OLD ROAD BIKE: 1982 BRIDGESTONE ROADMAN (TRIAL BUILD) // VINTAGE BIKE RESTORATION

This Road bike (ROADMAN series) was made by BRIDGESTONE in the year 1982, after the company announced its first model to be released back in 1979.

Roadman is an entry level Touring road bike. Built with durable chrome molybdenum (chrome moly) steel, a very tough road bike designed for long distance Randonneuring.
Roadman is popular in the early eighties when younger men had their shift to sporty lifestyle and sports cycling, the sporty geometry caters that mid level- amateur niche market.
Roadman series had several models which goes long for roughly a decade of production.

This road bike geometry is apt for commuting, and makes no fuss for the experienced riders to spin longer, touring cross country rides as it originally came with front and rear carriers integral for heavier panniers and loads.
The fork and frame clearances also caters 27x 1 1/4 wheels and tires which is equivalent nowadays to 700cx35 plus a fender on top of that for all weather condition. Finally it came with lights and dynamos for night sprints.

For this particular build, it was originally equipped with SR Sakae components.
The handle bar, quill stem, seat post and bottom bracket are from SR Sakae, but the seller unfortunately sold the original handle bars together with its stem and shifters components groupset.
Other components such as the drivetrain; crank set, chainring, freewheel cogs are all Shimano brands. And the Shifters; the rear and frond derailleur are all made by Suntour.

For period correcting, we had to source some parts and fit in various models that came around that time when this bike was in production. To mention one component, which is the rear derailleur which supposedly a climactic shifter and we decided to mount a SUNTOUR V-LUXE.


RUMEN & RIPE is a group that are passionate about bike restorations, cycling history, gardening and Permaculture.