Panasonic Schwinns vs. Panasonic's own brand
07-28-10, 05:44 AM
#27
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At some point I will own either a mid-eighties Schwinn Premis/Prologue/Prelude, or a Panasonic DX-4/5000. I'm resigned to the fact.
07-28-10, 07:40 AM
#28
07-28-10, 07:36 PM
#29
soonerbills
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I had been told that the 1974 Schwinn Le Tour I had was a Panasonic built frame.
I will say it was a very nicely built bike. It seemed very much like the Panasonic below. Though this one unlike the the Le Tour is Cromoly. It makes me wonder if the OP was on to something when he asks if Panasonic held back a little for their own offerings. I do understand the argument about Schwinn specing the frames and all but still... If this bike is not similar to the Le Tour what Schwinn would you compare it too?
I do not know how to date Panasonics so no idea as to the year of this one. It came with a mish mash of parts with 70's Suntour derails and some early 80's Araya rims.
The drops had a stamp of 5J01041 if anyone has a clue
Here is a link to more pics
https://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v1...lls/panasonic/
I will say it was a very nicely built bike. It seemed very much like the Panasonic below. Though this one unlike the the Le Tour is Cromoly. It makes me wonder if the OP was on to something when he asks if Panasonic held back a little for their own offerings. I do understand the argument about Schwinn specing the frames and all but still... If this bike is not similar to the Le Tour what Schwinn would you compare it too?
I do not know how to date Panasonics so no idea as to the year of this one. It came with a mish mash of parts with 70's Suntour derails and some early 80's Araya rims.
The drops had a stamp of 5J01041 if anyone has a clue
Here is a link to more pics
https://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v1...lls/panasonic/
07-28-10, 07:53 PM
#30
Senior Member
Only Panasonic built Schwinn I had was the first generation World Voyageur. How good was it?
37 years later, I'm still looking for another nice World Voyageur frame to rebuild that old bike. And I still remember exactly how I had it built back then, so making another copy will be easy.
World Travelers. At the shop, we found them to be pretty good bikes. Definitely better than anything we were selling under the level of a Raleigh Grand Prix. Only disappointment (and it was a huge disappointment) was the Ashtabula crank. Then again, all Schwinn wanted was a lugged Continental - I think they specced it out pretty good.
Question: What's the basis for the comment that Schwinn dealers weren't able to carry other lines? In Erie, A.R. Adams Cycle was full line Schwinn and Raleigh, and treated both equally - plus carrying Columbia, Roger Riviere, Astra and Concord on the side. Across town, John Adams Cycle was Schwinn and Gitane, and here again both were treated equally. Going back to Johnstown for home visits, City Cycle was ostensibly Schwinn only, but I seem to remember a minor, cheaper line or two in there to compete with the department stores.
37 years later, I'm still looking for another nice World Voyageur frame to rebuild that old bike. And I still remember exactly how I had it built back then, so making another copy will be easy.
World Travelers. At the shop, we found them to be pretty good bikes. Definitely better than anything we were selling under the level of a Raleigh Grand Prix. Only disappointment (and it was a huge disappointment) was the Ashtabula crank. Then again, all Schwinn wanted was a lugged Continental - I think they specced it out pretty good.
Question: What's the basis for the comment that Schwinn dealers weren't able to carry other lines? In Erie, A.R. Adams Cycle was full line Schwinn and Raleigh, and treated both equally - plus carrying Columbia, Roger Riviere, Astra and Concord on the side. Across town, John Adams Cycle was Schwinn and Gitane, and here again both were treated equally. Going back to Johnstown for home visits, City Cycle was ostensibly Schwinn only, but I seem to remember a minor, cheaper line or two in there to compete with the department stores.
__________________
Syke
“No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”
H.L. Mencken, (1926)
Syke
“No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”
H.L. Mencken, (1926)
Last edited by sykerocker; 07-28-10 at 07:56 PM. Reason: Schwinn only query
07-29-10, 05:11 PM
#31
sultan of schwinn
I think that their is somewhat of a confusion between the 70s and (very) early 80s Panasonic-build Schwinns and the Giant-built Schwinns (the ones with the Tenax frames) of the 80s.
The Panasonic-built Schwinns were of the "Schwinn approved" type (and badged as that). Their production did not move to the Giant factory, but (in most cases) to Mississippi. The Chicago-built Schwinns were built by Giant in the 80s after Chicago closed.
The Panasonic-built Schwinns were of the "Schwinn approved" type (and badged as that). Their production did not move to the Giant factory, but (in most cases) to Mississippi. The Chicago-built Schwinns were built by Giant in the 80s after Chicago closed.
07-29-10, 08:51 PM
#32
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Only Panasonic built Schwinn I had was the first generation World Voyageur. How good was it?
37 years later, I'm still looking for another nice World Voyageur frame to rebuild that old bike. And I still remember exactly how I had it built back then, so making another copy will be easy.
World Travelers. At the shop, we found them to be pretty good bikes. Definitely better than anything we were selling under the level of a Raleigh Grand Prix. Only disappointment (and it was a huge disappointment) was the Ashtabula crank. Then again, all Schwinn wanted was a lugged Continental - I think they specced it out pretty good.
Question: What's the basis for the comment that Schwinn dealers weren't able to carry other lines? In Erie, A.R. Adams Cycle was full line Schwinn and Raleigh, and treated both equally - plus carrying Columbia, Roger Riviere, Astra and Concord on the side. Across town, John Adams Cycle was Schwinn and Gitane, and here again both were treated equally. Going back to Johnstown for home visits, City Cycle was ostensibly Schwinn only, but I seem to remember a minor, cheaper line or two in there to compete with the department stores.
37 years later, I'm still looking for another nice World Voyageur frame to rebuild that old bike. And I still remember exactly how I had it built back then, so making another copy will be easy.
World Travelers. At the shop, we found them to be pretty good bikes. Definitely better than anything we were selling under the level of a Raleigh Grand Prix. Only disappointment (and it was a huge disappointment) was the Ashtabula crank. Then again, all Schwinn wanted was a lugged Continental - I think they specced it out pretty good.
Question: What's the basis for the comment that Schwinn dealers weren't able to carry other lines? In Erie, A.R. Adams Cycle was full line Schwinn and Raleigh, and treated both equally - plus carrying Columbia, Roger Riviere, Astra and Concord on the side. Across town, John Adams Cycle was Schwinn and Gitane, and here again both were treated equally. Going back to Johnstown for home visits, City Cycle was ostensibly Schwinn only, but I seem to remember a minor, cheaper line or two in there to compete with the department stores.
This was stuff in the 60's I am trying to find where Schwinn was very restrictive of anything their dealers did needed their approval as a way to prevent their dealers from marketing anything in direct competition with their bikes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwinn_Bicycle_Company
By the mid-1960s, Schwinn's exclusive marketing practices were well entrenched in the United States, practices that had ensured a dominant position in the US bicycle market. However, Schwinn's distributors continually balked at restrictions the company put on their ability to market Schwinn bicycles to shops outside the Schwinn network. In a ten-year legal battle, many of Schwinn's practices were upheld by the courts: judges ruled they had the right to have their bicycles sold by retailers equipped to service the bikes as well as sell them. However, in a decision by the US Supreme Court in 1967, Schwinn was found guilty of restraint of trade by preventing distributors shipping bicycles to unapproved dealers. The company stopped working solely through independent local distributors and constructed four regional warehouses from which bicycles would—legally—be sent to shops. While this solved the problem of unfair trade practice with the courts, the new distribution system made it more difficult for the company to stay informed of customer complaints regarding manufacturing or assembly problems.
07-29-10, 09:25 PM
#33
Senior Member
I remember Schwinn being somewhat restrictive in what a dealer could or couldn't do (sort of an early version of what Harley dealers have lived with for the last 25 years). Biggest memory I have is of the "fair trade prices": Which I understood to mean that in 1972 a Varsity was $100.00, and no, a dealer could not discount them to $99.95. Give that it was the Bike Boom years, though, it also meant that a dealer couldn't charge $125.00 for a Varsity - something that most dealers would have been happy to do if they could have gotten away with it.
I seem to remember that Schwinn catalogs actually put list prices with the bikes back then.
I seem to remember that Schwinn catalogs actually put list prices with the bikes back then.
__________________
Syke
“No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”
H.L. Mencken, (1926)
Syke
“No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”
H.L. Mencken, (1926)
07-31-10, 07:24 PM
#34
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My '85 Panasonic Sport-1000 conversion is a great ride, despite having what I think is a tensile fork. A little too big for me, or I'd hold onto it. If I could find a smaller 50cm, I'd snap it up, but I lucked out and currently have an '85 Madison on the way to my place..... 
08-02-10, 05:01 PM
#35
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Good stuff Grim. While I have no Panasonics "proper", I have gone somewhat overboard with Panasonic Schwinn's. Other than the two World bikes are the following: 85' Super Le Tour, 86' Voyageur, and 87' Tempo. All have Columbus Tenax tubing and ride great. I also have an 87' Centurion Le Mans RS with Tange 2 main frame and love it too. All were made bt Panasonic I believe except the Super Le Tour which might have been made in Mississippi. Fantastic bikes for the money. Wish I could say I found them all at garage sales or thrift shops for next to nothing, but still paid under $200 for all exept the Voyageur, and it has upgraded Phil Wood hubs...
