Cycling companies from the past...
 

This has likely been done in the past, but what the heck..

Cycling companies that vanished.

-Rhode Gear. Best known for the flickstand. They also made helmets, racks, and clothes.
-Balin Helmets.
-Blackburn. Some of the nicest racks and water bottle cages to be had.
-SR. Seatposts, crank sets, and entire bicycles. I remember their ads.
-Avocet. In a bit of Twilight Zone, their website is still running after all these years.
The exact fate of the company, bought out, bankrupt, whatever, seems to be something
of a mystery.

Suntour - nice components. I still have some Suntour thumbies on my mountain bike.
Klein - made nice light mountain bikes. Bought out buy Trek and slowly allowed to die.

California: built aluminum freewheels in the 80's. (Not sure if they made Ti ones).

To O.P: Rhode Gear was excellent. (Also made panniers and saddle bags).

Tunturi. I have one. The company is still around but they've switched to fitness equipment (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunturi)

Also...CCM...the hockey equipment company. For those that don't know...CCM stands for Canadian Cycle and Motor. I guess they quit making bikes in the 1990s. Not sure.

Dan

Extinct companies whose name still exists for marketing purposes = Raleigh, Mercier, Masi, Motobecane, Austro Daimler


Gone but not forgotten = Serotta, Merlin, Klein, Lemond
Just gone = Softride
Components = Huret, Simplex, Zeus (components and bikes)

edit: Does Peugeot still manufacture bikes?

Softride brings to mind a funny situation. The owner of a bike shop that specializes in custom steel frames in Seattle likes to ride a tandem with his wife (and a convertible tandem/triple/quad with the whole family). However, many years ago his wife tried a softride and won't use anything else, so he has to incorporate that thing into the bikes they ride, even though it is no longer something he can sell.

I think:

Maruishi
Nishiki
Centurion
Tange (tubing)
Modolo
Kirtland (bags/panniers)
Bridgestone
Guru
Maillard (hubs, etc.)

I had an Azuki 10-speed in the 1970s. I have learned it was a co-brand of Nishiki.

To pick out just two: I'm still riding my Guru Photon bike and have Modolo Equipe brakes on my Masi.

Not sure if anyone has mentioned Eclipse yet, but I still have some of their (well used) panniers on my touring bike.

Rick / OCRR

Much of the machinery of the Guru plant in Canada was sold to that company that is now making bikes in, I believe, Arkansas. Is Modolo still ion business? In '86 I bought a used Trek 660 that had Modolo brakes with aero levers and a Campy Nuovo Record drivetrain. I felt like I had become a serious cyclist because I was riding Italian components.

Bridgestone still makes lots of bikes, it's just that they stopped their North American operation, largely because of currency fluctuations.

Austro Daimler Puch is gone, but someone revived the brand.

Were this on the C&V forum you'd get a lot more responses.

Indeed it does.

https://cycles.peugeot.fr

It would seem so many european companies not distributing to the USA. (or maybe I am mistaken?)

Wow, good list. I've had a Rhode Gear helmet, use Blackburn racks on my daily commuter, which also has an SR LaPrade seat post. Also am using an Avocet 20 cyclometer on another bike (Nishiki) - works great.

I have a saddle with a Bikology label, remember them? Also a seat bag for tubulars from "Bike Warehouse" Arnie Nashbar's first mail order marketing endeavor.

SR (Sakae Ringyo) is still around. In fact, it bought the defunct SunTour name and now markets products under the "SR-SunTour" moniker.

Other extinct companies include Weyless, Hi-E, Arnold Industries, Artisan Tool & Die (still around, just not making bike tools anymore), Edco, a whole slew of French companies including Simplex, MAFAC, CLB, Belleri, Huret (bought by Sachs, then allowed to die, as were Maillard and Sedis), Super Champion, in Britain Williams, TDC (still around, just , not making bike components anymore), Belleri, etc.

In a way that I can't quite explain to myself, I feel particularly sorry for those brands that aren't allowed to die. Long after the original company is gone the name's new owners keep slapping it on new production. I know this is just a fact of marketing and the business world, but it irks me nonetheless.

BD:
Motobecane
Windsor

Planet X:
Viner
Holdsworth
Carnac
Selcof

etc., etc.

+1.

My wife's bike, hanging unused in the garage, is a CCS Mistral. Reynolds 531 frame, relatively junky component group. It hangs because it's too big for her.

Ross bicycle

I bought a Blackburn floor pump about 5 years ago, and it's still working fine.

I got it at Sports Authority, another bankrupt company.

I have Modolo Equipe brakes on the Trek 760. I like them.

-Vetta. Someone gave me a circa ‘85 Vetta helmet like new in original box.

Zunow bicycles.

Lambert/Viscount

70's French road bikes were a good value, besides Peugeot there was Gitane, Follis etc. Always esp liked the Mafac center-pull brakes.

Won't miss (Italian) Universal brakes. Fiamme made nice rims.