my Koga-Miyata ValleyRunner: in 1995 and now

I present you my 1993 Koga-Miyata ValleyRunner The ValleyRunner was the most economical bike with composite frame in Koga's 1993 line up. The front triangle has aluminium tubing and the tail is Miyata Hardtlite FM-1 steel. Investment cast aluminium lugs, Aluminum Pressurized Adhesive (APA) bonding, some brazing, a couple rivits and a single bolt holds everything together. That are a lot joining techniques! The ValleyRunner full bike set you back 2700 guilders in 1993. That is a lot of money. The frame was the thing. Nothing bad on the Exage LT group, but it normally came specced on a bike a 3rd of the ValleyRunner's price. This brought the bike within reach of more people. Later when you earned some new money you had the oppertunity to gradually upgrade it.

This is my ValleyRunner in 1995 >>



Brief component spec in 1995:
XTR/XT/Campagnolo Centaur mix
cut Sunn NK Trial bars
4130 stem
Concor, quirky woodprint on leather top
Footwork boosters
Sun CR18 rims, blue
Panaracers, blue

A very pragmatic build with focus on durability. Hard core! :twisted: I fitted the aluminium Miyata FatMax fork because assumed it would give me additional steering precission. Many of the parts came from left over stock already back in the day. For example I remember I paid 50 guilders for the Centaur brakes that were acquired from a bankrupt distributor. The frame itself was NOS too. Koga's buying policy wasn't very efficient back in he early 90s.

On the beach, circa 1997 >>






...and this is the ValleyRunner in 2013. Not serving atm, but it is an excellent starting point for a nice project >>

Thats a very interesting and cool looking frame, and I love the old photos. What was the idea of the to different frame materials? Trying to get the best characteristics of both? Whats the frame weight?
Is it going to get built up again?

This frame was available in many flavours:

aluminum front - steel rear (this ValleyRunner)
aluminium front - aluminium rear
carbon front - aluminium rear
titanium front - titanium rear
carbon front - titanium rear
carbon - carbon rear

Basicly this ValleyRunner (al-steel) is the most affordable and heaviest. The frame with full carbon tubing is the lightest. The others sit somewhere in between. In my experience this ValleyRunner feels a little bit more stout than the light full carbon tubing frame. My estimate is that the al-steel weighs approx 2100gr and the full carbon around 350gr less.

In the Gallery you can find a review and an ad for the sister bike of my Koga, the Miyata Elevation 2,000 (US market):
Review Miyata Elevation 2,000
Ad Miyata Elevation 2,000

'Delta Force Monostay'

Retrobike's Wiki on Delta Force Monostay

More on the ValleyRunner



With a sharp eye you can spot a m5 fitting for Miyata CO2 cartridges under the downtube.

A Miyata cartridge-assembly >>



A dictionary 'Japanese' was supplied with the frame.

Tioga, by Showa suspension forks >>



The hydraulic Showa was a top end fork back in the day. You can adjust air pressure and through dials on top of the legs you can select damping. The Koga-Miyata RidgeRunner-S for the 1993 modelyear had this forks as standard equipment.

that's cool ...and with Tioga fork looks perfect

love it pal

That's a big slice of awesome

Thank you for the kind words, guys

Nader":2t0z9u3b said:

that's cool ...and with Tioga fork looks perfect

Click to expand...

Yes, better colour-coordinated than with the blue FatMax from '95

A good feature with this type of frame is the plenty room for rings and tyres. 2.5" tyres no problem. The absence of a bridge prevents the accumulation of mud. Well prepared for British conditions you would think. Not many ever saw British soil however.

Similar carbon-aluminium frame shows the area >>



73mm bracket shell. The gold/black decal is the 'Ten Years Guarantee' sticker.