Originally Posted by
bulldog1935
Japanese bikes and Japanese components ran past the Europeans in the late 70s. Motobecane was using SunTour on their higher grade sport touring bikes in '71 but it took Raleigh to '77 to put these on their food group models (GP and Super Course). By then it was too late and the snob factor of European over Japanese totally evaporated. Shimano got a big prestige jump when 600 was used on Italian racing bikes.
Campagnolo will always be the benchmark for racing bikes, and Sachs survived by eventually moving to Taiwan.
True. As Chas. observed and I experienced with a 1971 American Eagle (Nishiki) Semi-Pro (Competition), Japanese frame development lagged behind Japanese component development. The Japanese were not exporting world class frames to the US until well into the 1970s, but the SunTour slant planograph, patented in the very late 1960s, was a winner from day one. Most of the other Japanese components, such as DiaCompe centerpull brakes, Sugino Mighty Compe cranksets, Kuokoto Pro Ace pedals, and Sunshine (Sanshin) hubs, were copies of popular and well-regarded European components, although Sugino came out with a few innovations, such as the Mighty Victory outer-specific chainring. The Japanese learned quickly and kept innovating, eventually leaving the more conservative European firms behind.
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"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069
Last edited by John E; 07-26-16 at 06:54 AM.