1989 Shogun Prairie Breaker Pro

October 15th 2016.

I stop off to get a bite to eat one night on the way home from work. It’s about 7.30pm and while waiting for my order I browse Ebay on my phone. And this catches my attention.

I don’t know much about Shogun bikes (I don’t recall seeing them in Europe) but I’ve seen a few online and thought they looked OK. This one is a 1989 Prairie Breaker Pro, and it’s in really nice low milage condition. The seller was a chap by the name of Brian, who had bought the bike when it was a couple of years old. He’d ridden it up and down the beach tracks around Wollongong until he moved further south, where it sat in his garage for the next 10 years or so. Washing off the dust and cobwebs revealed the lovely Peacock Blue / Pale Aqua duotone paint job.

It has a Tange double butted frame (that triple triangle frame design was popularised by GT but it wasn’t invented by them), a full Deore II groupset (including u-brake), Araya RM-20 rims, Tioga Farmer John tyres, Tioga stem, Tioga handlebar, and Sakae pedals (branded Tioga). It also has both pairs of bottle cage mounts on the down tube, similar to Mongoose IBOCs of the time.

I replaced the crumbling Vetta Gel saddle with an almost identical one I had at home and swapped the tired old grips for a new pair of Grab-On.

These photos were taken after I removed the rack, pannier and bar ends, gave it a wash, and replaced the saddle and grips. I’ll look even better when the aluminium components are polished and the frame has been gone over with a colour restorer.

I know this bike isn’t top of any retro wish list but I’m not a bike snob and like it.