Wittleswan

I have come across a vintage 1970’s American Eagle bike, & I’m looking to get an estimate on the value of what I have here. So far what I’ve gathered is that it was made from a Japanese company that originally made Nishiki bikes, and this one could have been one of very few that was created under the “American Eagle” title instead of Nishiki. I’m not a bike collector, but I’ve seen that some vintage bikes can be very valuable, possibly museum-worthy, so I want to get a good idea of what I have here before I go & try to sell it.

I will include some photos & if anyone could shed some light on this I’d very much appreciate it!

juvela

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American Eagle is the earliest of the badges done in Japan by Kawamura and Kuwahara for Howie Cohen of West Coast Cycle Supply in Los Angeles

its duration was no more than two years

other badges in the lineage include Azuki, Nishiki, Premium, etc.

https://www.proteanpaper.com/scart_a...?comp=howiebik

​​​​​​Remembering Howie the Bike Man - Bike City Magazine


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wrk101

Nope, they made thousands of them. Apparently, they got called out on the name "American Eagle" so they changed the branding to Nishiki. Nothing special, they made a full line of bikes. Even the top models are not super valuable. No museum pieces. And of course, the vast majority were lower models.

I've even had a couple that had Nishiki head badge and American Eagle logos. Those are relatively rare, but no special value either.

"WCC sold tens of thousands of American Eagle bikes before changing the name – when a customer suggested it was disingenuous to put such an American-sounding name on a Japanese product."