Nishiki make good bikes?
 

Thinking of buying this:

Nishiki Adult Colorado 29'er Mountain Bike 2015 | DICK'S Sporting Goods

I know Nishiki was pretty good once, are they still decent bikes?

Nishiki, Univega, Diamondback, and Raleigh were all made in China by Raleigh USA. Nishiki and Univega brands were abandoned by Raleigh some time ago. The Nishiki name is now used by Dicks as a sort of house brand for bikes they design and sell.

To answer your question, I don't know because they are made for Dicks only and haven't received much attention from these forums.

Make (brand name) is different than Maker.. In one era Japan was where the US Importers went to get Frames & Bikes Manufactured to Sell..

but the drive to get lower cost suppliers had them Go to China ..


A Lot of really High Quality stuff comes out of Taipei .. it all depends on the contract Priorities.

Shanghai may be shipping different stuff if Cheap is the Importers first requirement ..

Well, yes, sort of. But it was Derby Cycle, a German company, making those bikes in China -- including ones branded Raleigh USA.

Raleigh was originally an English bicycle manufacturer, founded in the late 1800s. Sometime around 1980, Huffy licensed the "Raleigh USA" brand to sell bikes for the U.S. market. Raleigh USA was a completely separate entity from the original English Raleigh, sort of like how the "GMC Denali" bikes sold by Walmart have no real connection to General Motors Corporation. Anyway, Derby Cycle, a German company, bought the Raleigh Bicycle Company of England and later reacquired the rights to the Raleigh USA name from Huffy. Derby opened a Raleigh USA factory in Kent, Washington, and produced bikes for five or six years before shuttering the plant and moving all production to China and Taiwan in the mid-1990s.

The Nishiki brand was created in the '60s for Japanese bikes sold in the U.S. by West Coast Cycles, an importer based in California. The Nishiki brand name was sold to Derby in 1989. In 2010, Dick's Sporting Goods bought rights to the Nishiki name for the U.S. market, so any recent Nishiki-branded bikes in the U.S. are a house brand of Dick's Sporting Goods.

The Univega brand was created for Japanese bikes imported by Ben Lawee. Derby acquired the Univega name when Ben Lawee retired from the bike business in 1996.

The Diamondback brand was created in the late '70s for BMX bikes sold in the U.S. by Western States Imports, another California-based importer of Asian bikes. WSI also sold Japanese road bikes under the Centurion name. Derby bought the Diamondback name circa 2000, as WSI was closing for good.

In 2001, Derby sold Raleigh USA and Diamondback. The two brands are owned by the same owner and are both headquartered together in Kent, Washington. Manufacturing is done in China, primarily by Kinesis.

When my wife shops for exercise clothing at Dick's, I browse through the bicycles. My local Dick's has an extensive bike area with a service bay. The whole line-up of bikes is basically above-department-store quality. These bikes are fine for normal recreational use.

The biggest factor in the OP's satisfaction will be the care taken in assembly, trimming excess cable housing, adjusting brakes and shifting to work correctly, checking wheel true, adjusting factor bearings in the hubs, and (of course) assistance with fit.

A good mechanic and a few moments of adjustment, and that bike will be fine for typical recreational use.

OP, don't walk out of the store with the bike until everything is working right and to your satisfaction. Find out when you can come back for routine tune-ups and adjustment in the first 60 days of use.

I had a 1980's/1990's Nishiki "Colorado" mountain bike, until some low life motherless ... stole it (yes, it was locked: name brand heavy U-Lock, heavy cable lock, AND a heavy chain lock. I know who took it, but he owns a few of the cops in that town, so nothing will ever be done to him)
Anyway, I never had any trouble with it.

Sorry about your stolen Colorado...I have a Colorado I bought in 1988, and am restoring to be as close as possible as new, and just picked up another one on Craig's List in great shape. They are solid, but not high end bikes by any means, but at least the name has a really interesting history, right up to it being Dick's house brand. If you keep an eye out for another used one to fix up, I can help you with knowing parts and original components for it.

zombie brand

If you ever find a 70's or 80's Nishiki, JUMP ON IT! But not so much a modern one from Dick's

edit: Never mind. I fell for this zombie thread. My bad.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4be21b18c.jpeg
FWIW, my first 10 speed was a 24” 1974 Nishiki Olympiad, my second was a 1984/1985 Olympic 12, which I still have. Heavy but well built. As mentioned above Nishiki exists in name only, they aren’t the steel, lugged frame bikes they once were. My Olympic 12 still looks nearly new after 35 years of loving use.

That Olympic 12 is a beauty! Must be super fun to ride. I would love to hear the comments you get from other riders. A real beauty. Glad to see you are taking such good care of it.

Not sure about Nishiki but some of the best deals are from "zombie" brands - Raleigh in particular had some great deals on touring and gravel bikes for a while, and the "new" Masi bikes are perfectly nice as well.

It was only ever a brand.

The company that owns Raleigh (and Haibike and Ghost) just sold off Diamondback (and Redline BMX and iZip). DB’s new owners are also Mavic’s new owners. I’m not sure what’s going on at Raleigh but DB has put out some excellent mountain bikes in the last few years. Not very zombie like at all. But they were losing money.

https://www.bicycleretailer.com/indu...s#.XX0McyVlDDt

I used to ride at a local state park where cyclists would gather in the evening for a few quick five mile up and down loops. I carry a fair set of tools and was surprised at how often cyclists would need sometimes major adjustments on their brand new bikes. When ever you get a bike new or old it remains unproven till ya get it out there and ride it. And when ever you get on a bike remember your Pre-Flight check list.

I'm an old guy with old equipment so I can offer good advice on old equipment. Some of the new bikes to say the least need micrometer adjustments with micro/macro examination. That's not me, yet...

When I look around at older bikes that have been converted to gravel or touring I find the same old names, Nishiki, Univega, Fuji, Panasonic, Myata. Most are Japanese. Almost all are ChroMo.

They aren't the same quality bike that they used to be. I still have my Nishiki Ariel "Cunningham Design" mountain bike I bought back in 1989. It's as close to bullet proof as a bike can be yet not weigh 50 lbs. It's still a fun bike to ride. I've looked at the Nishiki's in Dick's and they are nowhere near the same quality.

Good information. I thought to buy myself a new bike and Nishiki advised me, but I didn't even know that they are now Dicks

I have found them to be pretty good. I had a Maricopa road bike which was nice and kids have had their mountain bikes. A step below good bike shop bikes, but much better than big box store bikes.

Had a Nishiki Pro, 1975, steel, lugged, Suntour... rode it hard and fast. Found a few years later at a Police Auction, a Teledyne Titanium track bike, Campy Super Record, moved all components to the Nishiki, sold the Teledyne and the Nishiki Pro granted me a bunch more years of mileage.

had 2 nishiki bikes in Mexico in mid 90's, very decent bikes, the mountain bike held up to cobblestone streets well

gm

I had a buddy around that time who had the Alien ACX, which as you probably know was the aluminum front triangle/steel subframe version of the Cunningham Mantis elevated chainstay design. Chris used to abuse that bike; he was a great rider, but never did any maintenance. We’d hit the trail with his **** rubbin’ and squeaking, barely shifting…but he still smoked everyone.

I heard that yes, my friend has a similar bike.

Here in Japan one can find the old Nishiki road bikes. They came in a full range of models here, the most popular was the Olympic, which was a well-made, general use road bike. But they also make a smaller number of more high-end bikes which tend to sell for rather high prices, at least in Japan. I used to have an Olympic 12 when I was a kid, I traded it for a Velo Solex motorized bike.

I had to look and see what was available nearby, and found this: https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/c908376809

This is a Nishiki touring frame from the late 80's, brand new, and never assembled into a complete bike. I would be tempted to have it, but it is too small for me.