Milano specialised mtb

[Dragbike]

Hi all , new to the forum and have been given a Milano Specialised mountain bike , just wondering if anyone has any information about these ?
The frame is predominantly red , original paint , and has Exage equipment throughout , 26” wheels with road pattern tyres .
Thank you.

Milano bike

[gaz]

Welcome to the forum.

Looks like late 80's, particularly the U-brake. Exage came in two flavours, Trail and Mountain, similar position in the groupset tree to today's Acera/Altus/Alivio.

[Dragbike]

Thanks Gaz , a little earlier than I thought , I was thinking 90’s , condition pretty good for its age .

[gaz]

I could be wrong. Shimano parts (presume original) will have a two letter manufacturing date code which should narrow it down.

[PT1029]

I'd say it was early/mid 1990's, I was working in a LBS then, and I remember Exage came out at that time.

[mattsccm]

My Giant had Exage kit in 1988 incl those U brakes

[gregoryoftours]

Nothing special but a solid and simple usable bike from I would say late 80s. They stopped using u brakes on MTBs for a reason, they are badly placed to pick up all sorts of crap from the road, and keep an eye on the pads on that same brake ( the rear u-brake) as they will dive up the rim toward the tyre quite rapidly as they wear. Thumb shifters rarely stop working, the chain and freewheel will last a long time assuming they're not already too worn. The biopace (oval rings) chainset is of decent enough quality having bolted on chainrings as opposed to a cheapy one riveted together. It has a certain very old school charm about it.