Kenneth Stagg wrote:
>A couple of the responses to my Vitus query mentioned the importers
>for a couple
>of brands. That reminds me....
>
>At the retail level it seemed that most buyers thought that they
>were getting a
>bike manufactured by the company named on the downtube. Frequently,
>of course,
>that wasn't the case. Would someone out there be able to clear this up? Who
>built the bikes, who designed the frames, who spec'd the parts, etc...?
In the early '70s Bike Boom, European manufacturers sent a lot of crap to the U.S. ("'ey, René, that one, she's a beet crooked--put that one in the pile to go to Amerique. Those rich fools will never know the deeference.")
In addition, there was a long-standing tradition in Italy that final frame prep was expected to be done by the retailer (chasing, facing, alignment.) However, most U.S. retailers lacked the tools and/or expertise to do this. In addition, the quality of paintwork on many of the prestigious Euro brands became rather spotty.
This got old after a while, and knowledgeable U.S. buyers demanded better bikes.
In the late '70s a number of smart U.S. importers came up with a solution. They imported bare frames from Italy, then did complete prep in the U.S. to high U.S. standards, chasing the threads, facing for the headset and bottom bracket, and painting the frames.
Some of these companies were Ten Speed Drive, Giordana, Lawee,
Torelli (Torelli and Giordana are still at it.)
>I'd also be interested in some history lessons on the big names (not
>necessarily
>big companies) behind the scenes of the late 70's and early 80's. Sheldon
>mentioned Ten Speed Drive and Larry mentioned Lawee. I have the feeling that
>most of the big Japanese brands were created brands but I'm begining to think
>that this may have applied to some of the European names as well.
Lawee created the ItalVega and later Univega brands. Specialized is a created brand, a designing/importing company, rather than an actual manufacturer.
Sheldon "Probably Lots More Don't Come To Mind" Brown
Newtonville, Massachusetts
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