bonnie & jason

Another bike! Panasonic Sport 500

I’ve been eying a stripped down bike frame that Terry has had hanging in his garage for decades apparently. It’s an 80′s era Panasonic Sport 500 which apparently, was the low end model that they had to offer back in the day. Using this thing called “google” I found out that the lineup went something like this:

$159: Sport 500 (Hi-Ten steel with stem mount and 27×1-3/8″ steel rims
$184.95: Sport (was only in the line a few years, basically a Sport 500 w/allo wheels)
$219.95: Sport Deluxe
$279: Sport 1000
$329: DX2000 (Midgrade components and the first 700C bike in the line)
$399: DX3000 (fitness bike with Tange Infinity Tubing and 700C wheels)
$499: DX4000 (Tange Double butted Fast Fitness entry level race bike with 700C wheels)
$599: DX5000 (Prestige frame and fork with Shimano 600 Ultegra 7speed)

Anyway, Terry was nice enough to just give me the bike. Here it is in all it’s glory:

It’s in pretty good shape for how old it is. A few chips here and there but no real rust. And the headset and bottom bracket both operated very smoothly. That being said, I can’t leave well enough alone so I spent a little time today tearing apart the headset, re-greasing the bearings, and reassembling. I’ll do the same with the bottom bracket as well once I pick up a pin spanner tool. Besides, it has been hanging in a garage for quite a while… it deserved a little TLC.

Clearly, there’s still a lot to do before it’s ready to ride. I’ve ordered a few parts here and there. I still need to figure out a number of details, but hopefully, I’ll have it together before too long. If anyone has any old bike parts lying around that could go to a loving home, let me know.