1984 Performance catalogs
#1
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1984 Performance catalogs
There are four nice 1984 catalogs currently on eBay under the 'Other Vintage Cycling' section if any of you are interesting in viewing these time capsules. Man! Those prices!!
FYI, I have no ties to the seller.
FYI, I have no ties to the seller.
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#2
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Back when Performance/Nashbar sold a good selection of frames and components. Thats an impressive range of frame brands.
This brings up a question- were a lot of the Italian brands sold thru mail order in the 70s and 80s or did shops carry DeRosa, Guerciotti, Ciocc, etc? Those seem like smaller boutique brands that wouldnt have had wide distribution, so maybe a following in a region like LA, but otherwise I would think shops back then would have been focused on larger and mid-sized brands like now.
This brings up a question- were a lot of the Italian brands sold thru mail order in the 70s and 80s or did shops carry DeRosa, Guerciotti, Ciocc, etc? Those seem like smaller boutique brands that wouldnt have had wide distribution, so maybe a following in a region like LA, but otherwise I would think shops back then would have been focused on larger and mid-sized brands like now.
#3
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Performance bike was a different company with the original owners. Stores like Supergo, REI, and small local shops used to carry Boutique brands. REI carried Rodriguez, Santana, and Tommasini. Supergo carried Davidson, Litespeed. The National brand Copeland Sports used to carry Ciocc and Ritchey. Its was in the 90's that larger stores decided to carry the big brands and their own house brands. At least this was the case in the Los Angeles area.
#4
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I spent hours upon hours studying the pages of Performance catalogs while onboard ship in the US Navy. Even sneeked a few down into the hole while on watch! The other guys were polluting their minds with Playboys, and laughed at my obsession with bikes. They will never understand that bike porn is far more addictive!
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Did anyone notice that Shimano components are almost non-existent in these catalogs?
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Back when Performance/Nashbar sold a good selection of frames and components. Thats an impressive range of frame brands.
This brings up a question- were a lot of the Italian brands sold thru mail order in the 70s and 80s or did shops carry DeRosa, Guerciotti, Ciocc, etc? Those seem like smaller boutique brands that wouldnt have had wide distribution, so maybe a following in a region like LA, but otherwise I would think shops back then would have been focused on larger and mid-sized brands like now.
This brings up a question- were a lot of the Italian brands sold thru mail order in the 70s and 80s or did shops carry DeRosa, Guerciotti, Ciocc, etc? Those seem like smaller boutique brands that wouldnt have had wide distribution, so maybe a following in a region like LA, but otherwise I would think shops back then would have been focused on larger and mid-sized brands like now.
A lot of frames were sold as "mail order brides"
Last edited by nomadmax; 09-30-19 at 07:09 PM.
#7
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Whoa, that brings me back.
Link assist: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Performance...gAAOSwrwdc6uzI
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Performance...0AAOSwKU1c6uvl
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Performance...cAAOSwk7Rc6vJp
Link assist: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Performance...gAAOSwrwdc6uzI
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Performance...0AAOSwKU1c6uvl
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Performance...cAAOSwk7Rc6vJp
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Thank you very much for posting the old PBS catalogues! They bring back a lot of memories.
I remember my brother and I drooling on those catalogues in the early 80's when we were in college. We were typical poor college kids that could never afford most of the stuff in them. But part of the fun was seeing and dreaming of owning all that cool stuff. Once in a while we were able to buy decent items from them that were on clearance sale at the end of the season. Still remember the excitement we experienced waiting those typical two long weeks to get the packages from Chapel Hill, NC.
It was kinda sad for me then when PBS went out of business last year as they were a big part of my early cycling days.
I remember my brother and I drooling on those catalogues in the early 80's when we were in college. We were typical poor college kids that could never afford most of the stuff in them. But part of the fun was seeing and dreaming of owning all that cool stuff. Once in a while we were able to buy decent items from them that were on clearance sale at the end of the season. Still remember the excitement we experienced waiting those typical two long weeks to get the packages from Chapel Hill, NC.
It was kinda sad for me then when PBS went out of business last year as they were a big part of my early cycling days.
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While the Guerciotti and Ciocc in the catalogue would have been obtained through Ten Speed Drive, the De Rosa, Pinarello and Eddy Merckx would have been sourced from Gita Sporting Goods. Other independent distributors of Italian bicycles of the era were Corso (Atala, Bottechia), Wm. Lewis (Tommasini, Zullo), Bicycle Parts Pacific (Olmo, Sannino), Lee Katz (Basso), Mel Pinto (Alan) , Torelli ( Faggin, Torelli). By this time many Italian brands had set up their own USA distribution, including Bianchi, Masi, Benotto and Gios. The one major Italian brand whose distribution escapes me is Colnago. Regardless, I'd be hard pressed to place TSD even in the top three.
#10
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Interesting catalogs. First thought was that I might have pull mine out and put them on EBay!
A couple of other things came to mind. First, the lack of Shimano is not surprising. Exchange rate between the yen and the dollar was not every good at time, so if the choice was to buy Shimano or Campy, Campy was a better deal. Plus it was cooler.
Also, price on the frames. That 650 DeRosa is about 1600 in today’s dollars. Not a bad price of a steel frame, but that’s somewhere above 2 grand for a bike. Gotta wonder how many they sold.
A couple of other things came to mind. First, the lack of Shimano is not surprising. Exchange rate between the yen and the dollar was not every good at time, so if the choice was to buy Shimano or Campy, Campy was a better deal. Plus it was cooler.
Also, price on the frames. That 650 DeRosa is about 1600 in today’s dollars. Not a bad price of a steel frame, but that’s somewhere above 2 grand for a bike. Gotta wonder how many they sold.
#11
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That wouldn't explain the presence of Suntour on those pages.
#12
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I was thinking Shimano, as in DA level vs. Campy. Campy was a better deal on price than DA at the time. Plus it was way more appealing to the racer customer as it did not change like Shimano did at the time. Anyone remember Shimano 10 mm pitch chain or the AX pedals that would fit only DA cranks?
Suntour was a lower priced alternative. So what if parts were not available? 12.95 for an RD vs. 70 for campy? If you needed to replace an RD, you could do that and still have tire money. Plus Suntour seems like they would earn their spot by having some non racing choices.
Given what was available at the time , whoever made the selection for the catalogue did an acceptable job.
Suntour was a lower priced alternative. So what if parts were not available? 12.95 for an RD vs. 70 for campy? If you needed to replace an RD, you could do that and still have tire money. Plus Suntour seems like they would earn their spot by having some non racing choices.
Given what was available at the time , whoever made the selection for the catalogue did an acceptable job.
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In my experience, the absence of Shimano in some of these early 1980s mail order catalogues had nothing to do with Campagnolo and everything to do with SunTour. The mail order companies survived by supplying avid cyclists with mid to high end products. They rarely carried entry level products. Campagnolo was mandatory for the high end at the time but the Japanese offered better value in the mid-range. Most didn't have the finances and/or storage to stock a complete range of both Shimano and SunTour, so a choice had to be made.
SunTour had the superior performing slant parallelogram derailleurs and operated on lower profit margins that resulted in lower wholesale and retail prices. Consequently, they were the preferred choice for entry level and mid-range bicycle manufacturers in the early 1980s and had the majority share of the derailleur market. With SunTour being spec'd on more bicycles than Shimano and having lower prices, they were the obvious choice for most mail order companies that couldn't stock a range of both Shimano and SunTour.
Things would quickly derail for SunTour over a very short period. The expiry of the slant parallelogram patent allowed Shimano to incorporate it into their SIS indexed system at a time when when kinks were starting to appear in SunTour's armour. First there was a rash of MounTech failures and then the rushed to market Accushift proved far inferior to SIS. The majority of bicycle designers lost their faith in SunTour and switched almost completely to Shimano. The consumers liked the new Shimano equipped bicycles that were being offered and the mail order companies followed suit.
SunTour had the superior performing slant parallelogram derailleurs and operated on lower profit margins that resulted in lower wholesale and retail prices. Consequently, they were the preferred choice for entry level and mid-range bicycle manufacturers in the early 1980s and had the majority share of the derailleur market. With SunTour being spec'd on more bicycles than Shimano and having lower prices, they were the obvious choice for most mail order companies that couldn't stock a range of both Shimano and SunTour.
Things would quickly derail for SunTour over a very short period. The expiry of the slant parallelogram patent allowed Shimano to incorporate it into their SIS indexed system at a time when when kinks were starting to appear in SunTour's armour. First there was a rash of MounTech failures and then the rushed to market Accushift proved far inferior to SIS. The majority of bicycle designers lost their faith in SunTour and switched almost completely to Shimano. The consumers liked the new Shimano equipped bicycles that were being offered and the mail order companies followed suit.
Last edited by T-Mar; 10-18-19 at 01:22 PM.