Suteki rises from the Raleigh's (stolen) ashes

As most of you know (except Edmund and Anonymous, who I haven't talked to in a while), my Raleigh was stolen about a month ago from the bike rack behind my apartment. Though I was sad to lose it, I had learned recently that the Raleigh bikes made in Taiwan (of which mine was one) were cheap frames with the Raleigh logo on them (rather than the higher-end Raleighs produced at the original Nottingham, England factory. Knowing this, I was eager to go out and find a bike that might prove to be a little more solid in the frame department.

What I found was a bike that few people know anything about. It's a Suteki, and from the little I've found online, they were manufactured in Japan in the early 80's, and are made with high-quality Japanese steel.

What I do know is that I've had to put a fair amount of work into this bike. So far, I've:

1. replaced the rear wheel
2. replaced the rear derailleur
3. replaced the shift and brake cables
4. replaced the original seat post and seat
5. replaced the pedals so I could attach toe clips

And now I'm hearing some annoying rubbing noises from my chain rings, which may mean I need to replace the crankset.

At any rate, here are some pictures of the new bike:

"The Side Angle (Bike at Repose)"


"The Suteki logo"


"The View from the Front (Bike Attack)"


"Poor Saps' View (The Angle from which Most Trail Riders See My New Bike)"