My ultimate project: restoring a 1991 Panasonic PR6000 team bike

I'm a child of 1973, never was allowed to go cycling (as a sport) and when I became officially an adult (age 18) I told my parents to * off, plundered my savings account and bought a bike. That was 1991.

My first bike was a Scott Windriver mountainbike but my real heroes were the guys that passed by my parental house every year in April: the road pro's riding the Tour of Flanders.

I remember Moreno Argentin escaping in our street (and winning the Tour of Flanders) and this resulted -many years after- in my first vintage bike: a Colnago Master "Ariosteia".

And that was only the beginning... A second one followed soon after (a 1992 Carrera Tassoni team replica) and not a week went by without checking out the local second-hand sites.

And that is where I found this one.

It looked like a Panasonic but gosh, how mutulated was this one! I didn't know much about Panasonic bikes so I started searching the web and found out Panasonic bikes had BB shells with the brand stamped in it. I asked the seller to send me some photos from the BB shell and so he did.

Okay, it was a real Panasonic, that was clear. But as I wanted to know what type it was, I asked him for some serial numbers. He was very patient and answered my mail with another photo.

Damned, this didn't follow the serial number pattern I found on the web. Disappointed I was...

But than I found this very particular site where someone talked about his accidentally found ex-pro bike and I read these bikes didn't follow this pattern but had a different set of numbers: riders's initials-bike number-year. So this was the 3rd frame of a 1991 pro rider with the initials MO...

Hurray!! It was a former team bike we were talking about! I started looking for the 1991 team riders list and found out MO could stand for Mark van Orsouw, a Dutch rider. Another internet search learned this was the man:

Ofcourse it only took me another 2 seconds to call the seller and tell him I wanted to pick up the bike that very same day. He agreed and I was happy to pay him the 125 € he wanted for it.

Yes, I had my ultimate 1991 bike.

so lucky...

But soon the worries came... These bikes were so rare, it was impossible to find another one that could be used as "model" for a respray. And the team bike livery was so simple it was utterly impossible to copy.

And that's why this frame stayed on my attic...

Last summer, I was browsing the German Ebay and my eye fell on a 1992 mountainbike. A Panasonic MC Pro. It was way too expensive (700 €) but compared to PR6000 bikes this price was peanuts. So I went for it and some days later an all original Panasonic bike enriched my collection. Finally I had my model to start from.

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In the mean time I started looking for some components and first thing I found was this

This should be good!

This week, a reasonably priced Dura Ace 7400 groupset popped up and if the seller isn't a fraud, it should arrive within a couple of days.

That was the signal so I took the frame from the attic and tomorrow I will bring it to a resprayer together with the MC Pro.

To be continued...

Sounds like a great project!

I suppose everything will stand or fall with how good the sprayer does the job... I saw another PR6000 he resprayed and it looked OK. Not perfect but he didn't have a "real" example then, just photos. Fingers crossed...

One thing that disappoints me about the frameset: I have the original Tange Prestige forks but these weigh a lot...

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@Tijs Tijs Tijs!

I seen it, my dude.

Exciting project. I also have the jersey.

There is a former team front wheel for sale here on 2dehands. Shame it's 650.

Hell yes!

All the best projects are driven by the story, not the bike. If it's anything like the story the bike will be amazing.

Thanks and you're absolutely right about that, @Aroogah. I have 30 bikes at the moment but I'm actually selling most of them. I didn't realise it untill now that the handful I am really about to keep, are those that come with a story.

A cartboard box arrived from Germany today.

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Just saw this thread. Looking forward to seeing this built up Wim.

thanks, @Poetic

Sadly I encounterd my first obstacle. The BB is stuck like hell so I will first have to take the frame to the framebuilder I know to have it drilled out.

Awesome project but the STIs look a bit rough for a re-sprayed frame, don't you think?

True, @Sig_Arlecchino but it came all in one pack so had to take it or leave it. Maybe one day I buy some better ones so these can go to my Team Ariostea Colnago.

That stuck?!

Have you tried the old trusted "soaked in WD40 for a couple of days and put your BB tool in a vice so you can use the frame for leverage" method? Drilling is such a last resort method

I hate buying frames with the BB "included". Always means it's stuck like fuck.

Yes, @Shame

Didn't try the vice thing but the framebuilder I was speaking of, did it on another frame of mine. Took him 2 minutes and chance of ruining the frame is close to zero. And when there, I can put the frame on his frame truing table.

Normally I ask sellers to remove everything, @russmeyer , but when I bought this one, I just wanted the bike immediately, no matter what.

There's more in my spares box than I thought...

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