I stand corrected on the Suzue hub and SunTour. I just went off with a quick reply on my reply the other day, my memory is fading. Sanshin also made huge numbers of hubs for Specialized. The top model worked very well indeed. Has anyone ever seen the late 1980's Superbe high flange track hubs? These were Keihin approved and were very nice.
Jim Merz Bainbridge Is. WA
-----Original Message----- From: classicrendezvous-admin@bikelist.org [mailto:classicrendezvous-admin@bikelist.org] On Behalf Of Paul C. Brodek Sent: Sunday, August 11, 2002 3:18 AM To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: Re: FW: [CR]Superbe stem info wanted
Hello Jim & All,
I always thought SunTour's hub partner was Sanshin, not Suzue. I'm hazy on the late 70s, but by the mid-80s most of Suzue's production was for Shimano and much of Sanshin's production was for SunTour. Sanshin's president was Mamoru Kawai, the son of SunTour's chairman Junzo Kawai. I assumed that Mamoru's strategic position at Sanshin meant SunTour owned a chunk of Sanshin, but never knew the details. (BTW, pretty standard Japanese corporate practice - in a similar vein Miyata is partially owned/controlled by Matsushita/Panasonic, and Miyata's president was usually recruited from Panasonic's executive ranks.)
I always thought the Shimano constellation (called "JBM"?) included Suzue (hubs), SR (Sakae Ringyo - stems, posts), KKT (Kyokuto - pedals) and Tange (headsets), while Maeda/SunTour's group ("JEX") included Sanshin (hubs), Yoshigai (Dia-Compe - brakes), Kusuki (stems, posts) MKS (Mikashima - pedals) and Hatta (headsets). Looking at the parts it's pretty clear that early Superbe pedals were rebadged Mikashima Unique Custom, and the large-flange hubs look to my eyes to be rebadged Sanshin ProAm.
Suzue's factory was physically closer to SunTour, within a few kilometers of the Mihara-cho plant, while Sanshin was further away in Shiga-ken. As Jim noted, since Maeda/SunTour crashed and burned, and the Mihara-cho plant is no more, who built what for whom and when is just a sad little historical footnote. Maybe I need to dust off my Superbe Pro-equipped Brodeus (the only frame I ever built, at a Proteus framebuilding class in '82) for a misty-eyed Sunday morning ride....
Cheers,
Paul Brodek Hillsdale, NJ
On Sat, 10 Aug 2002 08:01:42 -0700, "Jim Merz" <jimmerz@qwest.net>
wrote:
>Also, SunTour owned Suzue during the period in question here. It was in
>a different plant however. You are correct in the makers for the
various
>Superbe parts except for the cranks, Sugino made them.
>
>Jim Merz
>Bainbridge Is. WA
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>Sent: Saturday, August 10, 2002 7:51 AM
>To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
>Subject: FW: [CR]Superbe stem info wanted
>
>SunTour did not make the stem, crank, pedal or seat posts. This group
>strategy was an attempt to compete with Shimano. Unfortunately it
failed
>and SunTour crashed and burned.
>
>Jim Merz
>
>-----Original Message-----
>Sent: Friday, August 09, 2002 6:30 PM
>To: FujiFish1@aol.com; classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
>Subject: Re: [CR]Superbe stem info wanted
>
> I have a SR Royal stem on a 78 Centurion that came with Suntour
Cyclone
>(predating Superbe) that matches the description of the stem. I have
>assumed
>that Superbe group came out of the parts that made up a Suntour high
end
>"Cyclone Group" from 78 - Gran Compe brakes, SR Royal stem, crank and
SR
>seat post, Suzue Pro-am hubs.
> How much of the Superbe group did Suntour make?
>
>David Stow
>Jacksonville Beach, Fl
Paul C. Brodek
Hillsdale, N.J. U.S.A.
E-mail: pcb@skyweb.net