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I'm trying to ID an older road bike, I think perhaps 80's but not really sure. I can't seem to find much info about even the brand itself - National Sports Wheels (Passaic, NJ) (Made In Taiwan)

Searching that brand just brings ups a few results for some older BMX bikes, nothing road bike at all. Also the frame has a sticker saying '12 Speed' but is actually a 10 speed - not sure if that sticker was added by someone or if the gears were changed. Serial number on the bottom bracker is S885278

Whole Bike: enter image description here

Brand Sticker: enter image description here

I've had this in my shed for quite some time and its a hand me down, so no idea about the original owner or anything like that. I'm starting riding again so planning on refinishing the frame and maybe rebuilding with some modern components, but really curious that I can't find anything on the brand.

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    Late 70s to early 80s. Pretty generic. Probably not department store, but not real high class either. Don't refinish the frame -- you'll never be done.
    – Daniel R Hicks
    Commented May 27, 2020 at 13:02
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    I've refinished two other frames before, it is a lot of work so not 100% sure I'm going that route. Never attempted component upgrades though, some things seem pretty straightforward but not sure if that will turn into a poor choice ha
    – Jonathan Elwell
    Commented May 27, 2020 at 13:53
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    The bike appears to be a ROPA (ridden once -- put away), so there should be no need to change anything (other than the tires) if the bearings aren't seized, etc. Do note that this bike is pre-indexing, and the rear cluster is about as generic/primitive as they come.
    – Daniel R Hicks
    Commented May 27, 2020 at 14:00
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    Its definitely gotten some use, but is in decent shape for its age - nothing is seized up, but the brakes are super mushy/not strong, and yeah the non indexing shifting is tough, hence my desire for modern setups... at the very least I'm going to give it a good cleaning before I reassemble and ride again the 2nd/last ride I took was a bit scary haha. Some downhill wobbles and poor braking abilities
    – Jonathan Elwell
    Commented May 27, 2020 at 15:31
  • Yeah, the brake pads are likely in need of replacement. And changing to indexed shifting will be tricky at best.
    – Daniel R Hicks
    Commented May 27, 2020 at 15:41

1 Answer 1

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National sport wheels was made by a company in the UK called BITD inc. A lot of frames were made in Taiwan. They distributed the NSW from Passaic, NJ.

I have had a hard time trying to find year and models of these bikes. I have an NSW 20" bmx bike I assembled from just the frame. The frame was found in a old, abandoned Schwinn shop in AZ and was never assembled until I got it.

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  • I have also come to the conclusion that that BITD inc. Was also the maker of the Giant name brand bikes? I did some research a while back when I first got my bike and came across this this info somewhere on the web. Guess I should be saving the sites I get info from for future reference.
    – Robert Morrison
    Commented Jan 3, 2023 at 1:03
  • Do you mean that Giant was the contract manufacturer for BITD?
    – Weiwen Ng
    Commented Jan 3, 2023 at 1:34
  • Giant was established in 1972 in Dajia, Taichung County in Taiwan (now part of Taichung City), by King Liu and several friends.[who?] A major breakthrough came in 1977 when Giant's chief executive, Tony Lo, negotiated a deal with Schwinn to begin manufacturing bikes as an OEM, manufacturing bicycles to be sold exclusively under other brand names as a private label. As bike sales increased in the U.S., and after workers at the Schwinn plant in Chicago went on strike in 1980, Giant became a key supplier, making more than two-thirds of Schwinn bikes by the mid-1980s, representing 75% of sales.
    – Robert Morrison
    Commented Jan 3, 2023 at 2:00
  • en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMX
    – Robert Morrison
    Commented Jan 3, 2023 at 3:18
  • I believe Giant was the contract manufacturer for BITD who made the National sport wheels brand.
    – Robert Morrison
    Commented Jan 3, 2023 at 3:20

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