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Nishiki (bicycle company)

Nishiki headbadge (c.1977). Early Nishiki Logo: The early Nishiki logo derived from the American Eagle logo, which was largely identical and featured an eagle head along with the tri-color square. Kawamura Cycle, the original manufacturer of Nishiki bikes, had used a tri-color square in its domestic marketing — the three colors symbolizing passion for the customer (red), quality products (yellow) and sincerity in business (blue). WCC sought and received permission from Kawamura to use the same mark within the Nishiki logo and in their company marketing.
1977 Nishiki International
Ten speed road bike

Manufacturer: Kawamura Cycles, Kobe, Japan
U.S. Importer: West Coast Cycle
Frame: Lugged, plain gauge Cromoly
Fork: high-tensile steel
Rear Derailleur Suntour Cyclone
Front Derailleur: Suntour Cyclone
Stem Shifters: Suntour
Brakes: Dia-compe, single pivot side-pull
Rims: Araya 27 x 1.25, 36 count spokes
Hubs: Shimano
Crank: Sugino Super Maxy
Seat stem: LaPrade

Non-standard equipment:
handlebars, saddle, chrome cable guides, rear rack
1971 advertisement: American Eagle Bikes, American Bicyclist Magazine, with 'KB Bicycles' signifying 'Kawamura-Built'

Nishiki is a brand name of bicycle, not a bicycle company.

Nishiki is a brand of bicycles designed, specified, marketed and distributed by West Coast Cycle in the United States, initially manufactured by Kawamura Cycle Co. in Kobe, Japan, and subsequently by Giant of Taiwan. The bicycles were first marketed under the American Eagle brand beginning in 1965[1] and later under the Nishiki brand until 2001.

Throughout the U.S. bike boom of the 1970s and into the 1980s, Nishiki and West Coast Cycle competed with domestic companies including Schwinn, Huffy, and Murray; European companies including Raleigh, Peugeot and Motobecane—as well as other nascent Japanese brands including Miyata, Fuji, Bridgestone, Panasonic, Univega, Lotus and Centurion—itself a line of Japanese-manufactured bicycles that were specified, distributed and marketed by Western States Imports (WSI), a U.S. company similar to West Coast Cycle. Japanese-manufactured bikes succeeded in the U.S. market until currency fluctuations in the late 1980s made them less competitive, leading companies to source bicycles from Taiwan.

As of 2013, Nishiki Europe was marketing bicycle models in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. In 2010, Dick's Sporting Goods acquired the licensing rights to the Nishiki brand for the U.S. market and began marketing Nishiki-branded bicycles and accessories.[citation needed]

  1. ^ "A lifetime in the Bicycle Industry, Howie Cohen". Bicycle Industry and Retailer News, Steve Frothingham, August 1, 1999.