The return of Univega?
 

Did anyone hear that Kent International is bringing back the Univega brand, once a bike shop mainstay. The company will roll out a new line of Univega bikes — all made in the U.S. — at Interbike in Reno, Nevada, this fall, with price points from $200 to $800. The line will be sold exclusively by Independent Bike Dealers.

I guess with COVID and the shortage of bikes there is money to be made.

I still have and ride my 2001 Univega Modo Volare.

Made in the USA at 200-800 bucks? That is interesting.

Did a little looking. Assembled in the USA. Prices up to $1600 MSRP.

https://www.univega-usa.com/

This write up has a 2018 date on it.
https://cyclingindustry.news/univega...tional-buyout/

If they roll out a new steel Superstrada, Competizione, or Gran Premio, I'm in! :D

EDIT: Hmm... carbon fork, but not bad:

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...70e2168322.jpg

Mmmm... They could do better with the photo on their main webpage.

https://www.univega-usa.com/

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/01..._1600x1600.jpg

I wonder if a company could build a robotic frame building plant that would rival overseas plants.

I remember reading about this plan a few years ago.
The entry level models are nothing different than others and the higher level models in road and mtb have some curious spec(road especially).

Looks like not much has taken hold at the bike shop level...where are these sold?
Their dealer page is still not working, 2 or 3 years after I first looked.

Interesting. I have owned a Univega roadie and my first MTB was a Univega.

i live in reno and have not heard this on the news.

Well, I think BCA is still doing just parts assembly, not actually welding up frames, and their "Made in USA" badge also contains the wording, "from domestic and imported parts," so they're still hitting the pricepoints based on Chinese manufacturing.

Which is not to dismiss their effort; it's laudable that they're doing more than just tightening nuts on nearly complete Chinese import bikes, and are actually employing a bunch of people and trying to build a community based business that they hope to grow to actually do manufacturing eventually.

Now, if Jeff Bezos would sponsor a pro tour team on American-made bikes, that'd be sweet...

I've been to Manning, SC. It's a nice little town in the middle of nowhere. I have an '84 Gran Rally. This new one looks pretty cool. Almost seems more like a road bike with big tires and a 1x as opposed to a gravel bike. Too bad there's no geometry chart. No clue where you can buy them, the dealer list is empty.

Looks like a fun inexpensive ride.
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/01...g?v=1604668072

Bring back that funky Bi-Axial Power Oval tubing and sweet psychedelic spatter paint and I'm in.

would be great if it happens.

Live4Bikes in Bellflower, CA has apparently been selling new Univega MTBs, gravel bikes, kids bikes and e-bikes this year.
https://live4bikes.com/search?q=univega

Looks like they're competing with Ashtabula, Ohio. ;)

I once had a mid level mountain bike from univega. I liked it!

What I'm wondering is if they are actually made in the USA or assembled in the USA with the frames coming from China. I kind of suspect the latter. A little factory in a small SC town doesn't seem to be one that makes frames.

That is most likely correct, certainly none of the other components are made in America. It is easy enough to have 100% of the parts made overseas, assemble the bike in someplace like Texas, put a “Made in the USA” label on it, and charge $200 more than if the bike was fully manufactured and assembled in China.

The famous German camera, the Leica, is made in Portugal, then the cameras are shipped to Germany where a couple minor parts are added, and this allows the cameras to be defined as “Made in Germany.”

I'd rather see a big budget biopic on Ben Lawee with a killer '70s-'80s soundtrack.

i bought my 1st good bike in 1985...univega loved it.
27 inch wheels ...it became my love of cycling.

The website states that their bikes are "proudly assembled in the USA".

Browsing the spec sheets, the named parts appear to be from MicroSHIFT, Shimano, SRAM, Tektro, Kenda and SR Suntour.

Source: https://www.univega-usa.com/

I wish they still made steel frames, but I'm surprised to say I don't hate it. (Looking not that far forward to when I can't swing my leg over.) Gran Tech Electric

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...55572b89c3.jpg

Not sure if joking or not but IBD = Independent Bicycle Dealer