RCMoeur 

As part of the semi-disorganized process of taking donated bikes and fixing them up for local nonprofits, I've come into possession of a few bikes that were castoffs from the flow of ones chosen to be refurbished. One of these bikes came due for inspection and judgment, and it has a decent aluminum frame with somewhat intact paint, plus a basic Rock Shox fork. However, it also had no-name wheels with zinc spokes that were actually red with rust, and componentry that evoked a rather, um, "affordable" price point (e.g. Tourney), plus an overall look that implied many days spent sitting unused in the unforgiving outdoors. Verdict: its fate would be to be stripped of its usable parts and stored away until its destiny could be better assessed. Plus, I wanted the lollipop-shaped thumb/pushbutton 7 speed shifter for another bike.

As I removed the parts, I saw it was a Columbia bicycle. Big deal - Columbia bicycles have been around for centuries. But this didn't seem to be that Columbia.

This definitely looked to be the Columbia Sportswear logo.

Yup, that logo is more commonly seen on a hoodie, not a two-wheeler.

Even has the "Tested tough by Gert" label.

So, as I'm dismantling this overcoat bicycle, I do see another logo on the seat tube:

What's this, eh? The classic Columbia Bicycle logo? I wasn't aware that Columbia Sportswear had ever cross-licensed the IP of the "other" Columbia. Interesting. Another mystery to ponder... unless, like usual, someone will have all the answers in the first few comments.

Schweinhund

This has a bunch of the history
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_M...turing_Company

RCMoeur 

I looked at that prior to posting, as it is a good basic summary of the history of the Columbia bicycle brand. But I've come up empty on any crossover between Columbia Bicycle and Columbia Sportswear, other than Exhibit A above.

Schweinhund

Read this?
https://www.familybusinessmagazine.c...-success-story

oldbobcat

The Trailhead is a made-in-Asia bike marketed by the Columbia outdoor clothing company. The original Columbia bicycle company was located in Westfield, Massachusetts, where it also made school furniture. It was merged with MTD in 1967, purchased from MTD and reorganized in 1988, went bankrupt in 1991, emerged from bankruptcy in 1993, when it badged some Asian-made bikes and produced in Westfield a replica of the 1941 Superb. Currently they make only school and institutional furniture. You could say the two brands are homonymous.

RCMoeur 

Reading the replies and pondering the issue had me thinking there may be another explanation. I suppose given the age of the Columbia (bicycle) classic logo seen on the seat tube, there is a possibility that it has passed into the public domain and Columbia Sportswear's product staff saw an opportunity to tie their brand back into the legacy of the (older and unrelated) Columbia brand by slapping it on their subcontracted bicycle.

RCMoeur 

Sometimes it's better to remain homonymous.

oldbobcat

Or, Columbia the sportswear folks saw no point in choosing another brand name, seeing as they'd been using this one for several decades, and Columbia Manufacturing was distracted by other issues or simply saw no threat to their brand's integrity. The Asian bike venture was low-key and short-lived, as Columbia considered itself a manufacturing company first, and the furniture business was keeping them as busy as they needed to be. Also, not every bicycle company is as litigious as Mike Sinyard's Specialized.

I grew up across the Connecticut River from Westfield. In our town we all rode Columbia bikes, usually purchased at Rucki's, our local purveyor of household appliances, TVs and hi-fi, Goodyear tires, and Columbia bicycles.

This reminds me of a trademark contention in the musical instrument business in the early 1950s. Leo Fender had introduced his first electric Spanish guitar called the Broadcaster. Fred Gretsch had been marketing for several years a drum set he called the Broadkaster. So Fred sent Leo a letter requesting that he stop using Broadcaster, and Leo said, sure. So for about a year the guitars were made with no model designation until he came up with the name Telecaster.

Murray Missile 

Sadly Tourney doesn't always indicate an "affordable" price point. I took this 2021 TREK Marlin 5 in partial trade on a truck this summer, it has a 3 X 7 Tourney drivetrain. For now.

wschruba

Bikes from that point in time (late 90s/early 00s) that were branded by some "higher end" company were frequently made by Giant. You can see it best with LL Bean's version of the above, which is a literal dead-ringer for one of Giant's mainline bikes, right down to the parts specification.

Brad L 

I also have this Worksop built Columbia frame. As I’ve read, once Raleigh moved production out of the Worksop factory, several builders stayed behind to start their own brand - Columbia.