Hi All,
Just as Caloi was on the scene (in the US) as the bike sponsor, in name only I believe - I think the actual bikes were all still Merckx built, I had a couple of bike shops. Caloi courted shops to become dealers, and they played on their history and family ownership, many times comparing themselves to Schwinn. Schwinn at the time was being sort of bounced around from buyer to buyer and I think Caloi deemed this comparison a not so good one pretty quickly. As Bob's post showed, the company is a very long standing manufacturer, and does indeed parallel Schwinn, at least in that aspect, and as a top selling brand in South America, I believe.
Greg Overton warming my toes near Denver, Colorado
Quoting Stronglight49@aol.com:
> Interesting question Howard.
>
> I began to hear of the racing bikes during the 1990s through ads
> in cycling magazines. Apparently the company was a family
> owned cycle business dating from the 1890s when the Italian
> born founder emigrated to Brazil. Here is a link briefly
> detailing the company history.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/
>
> Here is a small reproduction of a 1972 advertising poster
> showing one of their folding bikes - which were their most
> popular models during the 1970s.
>
> http://sellwoodcycle.com/
>
> Here is a quote from a Latin American business blog site
> (mainly regarding the newly re-organized company
> which is hoping to stimulate business by focusing on the
> century long history of the bicycle company):
>
> "...The company also has a US subsidiary opened in the 1990s
> and based in Florida. The US based Caloi, now big in the
> cruiser market, moved from mountain biking into the road-racing
> market and for some time co-sponsored the Motorola-Caloi team.
> Among those cyclists who rode Caloi bicycles designed by
> Eddie Mercx, was Lance Armstrong, as the main athlete."
>
>
> BOB HANSON, ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, USA