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What do you know about the Panasonic Team 1200 Custom bicycle?

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What do you know about the Panasonic Team 1200 Custom bicycle?

Old 01-10-19, 12:26 AM
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What do you know about the Panasonic Team 1200 Custom bicycle?

Can anyone tell me about a bike I came across, it's a Panasonic and on its top tube it says "Team 1200 Custom" with "Special Hand Made" in smaller print underneath. Thanks for any background or information you can provide about it.


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Old 01-10-19, 02:20 AM
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Originally Posted by since6
Can anyone tell me about a bike I came across, it's a Panasonic and on its top tube it says "Team 1200 Custom" with "Special Hand Made" in smaller print underneath. Thanks for any background or information you can provide about it.


The only thing I know about it is you should buy it.
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Old 01-10-19, 07:35 AM
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Check out the Panasonic Museum:
https://www.panasonicbikemuseum.info...m-petes-cycle/
https://www.panasonicbikemuseum.info...m-1200-custom/
Apparently in 1989 (at least), one could order a "PICS" Panasonic Individual Custom" frame.
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Old 01-10-19, 09:17 AM
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Thanks merziac and jeirvine and yes merziac looking at other pictures it has what appears to be a complete Shimano 600 Tri-Color Gruppo so I tossed my hat into the auction and won. It will probably be a week or so before it gets packed up, boxed and shipped from Iowa. After looking at the information in the Panasonic Museum I'm pretty excited. After it arrives and I get it cleaned up I'll post pictures. Thanks

Was 1989 the only year these were available for sale in America? From the Museum it sounds like the same program in Japan (called POS, LOL, no wonder the PICS acronym in America) continued after 1989, but were the PICS bikes only sold in 1989? Was 1989 the last year Panasonic bikes were sold in America? Please correct me if I have things wrong from what I gleaned from the Panasonic Museum, again my Thanks.

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Old 01-10-19, 09:26 AM
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Very nice, and very rare. No idea any of these were loose from captivity.
I always wanted one of the Team Europe and Team USA bikes, I think they were called.
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Old 01-10-19, 10:00 AM
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Thanks RobbieTunes that was my impression too about rarety from the Panasonic Musuem. If I understand the system a PICS bike is both rare as not many were made and a one-of bike custom made from the choices allowed within PICS by the owner.

In the PICS catalog they list four models you could order, Triathlon Team, ATB Team MC, Road Team America and Time Trial Time Trial, however I find no mention of "1200" and have not yet come across pictures on the web of other PICS Panasonics with the "1200" in the model name. Can anyone shed light on the "1200" designation as used for PICS Panasonic's?

This bike has Light Purple and Sonic Black as it two primary colors (you could choose from 15 colors) with lovely fade and a unique cross hatch design on the seat tube, won't say more as a picture captures a thousand words and so will wait until it arrives, cleaned up (very dusty in pictures for auction) and then will post more.
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Old 01-10-19, 10:22 AM
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Originally Posted by since6
Can anyone tell me about a bike I came across, it's a Panasonic and on its top tube it says "Team 1200 Custom" with "Special Hand Made" in smaller print underneath. Thanks for any background or information you can provide about it.
All i know is please post up many PICS of this frame when it arrives! Thats a really nice pearl lavenderish color contrasting with the black paint.
Most late 80s Panasonic bikes so nicely done. A shame they didnt last Stateside.
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Old 01-10-19, 10:53 AM
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Nothing to share but my admiration. Looking forward to seeing more.

Never owned a Panasonic yet I find it one of the fascinating companies of cycling. Product offering and quality -they covered it all, off the rack to customs such as the OP. Premier Japan. Pro big budget race teams.

Great thread to lurk>>
Panasonic owners? Roll call!
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Old 01-10-19, 11:49 AM
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In 1989-90, I had a Japanese college roommmate who was willing to facilitate my bike loving self and had his father get me an English language catalog. The PICS system was a lot like ordering a Mercian. Supply the desired TT and ST measurements, your weight, desired braze-ons, and color scheme which was almost infinite permutations. And they'd build it to spec, paint it however over-the-top 80s you wanted, and ship it out. Going off of dusty memory, of course. As I recall, that was right around the time where the Yen-Dollar ratio went to crap and it went from "affordable Bespoke" to "Waterford custom prices plus extra shipping from Japan" So I never ordered one.....

Somebody had that custom made to order and probably paid good money for it. It was likely built by Panasonic's best torchmen and went to the guy who really knew how to lay paint. This was every bit Panasonic's "Reparto Corse" level attention to detail.
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Old 01-10-19, 02:46 PM
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Not the best, but from the auction pictures, this one picture really hooked me.

Notice the cross hatching in black on the seat tube. Not only does the cross hatching spiral as it climbs up the seat tube, it also narrows as it climbs. Emerging from the the black at the base of the seat tube the spirals dwindle in width as they spiral and climb up the seat tube.

A master painter added this by hand I think? Either that or a state of the art robotic painter, Panasonic was/is a cutting edge robotics company too.

I believe the decal you see at the top of the black cross hatching is the PICS decal.
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Old 01-10-19, 03:55 PM
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Looks like a gem.
I used to have a DX-3000 and a DX-4000. Even those midrange bikes were terrific riders, and very cleanly built with excellent paint.
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Old 01-10-19, 04:00 PM
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hazetguy I had seen this online but not gotten around to watching the video. It looks like the base paint coat is was by robotics but then the fade, spiral, etc. was by hand. Thanks for posting.
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Old 01-10-19, 06:49 PM
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I was eyeing that auction myself. Did you wind up getting it? Beautiful bike!
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Old 01-10-19, 07:25 PM
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Yes, should be picked up and shipped early next week. Very glad I did.
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Old 01-10-19, 07:28 PM
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FWIW, I owned a couple of Panasonic’s back in he 80’s. I worked at a Schwinn shop that sold them. I had a 1985 DX-4000 w/600 that is the only bike I regretted selling. The other was a 1982 AR-6000 w/DA AX. Unfortunately I was almost killed by a distracted driver when he wiped out an entire pace line and busticated the frame.

They were both fantastic production bikes. Highly recommended.
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Old 01-11-19, 06:46 AM
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Was that on eBay? Do you have a link?
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Old 01-11-19, 09:37 AM
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It was a Shopgoodwill auction so not only a great bike but money for a good cause. Strangest I ever saw was a Davidson, how could anyone just drop off a Davidson at Goodwill? A $4,000.00 custom bike went for $600.00. I'm already picking out grandchildren/children for each of my bikes.
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Old 01-11-19, 10:00 AM
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Originally Posted by brandon98
Somebody had that custom made to order and probably paid good money for it. It was likely built by Panasonic's best torchmen and went to the guy who really knew how to lay paint. This was every bit Panasonic's "Reparto Corse" level attention to detail.
Actually the PICS production process was very different than something like Bianchi's Reparto Corse. The production process was extremely automated for the time. While some of the brazing was done by hand, a lot of the brazing was done in automated brazing fixtures. Most of the paint was done by a robot as well.

This is a promotional video from Panasonic showing the complete process, from order to fabrication to paint to build.


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Old 01-11-19, 10:11 AM
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I stand corrected and learning has occurred.
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Old 01-11-19, 10:37 AM
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Originally Posted by since6
Strangest I ever saw was a Davidson, how could anyone just drop off a Davidson at Goodwill? A $4,000.00 custom bike went for $600.00.
Grandpa is a fine cycle enthusiast and orders a custom Davidson. Decades later, he passes. His possessions go to his children or grandchildren, who think it's "just a bike", probably worth $100 and not worth the hassle to sell.
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Old 01-11-19, 11:16 AM
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Panasonic ran its PICS program for two year, 1988 and 1989. For 1989 the line was expanded from four to five models, with the addition of a track model and a titanium tubing option. The subject bicycle is a 1989 model. The tubeset is Tange Prestige with a Tange Champion fork (Tange #1 through #5 all used the same alloy and thickness of fork blade).
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Old 01-11-19, 02:32 PM
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Thanks T-Mar when it arrives I'll post pictures of the bike after I've got it cleaned up with the serial number. I am still curious about the "1200" in the model designation on the top tube as I have found no mention of this in the PICS Catalog at the Panasonic Museum and of the other PICS bikes I've found pictured on the internet none of them have the "1200" between "Team" and "Custom".
Nice to know this was a bike from the last year that Panasonic bikes were sold in America. Thanks
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Old 01-11-19, 03:36 PM
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Originally Posted by since6
Thanks T-Mar when it arrives I'll post pictures of the bike after I've got it cleaned up with the serial number. I am still curious about the "1200" in the model designation on the top tube as I have found no mention of this in the PICS Catalog at the Panasonic Museum and of the other PICS bikes I've found pictured on the internet none of them have the "1200" between "Team" and "Custom".
Nice to know this was a bike from the last year that Panasonic bikes were sold in America. Thanks
I've see others with the Team 1200 Custom decal. They had the cursive Panasonic decal, so they should be from the 1989 model year. However, I have seen other 1989 with the conventional Team Custom decal, so your model decal may have been a running change during 1989. BTW, the PICS catalogue on the Panasonic Virtual Museum website is the 1988 catalogue, as it only mentions four models.
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Old 01-11-19, 05:56 PM
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Any idea what the "1200" stood for? This too may be lost in the mist of time, but never hurts to ask.
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