General Cycling Discussion - They made bicycles?

Hey fellow wheelers! I have a question I've been meaning to ask about. I got it a while back from talking with people about one of my other hobbies: Photography. We were talking about equipment and such and got into the topic of cameras that we used. I mentioned that I used a General Electric camera called the GE A730, and everyone else asked "GE makes Cameras?"

That brings me to this topic. Have you ever come across a bicycle that was made by a company you don't normally associate with cycling? Such as when I rode to the library and saw a Panasonic Sport 500 like this one.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/ibike/pictures/365526/1986_panasonic_sport_500_lr_large.jpg

http://www.sicklines.com/gallery/data/534/medium/honda-RN01.jpg

And it's not a Colnago with an identity crisis either.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_o7-xdPu_kAY/TTCeGdOLOsI/AAAAAAAAA1w/ac9iGK570fk/s1600/triumph%2Bheadbadge%2Blogo.jpg

201426

OK, I know it's really a Raleigh, but I've never seen a Tim Horton's bike before.

http://www.upscaleswagger.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/veloce.jpg
I'm not sure who makes it really, but it's a Maserati BRANDED bike!

Jeep made bicycles.
Dasani?

Cadilac http://www.abikestore.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000002/cadillac-fleetwood-cruiser.jpg
Jeep http://www.jeep-tech-tips.com/images/comanchesahara-big.jpg
Chevrolet http://image.rakuten.co.jp/vvv/cabinet/07bic/crb266n-02.jpg
Mercedes-Benz http://www.carbuyersnotebook.com/Auto_Bike.jpg

My housemate's girlfriend rides a Land Rover, who prior to seeing it I thought only made cars.

I am not certain the two companies are related. I would suspect Panasonic had their bike sbuilt by Giant, Myata, Merida, or one of the other 4 or 5 companies that actually make the bikes.

hold on to your hat for this one.. shimano also makes, and I think derives more income from, fishing equipment!

Campagnolo at one time also built auto racing wheels.

Bianchi built and raced Motorcycles, built cars, trucks and even aeroplane engines.

Henderson and Excelsior were both motorcycle brands that were also found on Schwinn bicycles.

Harley-Davidson and Indian made bicycles and they are highly collectible today.

Nobody mentioned Bridgestone yet?

J.C. Higgins was the brand of bikes sold by Sears from the late 40's until the early 60's. This name was on numerous sporting goods sold through Sears

Iver Johnson also made firearms.

BSA made firearms and motorcycles.

Humber was an automobile manufacturer.

AMF offered the Roadmaster line of bicycles in the 60's and 70's. They also made bowling equipment and owned Harley Davidson for a while.

Raleigh made motorcycles at one time and Sturmey-Archer made motorcycle transmissions.

New Departure made hubs for years and they were part of General Motors.

Yamaha and Kawasaki offered full suspension BMX bikes in the mid 70's

John Deere offered bicycles at one time but they were made by someone else.

Cannondale started out making clothing and bags before they made bicycles. They later branched out to motorcycles and ATV's which many feel led to the demise of the company.

I think BMW also has a line of bikes

There was a SE Lager in the shop that had been re-branded by UV Vodka. I think that's the wierdest pairing I've seen yet.

You think more of baseball equipment and such, but the bikes
are not that common.

Sweet ride BTW, $10 thrift shop bike, all it needed was TLC and
cleaning. Had new tires and updated wheels already.

They were sold by Sears in the mid 70's

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/4087/dscf1992z.jpg

Curtiss Wright,major aerospace company, is half descended from a bike shop in Dayton Ohio.

http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/vintage/images/4506VV2064.jpg

201426

OK, I know it's really a Raleigh, but I've never seen a Tim Horton's bike before.

the tim hortons by my house did a giveaway with these. they had it chained up inside the restaurant, i didn't win :[ haha i probably wouldn't have ridden it anyway..but still.

I am not . . . hold on to your hat for this one.. shimano also makes, and I think derives more income from, fishing equipment! . . .

no surprise for me there; Shimano fishing reels are top-notch and there are hundreds of millions of fishermen and women world-wide who know this. I personally own 5 Shimano reels.

My first bike was a KIA

Austro-Daimler / Puch (Vent Noir II = something hot)

GMC (Denali = something not)

I am not certain the two companies are related. I would suspect Panasonic had their bike sbuilt by Giant, Myata, Merida, or one of the other 4 or 5 companies that actually make the bikes.

It *is* the same Panasonic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panasonic_Corporation#National.2FPanasonic_bicycles). It's one of those huge Japanese conglomerates that makes everything.

Jeep made bicycles.
Dasani?


Cadilac http://www.abikestore.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000002/cadillac-fleetwood-cruiser.jpg
Jeep http://www.jeep-tech-tips.com/images/comanchesahara-big.jpg
Chevrolet http://image.rakuten.co.jp/vvv/cabinet/07bic/crb266n-02.jpg
Mercedes-Benz http://www.carbuyersnotebook.com/Auto_Bike.jpg


My housemate's girlfriend rides a Land Rover, who prior to seeing it I thought only made cars.


I think BMW also has a line of bikes


GMC (Denali = something not)

Jeep, Dasani, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover, BMW and GMC don't make bicycles. They simply contract out to other bicycle manufacturers to make promotional bikes with their branded stickers on them.

Jeep, Dasani, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover, BMW and GMC don't make bicycles. They simply contract out to other bicycle manufacturers to make promotional bikes with their branded stickers on them.

Well, if that's your standard then a lot of bike companies don't make bikes. But to the general public, it's the same thing.

And I remember some really crappy Honda mountain bikes too.

I don't think they make bicycles, but Yamaha has my favorite conglomerate logo: it's three tuning forks that reflect their musical beginnings.

It *is* the same Panasonic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panasonic_Corporation#National.2FPanasonic_bicycles). It's one of those huge Japanese conglomerates that makes everything.

That just reminded me. I was pretty surprised when I was a kid, and got my first set of genuine Tioga Comp III tires. Molded right into the side was was the name "Mitsubishi."

It *is* the same Panasonic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panasonic_Corporation#National.2FPanasonic_bicycles). It's one of those huge Japanese conglomerates that makes everything.

Yep. National/Panasonic even made bikes for other companies. I believe they were one of the first outside contractors to make bikes for Schwinn.

I don't think they make bicycles, but Yamaha has my favorite conglomerate logo: it's three tuning forks that reflect their musical beginnings.

Yamaha made the Moto-Bike in the mid 70's. A heavy, full suspension 20" wheel BMX bike.

On an interesting side note, a while back, I went to a Yamaha dealer to see if parts were available for these bikes. The dealer had a microfiche of the bike and could still get some of the parts for them!

That just reminded me. I was pretty surprised when I was a kid, and got my first set of genuine Tioga Comp III tires. Molded right into the side was was the name "Mitsubishi."

I think that's actually Mitsuboshi.

Mitsubishi did have some tie in with bicycles waaaay back when but I cant remember which company it was... Maybe a little bicycle engine or something like that?

Have you guys all lost your minds? How come none of you has mentioned the pioneers of American aviation, the Wright Brothers, who are better known for their airplanes than for their bicycle shop?

I sold beauty supplies for a while and we had Wahl clippers, they had
a promotion and gave away bikes when you bought a pair of clippers.
the bikes where labeled Wahl. And called Clippers.

Some day that is going to drive some collector nuts.

I think they were Huffy Roadmasters.

BSA made firearms and motorcycles.

Company name is Birmingham Small Arms, after all ..

lots of the product tie ins mentioned were just paint job change on existing bikes.

I'm waiting to see the Victoria's Secret bike

At one time I was the proud owner of an Indian Chief, bicycle that is. I sure would like to own one of it's newer, larger, motorized brethren though.

Rolling Rock?

There are probably thousands of small batch promo bikes out there.

At one point Hyundai actually produced bicycles, they also make heavy equipment, cars, trucks and have a large department store chain in Korea.

Aaron :)

I'm waiting to see the Victoria's Secret bike

I think I have one, though I call mine, "Lady Xizang". She's only 16 years old, but she's already been around. Very cute and sexy, full sized but sleek and lightweight girl. Nice rear, and firm but yielding front.

How come none of you has mentioned the pioneers of American aviation, the Wright Brothers, who are better known for their airplanes than for their bicycle shop?

Maybe because they read the posts and saw that I already had covered the subject in post 14, posting about the Curtiss Wright corporation. :lol:

I don't think that John Deere made their bicycles. I'm not sure who did, maybe Kent.

http://www.rmauctions.com/images/cars/mm07/MM07_L101_1.jpg

I don't think that John Deere made their bicycles. I'm not sure who did, maybe Kent.

http://www.rmauctions.com/images/cars/mm07/MM07_L101_1.jpg
John Deere is one of the most licensed product names there is, right after Harley Davidson I think. Several bike companies have licensed the JD brand, most recently was Nirve I believe.

There are alot of promotional bikes with company names.

Did you know that International Harvester made refrigerators and stuff like that?

Hey fellow wheelers! I have a question I've been meaning to ask about. I got it a while back from talking with people about one of my other hobbies: Photography. We were talking about equipment and such and got into the topic of cameras that we used. I mentioned that I used a General Electric camera called the GE A730, and everyone else asked "GE makes Cameras?"

That brings me to this topic. Have you ever come across a bicycle that was made by a company you don't normally associate with cycling? Such as when I rode to the library and saw a Panasonic Sport 500 like this one.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/ibike/pictures/365526/1986_panasonic_sport_500_lr_large.jpg

I used to own a Panasonic bicycle. It was the early 1980's in Rochester, NY.

most recently was Nirve I believe.

Is Nirve a decent brand?

Is Nirve a decent brand?
No direct experience. Mostly beach cruisers.


http://i56.tinypic.com/28t9lw3.jpg

I used to own a Panasonic bicycle. It was the early 1980's in Rochester, NY.

I have a Panasonic bike that is branded Giant.

Is Nirve a decent brand?

The ones I have seen are put together well and seem to use decent quality components. IMHO you are paying a fair bit for the name on the bike and there are better values out there for the dollar. But they seem to have a pretty decent following of their various boutique models and if someone is going to buy one and ride it works for me.

Aaron :)

There is currently a Smith & Wesson brand bike marketed to police use. It is essentially a licensing deal to use the name.

There was a Winchester bike but I don't know if they made it or farmed it out. It was pre-ww2.

Iver Johnson, a defunct revolver company, made bikes.

Miyata, of course, was a gunsmith before he made bikes.

The ones I have seen are put together well and seem to use decent quality components. IMHO you are paying a fair bit for the name on the bike and there are better values out there for the dollar. But they seem to have a pretty decent following of their various boutique models and if someone is going to buy one and ride it works for me.

Aaron :)

I ask because my wife's friend just got one and I put it together. She looked locally for a 3-speed cruiser and couldn't find anything she liked in her price range, so she ordered online. I thought it looked pretty decent- Shimano Nexus hub, reasonably solid construction. The only thing that seemed a bit cheap was the front brake (rear has a coaster).

During the 70s, the Japanese were manufacturing EVERYTHING. In addition to turning out dozens of different brands of bicycles, they were making guitars, other musical instruments.... Many labeled with defunct American marques that had gone under and were available for purchase.

The sports-branded (and other) bikes are simply turned out by bike factories with the named corporation on them essentially as an advertising gimmick. Put the name out there... For instance, I ride a Smith & Wesson patrol bike. Smith doesn't make these bikes; the current ones are made like most lower-end bikes these days. Spec-built Chinese frame with various Shimano, SRAM, and Bontrager bits bolted on.

Weren't most mass produced bikes made in Taiwan for a long time? I bought my GT Xizang titanium mountain bike in 1995, and they made a really big deal over it being hand made in the United States. A really big deal...

Curtiss Wright, major aerospace company, is half descended from a bike shop in Dayton Ohio.

http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/vintage/images/4506VV2064.jpg

I should do my homework. The Curtiss half of the company is also descended from a bike store. Glenn Curtiss started as a bicycle messenger, then a bike racer and bike store owner.

I have two John Deeres, a Panasonic, and a Nissan Yama. I love orphans.

Peugeot builds cars in Frnce. They sold some here for a while