Road Cycling - My bike; Panasonic

Hi i have been riding for a while like most i started out riding a mountain bike. I recently bought an Panasonic dx 1000 which is a decent bike i actually bought it today for 15 dollars which is a good deal for a road bike. What is your opinions on Panasonic. btw the bike seems light weight at least its 3 times lighter than my mountain bike.nthanks Jason

hiya Jason, don't know anything about the bike, but wanted to say welcome to the forums :)

I don't know if Panasonic actually makes bikes, but they might. They do make toilets, so I guess anything is possible.

well i know that they atleast used to make them, my dad had one, it was many moons ago and i was pretty young so i don't remember anything about it other than it had disk brakes and my dad thought that was pretty neat. this was probably 30 years ago.
anyway heres a web site about them
http://www.yellowjersey.org/pana.html

thanks i'll post a picture of it one day. The weird thing is the bike on the frame says "A custom paint job my Panasonic" how strange is this common.

Yeah, it's probably some bike made by some company and just painted with Panasonic logos for some kind of promotion or advertising.

princebaal said,

Yeah, it's probably some bike made by some company and just painted with Panasonic logos for some kind of promotion or advertising.

no if you read the story on the link i posted you'll see they were a decent bike that was around for awhile.

thank you for your help the frame and the crank arms were made by "Shake it" sounds weird and the reflectors were made by "Cat Eye" i havent heard much on the net about this model dx 1000 hmm. thanks again. Jason

it is the same company, read the link i posted

Originally posted by shaharidan
it is the same company, read the link i posted

Hey thanks!....................I thought I knew it all......I guess living in Japan for over 20 years didn't help either........my first 'real' bike back then was a 24" wheel Panasonic.

I bought a DX 2000 for my son. It was inexpensive and he wanted to try road biking with me. We just finished a 400 mile week long bike tour with no trouble. I saw one other of the same model. Thinking about upgrading with new wheels, etc. but not sure it is worth the investment. Would I be better off getting him a new bike?

I was just wondering, if you're among those cyclists that shave their legs, is your razor a Panasonic, too? I can't think of other bike brands that also market shavers. Gillette? Remington? Even, if they aren't, these names could pass for bike/frame brands. I know Velocity Wheels makes a rim called the "Razor"... now I'm rambling...too much post-ride beer...

mmmm post ride beer!!!!!

George, you lived in japan for 20 years? Wow, this country, japan, causes me great concern as a gaijin and a cyclists.....

where did you live? I'm in northern tohokou region

What is your opinions on Panasonic. btw the bike seems light weight at least its 3 times lighter than my mountain bike.nthanks Jason [/B][/QUOTE]

Most of the Panasonic bikes built in the 70s and 80s were of higher quality. They offered a custom paint job option, and as I recall could put customers' names on the top tube. The Schwinn LeTour was built by Panasonic.

Maybe this person can help you with your questions?

http://www.yellowjersey.org/pana.html

The crank is probably Sakae not Shake-it!!

I have been riding a Panasonic for about ten years. Japanese steel frame has held up great. The only things I have ever changed were the seat , chain and tires. This thing is an animal !
Panasonic would paint the bike for you with your name on the frame if that is what you wanted. I still ride this bike at least one hundred miles per week, year round.
I'm glad to see someone else riding this bike. I have never run into anyone on the road with a Panasonic.

Panasonic bikes were made by Fuji Bicycle Corp, itself a divivsion of Fujitsu Heavy indutries, the same people responsible for huigh rise buildings, ships, aircraft, cars (subaru) and various consumer electronics items.
They were very nice bikes, a bit on the heavy side, but well made. They can be compared to a Bridgestone RB series road bike of the same era which was broadly comparible to a Peugeot, Vitus (the Al Panasonics) and other continental steel frames.

thanks everyone for your opinions. Jason btw it did say Sakae.

Originally posted by anikuma
George, you lived in japan for 20 years? Wow, this country, japan, causes me great concern as a gaijin and a cyclists.....

where did you live? I'm in northern tohokou region

I was born and raised in Yokohama.......and I'm commonly reffered to as a 'Hamakko'. Attended US Armed Forces schools in Yokohama and Yokosuka Naval Base til graduation..... as a matter of fact, we just had our 30-year high school reunion last summer in Anaheim, Calif.

Anikuma-san wa donna jitensha wo notteru no desu ka? Watakushi wa ima fixed-gear no jitensha san-dai to Litespeed no road bike wo notte masu. Jia, mata-ne.......Joji

What's with all the past-tense on Panasonic? They still make bikes, and good ones. FYI they are a division of National/Matsu****a Denki, which is a fighting sibling of Matsu****a Denko.

The two electonic giants split when the founder left the company to his two sons. They share the brand but are on very bad terms.

Do we have to do the rest of this thread in Japanese?;)

my uncle has a celeste-ish green panasonic. it's really nice, with some older high end shimano components and tubular rims. he used it to ride from san diego,ca to portland,or 10 years ago and uses it as his main bike still. they seem to be solid bikes if maintained well.

I have and ride my 1975 Schwinn approved Voyageur II, which was made in Japan by Panasonic to Schwinn specs. Panasonic was and is part of the Matsh**** congomerate. Matsu*** also owns Natiuonal Tire which makes the

Panaracer

tire brand and also made the Schwinn approved LeTour tires the bike came with (27 x 1 1/4).

The Voyageur used double butted 4130 (chrome Moly) tubing, very similair to 531 (Mg-Moly) in weight and strength. The Voyaguer II weighed in at 26# fully equipped, about the same as a P-15 Paramount.

Panasonic made the bikes for Schwinn as the World Bicycle Company. In 976 they had a complete line which matched Schwinn line from Chicago. The frames used all differrent tubings, from DB 4130 to 1010, depending on price.

The Panasonic in the inital post was probably straight gauge or double butted 4130 based on the comment concerning lightness.

Also, Fuji is entirely seperate company.

John Hawrylak
Woodstown NJ

Panasonic DX 2000 road bike - FOR SALE, make me an offer. Late 70's very early 80's vintage in excellent condition, very low miles. Seattle area.

thanks i'll post a picture of it one day. The weird thing is the bike on the frame says "A custom paint job my Panasonic" how strange is this common.
I used to work for a shop that was a Panasonic dealer. If I remember correctly, it was possible to order the bike custom painted from the factory. It's been 15+ years since I worked there, so I'm not sure of the process or options anymore.

Panasonic had a customized paint job program through their dealers, called PICS, (POS in Japan ;) ,) wherein you could order the exact color you want, and have your name put on the bike.I think Panasonics are the bomb, if you don't believe me, ask Sheldon Brown (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/japan.html) or Yellow Jersey. (http://www.yellowjersey.org/pana.html)

OOps, didn't realize the spam-zombie had struck! Oh weel, those two links are about the most informative things I've found about Panasonics, in case future generations need to know...

Funny, I was researching Terry bikes for my girlfriend this morning and saw that many were made by Panasonic. Didn't realize they still did bikes.



Panasonic bikes were made by Fuji Bicycle Corp, itself a divivsion of Fujitsu Heavy indutries, the same people responsible for huigh rise buildings, ships, aircraft, cars (subaru) and various consumer electronics items.

I've owned a few Fujis in my day, and could swear that I once read that they weren't actually part of Fujitsu, and had in fact been a US company for decades. I can't remember where I read that . . . I think my brain is fading today.

My first real bike was a Panasonic track bike. It was a fine bike indeed and I really wish I still could ride it.

My ex-girlfriend had a 1980s Panasonic with a girlie-top-tube back when we were living together. She loved the bike but never rode it because it had old tires.

This was 3 years ago because I took up bicycling myself, so I never bothered fixing it.

When we moved she left it on the sidewalk as a freebie so whoever picked it up is a lucky dog I guess.

BUT I also heard that if you buy a bike from a company that also makes TVs, it's going to suck.

kinda cool how my 1 year old post came back to life :) first post on 07-05-03

Do we have to do the rest of this thread in Japanese?;)


hai! zehi nihongo de kakimasho! Nihon ni sundeita toki (jyu nen mae ni), tomodachi wa panasonic jitensha o norima*hita.

(Golly, I guess if you are talking in past tense in japanes one must have a sailors mouth according to the asterix censoring software)

i havent heard much on the net about this model dx 1000 hmm. thanks again. JasonAbout bottom of the barrel in the DX lineup.

What is your opinions on Panasonic. btw the bike seems light weight at least its 3 times lighter than my mountain bike.nthanks Jason [/B]

Most of the Panasonic bikes built in the 70s and 80s were of higher quality. [/QUOTE]..................................They made the whole range, from bottom of the barrel junk to good stuff with Columbus tubing and Campy and Dura Ace groups.

They were very nice bikes, a bit on the heavy side, but well made. They can be compared to a Bridgestone RB series road bike of the same era which was broadly comparible to a Peugeot, Vitus (the Al Panasonics) and other continental steel frames.They made a whole range.Some of it was junkue.

I think Panasonics are the bomb, if you don't believe me, ask Sheldon Brown (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/japan.html) or Yellow Jersey. (http://www.yellowjersey.org/pana.html)Wonder if Sheldon ever saw a Panasonic catalogue and all the Hi-ten stuff in it? Not that they didn't also make some good stuff too.

I had a red one back in the early 1990's , I see If I can dig up a pic ..

my dad had a panasonic about 7 years ago and knew a good deal about its history. at one point the japanese ceo was a biker and decided that making bikes would be good for his company. they made some nice steel bikes (my dad's had the last 600 gourset i believe.) for that price it sounds like not a bad deal

I'm rebuilding a Panasonic DX-2000 right now. I bought it new in 1982 and rode the hell out of it for years. I was going to get rid of it a few years ago but instead let it rot in the garage for a while then resurrected it last season.

I like the lugged steel frame and its been a comfortable ride for me, so I stripped and repainted it. I found some sweet 700c wheels with Campy Record hubs, switched to SIS shifters and derailleurs (600's) and put on some properly sized ergo bars and aero brake levers. I think it's going to be a nice ride when I'm done with it.

BTW, the guys at Yellow Jersey were very helpful and got me exactly the right new bottom bracket I needed.

Pistol on board !

You're obviously not obsessed with weight weenie issues.

BTW, this was a very informative thread.

Back in the '70's and '80's, Panasonic/National made road bikes under those names, and for Schwinn. They were sold in every price range, from entry level up to Pro level. And, they were generally among the better bikes in each price range.

Several times, "Consumer Reports" gave Panasonic the top rating in a given price group. Folks would rush to dealers, who never had enough of the "best buy" model. Consumers did not know that a similar bike was across the street, being sold under the "Schwinn" name.

The road bike world of the 1970's was full of morons and snobs, just like today. If a bike did not have a Reynolds 531 frame and a Campy drivetrain, it was labeled as "junk" by the folks whose wallets were larger than their brains. A lot of resistance to Japanese bikes, Japanese frames, Japanese components.

But, with help from Schwinn and Panasonic, hundreds of thousands of folks bought bikes made with Japanese steel and Japanese drivetrains, and discovered what it was like to own a road bike that was both very reliable and very affordable.

Just before Panasonic left the US of A market in the late '80's, they introduced a factory "custom" bike option. A customer went to her neighborhood LBS and was fitted for one of a wide range of sizes. Picked one of dozens of paint schemes. The order was faxed to Japan. About ten or twelve weeks later, the "custom" bike arrived at the LBS.

Unfortunately, at that very point in time, wages and other costs were soaring in Japan, the Dollar/Yen ratio was going crazy, and Giant in Taiwan was beginning to turn out high quality bikes for half the cost of a similar Japanese bike. So, good-bye to Panasonic.

My favorite bike from 1982 to 1985 was a Panasonic. A "crook" stripped it down to the frame. He only left the frame and the Kryptonite lock...kinda wish I kept the frame for wall art.

I had a fantastic Panasonic road bike, back in the 80's. I was in high school, so it was my only transportation. I can't tell you how many miles I put on that old girl, but...

I was crushed when I found out my mom had gotten rid of it.

The bike had this neat feature that allowed you to change gears while coasting.

I have a Panasonic DX-1200 that I've had since 1988. I've since turned it into a cyclocross bike. I get all the good Panasonic jokes at the local races. "Hey...nice razor" and "wow, your mom let you ride the TV today" are two of my favorites. Pretty much all that's left of the original bike is the frame. Its a monster though. I actually like riding it better than my newer TREK 5200 in some cases. Its just seems sturdier or something.

Informative, indeed.
I have learned quite a bit from this thread and the links posted. My twenty years old bicycle I still ride regularly has many components with famliar names I found in sheldon's web site. I have a little more respect to my bicycle now.

My wife and I pought Panasonics quite a few years ago while we were in Colorado Springs. We road them all the time. We put them in in storage for years and just got out of the habbit of using them. We finally about a month ago decided to start using them again. ALl we had to do was clean them up and replace the tires and tubes since they had started to crack. We love them, they work like new, and we go everywhere with them now. Its also neat that when people see them no body has ever heard of them. They are actually made by Matsushi ta which is a japanese company but sold as Panasonic in the US. but I don't think they sell them here anymore. From one review I read about them they are very well built bikes. Here is a link to some reviews of some Japanese brands http://www.sheldonbrown.com/japan.html
Happy riding.. CMOTB :)

TimB as a "Senior Member I'd expect more from you than spreading stories that Panasonic Bicycles were produced by Fuji. Baah. Fuji has never produced the quantities of bicycles that Panasonic has and would only dream of reaching Panasonic's numbers in sale. Panasonic is the marketing name for the National Bicycle Industrial Co. of Japan. Just as jhawrylak noted above Panaracr is the brand produce by National Tire of Japan. National Tire and National Bicycle are companies under the Matshu****a umbrella of companies not Fujitsa.

Perhaps we all need to remember the day when American Express had a younger Edwin R. Schwinn hoping into a rickshaw outside a hotel in Japan. At the close of the commercial Eddy's name gets typed onto an American Express card. So what was Eddy doing in Japan. Negotiating with none other than National Bicycle (Panasonic).
Others above also mentioned the PICS program (Panasonic Individual Custom System).
They had a great program for frame sets and complete bikes. You could choose your color and a DA or Ultegra equiped complete bike and it was sent to you within three weeks with your name on the top tube or your name engraved in the stem. I too still ride one of these fine Tange Prestige thoroughbreds. I use to laugh when people would say "what a Panasonic bike" yet rant and rave about all the Schwinn Prologues, Paramounts and host of other top bikes that Panasonic actually made. They produced bikes for every other major name plate in Japan at one point or another including Nishiki, Miyata and yes even Bridgestone(even Grant Peterson knows this is a fact). Their brazing robots for lugged frames produced the finest weld temp control ever used in bicycle production. They still do to this very day. They still have their custom program, now called POS(Panasonic Order Sytem) and have some great looking Ti bikes as well.
Checkout this thread.
http://216.239.37.104/translate_c?hl=en&u=http://www.panabyc.co.jp/products/pos/products.htm&prev=/search%3Fq%3DPanasonic%2BPOS%2BBike%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D

The last year I sold Panasonic at retail they had taken their entry price point road bikes to Taiwan to remain competitive. Their line up always use to be as follows for road bikes:
Sport 500 (Hi-Ten with stem mount and 27x1-3/8" steel rims"
Sport (was only in the line a few years, basically a Sport 500 w/allo wheels)
Sport Deluxe
Sport 1000
DX2000 (Midgrade components and the first 700C bike in the line)
DX3000 (fitness bike with Tange Infinity Tubing and 700C wheels)
DX4000 (Tange Double butted Fast Fitness entry level race bike with 700C wheels)
DX5000 (Prestige frame and fork with Shimano 600 Ultegra 7speed)