In this multi-part series of articles, I’m going to explore one of the more obscure corners of the 3Rensho story: aluminum-framed bikes.  The 3Rensho brand is generally associated with steel-framed bikes of the highest quality, often hand-made and utilizing proprietary lug designs that make then instantly identifiable.  However, from time-to-time, aluminum frames with 3Rensho logos surface in online sales or fan pages.  This typically leads to a rambling debate about whether they are “legitimate” 3Renshos and who manufactured them.  I can say with 100% certainty that they are legitimate, as they appear in multiple 3Rensho catalogs that I’ll share here, as well as shedding some light on their background.

In this first part of the series, I’ll focus on the most common aluminum 3Rensho: the Sakae Ringyo Litage.  Read on for more info and photos!

The dawn of a new era in bicycle technology. The “Light-Age” has arrived.  Litage by Sakae.

The Sakae Ringyo (SR) Litage followed in the footsteps of European brands ALAN and Vitus.  This excellent article by P.C. Kohler recounts the early history and technical development of aluminum frames.  He notes how French frame builder Roger Roche, working for Vitus, dramatically improved upon the ALAN frame design. Roche took the ALAN design, which had lugs that the tubes fit into, and inverted it to lugs that fit into the tubes.  A special thermal adhesive was used to join the lugs to the aluminum tubes.  This scan, taken from the U.S. patent documentation for the Vitus, illustrates this concept:

Introduced in 1979 and continuing to be manufactured and sold well into the 1990s, this approach was the dominant system for making aluminum frames.  Often referred to as “screwed and glued,” it resulted in very lightweight frames with a smooth and responsive ride quality.

Sakae Ringyo debuted their take on this approach in 1987, initially calling it the “Prizm” before moving to “Litage” which was a portmanteau of “Light-Age”.  Andy Muzi’s website has photos of serial number 2 along with the original decals. The SR catalog explained the manufacturing process as:

“5056 aluminum tubes are press-fitted to AC4C lugs, setting final alignment before bonding. Adhesive is then injected through a port, and flows evenly around a specially designed injection space for a uniform bond that encompasses the entire joint. This process yields a joint that is very durable and suitable for many applications.”

This technology also worked with carbon tubes, and as I discussed in my article on the Look KG 196, was the method by which carbon bicycles were made until the monocoque approach took over at the end of the 1980s.  Litage catalogs offered the frames in both aluminum and carbon, with both road and mountain bike versions:

The SR Litage caught the eye of 3Rensho boss Yoshi Konno in the 1980s.  His brand, originally narrowly focused on high-performance hand-built steel bicycles, was now diversifying into a wide variety of designs for different applications and customer demographics.  While I could not find a direct insight into why Konno chose to have his aluminum bicycles manufactured by a third party, I can guess that he did not want to invest the enormous resources necessary to develop and mass-produce a proprietary design.

Volume 8 of the 3Rensho catalog states in part that, “The times are changing” and acknowledges that aluminum, kevlar, and carbon fiber had become popular frame materials alongside Cro-Mo (steel).  It shows a black SR Litage frame in 3Rensho livery, with gold anodized lugs:

As to when the SR Liteage was introduced into 3Rensho’s line-up is unclear.  The first time it appears in a catalog I have is in Volume 7, in the more common silver finish.  The catalogs don’t carry dates (that I can find) but my assumption is that it was added sometime in 1988 or 1989.  They were offered as both framesets and complete bicycles.  The fact that the SR Litage is listed alongside the Katana in their catalogs indicates that it was a central part of their product offering in these years, and not a limited experiment.

My research online has turned up a number of well-photographed examples.  Some of the interesting variations include two-tone paint jobs and anodized lugs.  In terms of decals, 3Rensho typically used the same ones as found on their well-known Katana series, including the world champion stripes, “Super Record Export” chain stay detail, and “designed by 3Rensho” decal on the top tube.  Interestingly, some also carry SR Litage stickers on the top tubes, and all models included the SR logos on either side of the seat cluster, and on the fork crown.  Some examples below, starting off with some frame sets:

Next up, some complete examples:

The 3Rensho catalog also showed the “ATB” version of the Litage in their livery, and I recently found a great set of photos of one in Japan.  It’s in excellent condition, although I don’t think the group set is original.

 

Finally, I’d like to wrap this post up with a gallery of photos of a 3Rensho Litage frameset that I recently acquired.  I’m planning to build it up with 7-speed Dura Ace 7400 components, and looking forward to judging for myself how the ride compares to my hand-made steel 3Rensho Katana.  The next post will focus on the welded aluminum road and lo-pro pursuit frames made for 3Rensho by Yamakuni.  Scroll down for the frame gallery, plus a bonus set of hi-res scans of the SR Litage catalogs I’ve found online.