Cycling in Review - A Look Back at 1993 Catalog.
 

I found my first bike box of old mags and catalogs. I throw in a catalog or mag ever now and then so I can look back at what cycling was. Anyhow I pulled out a 1993 Performance and Nashbar catalog, and for lack of anything better to do at the moment, here is a look back 17 years ago if you have nothing better do do than read a long post.

•The Performance classic shorts was $19.95, and the Century $24.95. You could get genuine natural leather chamois too for an extra $5. Bibs were $36.95. Side colored panels were the rage, and oh yes the choices included: teal, purple, and hot green. Purple was on everything in 1993.
•Performance had a 2-page spread on bike camping supplies, including many purple sleeping bags, stuff sacs, duffels, and bivy sacs.
•The latest hi-tech Giro design was the Ventoux, with it’s 13 vents, choice of color as long as it was Ice Blue, and all for $124.95. If anything, Giro prices are much cheaper now for better helmets.
•6 pages of packs, bags, and rain gear. Lots of bag choices with purple.
•Purple highlights continued to dominate even on road shoes. Look shoes were featured (no purple). The Sidi Genius II was on sale $154.95. Hey, I had the black/yellow Vittoria shoes shown.
•The Look upper-end PP176 pedals was on a great sale for $129.95. I paid that for Keo Carbons from PBK.
•Lots of small pictures of proud employees everywhere in the catalog, including ones like this: “Jane is one of nearly 80 skilled sewing operators at Performance, who manufacture our own brand of cycling clothing. Items made in our Graham N.C. factory proudly carrying the Made in USA label.”
•4 pages of rollerblades, including 2 Performance branded ones with Italian made boots, German bearings, and US wheels, with final assembly in the US. The leather Italian boot with 5 wheels competition skate was $299.
•Whole page on Bolle eyewear, all with purple reflective coating.
•2 pages of gloves, yes lots of purple choices. The Crochet back glove was still available. Remember how hard the pig skin palms got from moisture.
•A page of Tri stuff, with purple swim briefs and Tri shorts
•4 Pages of Performance brand bikes. Example is the R103 on sale from $890 to $799. True Temper AVR cro-mo, aluminum fork, Shimano 105 group with STI, 105 clipless, Sun M13 rims and 14/15 wheelsmith spokes, 7 sizes, 22.8 lbs.
•Exclusive US importer of Scapin and Battaglin frames. A Battaglin SL (TIG welded) was $575 and a lugged SLX was $795. Two Performance branded, Chinese made, Ti frames ($845).
•Great news, a big sale on saddle covers in neon yellow, neon pink, or neon orange.
•MTB was king around this time, so lots and lots of interesting parts here I won’t mention in a road forum. A Control Tech seatpost many of us had (and bent) was $39.95, 282 grams. Zoom was a popular name many of us remember. All stems in the catalog are quill – no threadless which was just getting started. Nashbar had a few. Still lots and lots of purple.
•Scott LF handlebars, $39.95 and 230 grams. Classic bend and I’d say excellent weight still today for deep drop alloy bars.
•Vetta and Avocet ruled the pages of saddles. Wow did their marketing and R&D departments fail them over the years . Vetta ruled the saddle market then, and now they are on life support.
•So get this, yes the Selle Italia Flite was there on sale for $69.95, but there was the Flite Evolution for $159.95. It had the same Ti rails but a carbon shell and was only 135 grams, same as new SLR and more expensive.
•Components – Performance carried XTR, XT, DX, LX, Dura-Ace, Ultegra, 105, Record, Chorus, Athena, Sachs New Success, and Sachs Rival 7000. Dura-Ace 8-speed STI levers were $325. Record 8-speed ergolevers were $319 (only $20 cheaper than my 2006 versions!). New redesigned Dura-ace crank was $198. They offered so much that everything was only listed, unlike years before when a picture of every single individual component was included. Where has the big component selection gone?
•Nashbar also carried the Mavic Zap full group and Suntour Supurbe Pro, no Sachs.
•There was a whole page of tubular tires offered, including 5 difference Performance branded versions along with Barum and UFO. The cheapest was $8.95.
•An Avocet 50 Altimeter computer, simple two line display and 2 button, was $89.95. Cateye Micro was $29.
•Lots of hand made wheel choices and rims. Nashbar had a six choices of Campagnolo rims. not a single factory wheel that began a few years later by Mavic. Nashbar had some pre-built wheelset closeouts - are you ready for this - Athena hubs/Campy Omega tubulars, $69.99; Record hubs/Victory Chrono tubulars, $130; Dura-Ace hubs/Matrix Iso, $135.

All told 84 pages of stuff, all with weights, lots of descriptions, and lots of pictures and details. Next day delivery available for orders made by 6 pm, and only for $2.95 over regular shipping charge. When you ordered, you actually filled out the form and mailed it in with a check (hence mail order), or called. There were no websites and so this big, well designed catalog was needed to convince people to buy. But also much less competition. It’s fun to see how much of this stuff I owned, or even still own.

Cool post. I had some purple ano stuff on my MTB. The wheels are the bits that kill me. Who would have thought back then that people would be buying wheels that cost as much as a well spec'd complete bike? There were expensive TT specific wheels and discs but most road wheels were reasonably priced.

I've still got mine in my 'old bike stuff cabinet', in ice blue.

Had Shimano SPD Shoes, black with purple highlights.

Note the trim color on the SPD's
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_jKcGFdmcEfk/S2...s800/Pedal.jpg

I always lusted after these, but I went with Oakley blades instead, orange lense.

Why did I ever buy one of these?

I lived for the arrival of the catalogs. Thanks for the trip with the wayback machine.

Yeah man. Cycling back in the day.

Somethings have gotten better. Some are just different.

- Screw these new super synthetic chamois. All I want is a thin piece of cow between my sack and the saddle.
- I still think the XT top-mount shifters were the best / most ergonomic things ever invented.
- Color choices were a travesty. I had Trek 8000 that was splatter painted from the factory. I knew enough to avoid the purple, but it was everywhere.
- What about the Tri-stuff. It was all the rage at the time.
-The original Ti-railed Flite is the be-all end-all of saddle design. Pure perfection.

-Z

OMG I should qoute some of the prices of my 1977 Palo Alto Bike Catalog.

In 93 I'd already been road cycling for over a decade. We didn't have these catalogs in the UK, we went to a shop and made do with what they had, I used to flick through their catalogs and dream.

I have to say I never equated the upgrades with massive performance improvements, that seems to be the thinking these days. That said I had a much better engine in those days!

Thanks for posting.

if you can find a catalog with the black yakota road bike pm me

edit:

it had white splatter paint and rx100 components

8 speed will never catch on - it's clearly a fad ;)

Bridgestone had good catalogs back then.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgest...3/pages/30.htm

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgest...3/pages/30.htm

Bridgestone had good catalogs back then.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgest...3/pages/30.htm[url]

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgest...3/pages/30.htm