on it anywhere, I only know it's a Shogun because that is stamped on the top of the seat stays.

[Spork!]

Sorry to double post, but only just hit post count of 10, so don't know if I can add pics to older (<10) posts. Here she is, in all of her (slightly rusty) glory:


Detail of rear dropouts etc:


Only way to tell it's a Shogun.


sooo... anyone got any idea what year/model mine might be? One of their better older ones, or one of the shite newer ones? Or a shite older one?

PS: mowed the lawn a couple of hours after photos.

[rkelsen]

Hey Spork!

What size is the seat post?

My guess is early 90s Selectra. Definitely looks like a cr-mo frame to me. Either Tange 900 or Infinity.

Can you post the serial number?

[Spork!]

Hey Spork!

What size is the seat post?

My guess is early 90s Selectra. Definitely looks like a cr-mo frame to me. Either Tange 900 or Infinity.

Can you post the serial number?

Has been repainted at some stage and serial has been mostly filled with paint , but I think it's: D 01017548
My calipers are at father-in-laws, but I'd guesstimate that the seat pole is 1 inch diameter.