Japanische Fahrräder und Komponenten: Unterschied zwischen den Versionen

===Glorreiche Jahre - Mitte der 1980er Jahre===

The loaded touring bike was the most prestigious type of bike, and was generally recommended as the ideal general-purpose bike for the serious cyclist. Unfortunately, such bikes were not available from stock; a buyer would have to start with a "sport touring" bike and make various modifications to turn it into a thoroughbred touring machine. Around 1985, the industry finally figured out how to make a good off-the shelf touring bike. Suddenly, all of the Japanese builders got it together at once, and serious, ready-to-ride touring bikes became available, with triple chainwheels, cantilever brakes, triple water bottle mounts, front and rear rack braze-ons, bar-end shifters, 40-spoke rear wheels, sealed bearings. Centurion, Fuji, Miyata, Panasonic, Shogun, Specialized, Univega and others offered these bikes. Some of these companies offered 2 or 3 different models at different price ranges. At the same time, the mid 1980s, the dollar reached a peak against the Japanese Yen (260 ¥ to the $!) The Japanese tourers of this era were a value unequalled before or since.

The bicycle industry has always tended toward a "pack mentality." Everybody wants to make whatever is most popular, and nothing else. At the end of the '86 model year, all of the manufacturers said, with one voice "Whoah! Touring bikes are over!. No more touring bikes! Now we will all build...mountain bikes! Touring bikes became extinct at the production level. Well into the early '90s, a cyclist seeking a touring bike would be sold a left-over '86.

===Flucht nach Taiwan - späte 1980er Jahre===

Um 1987 fiel der amerikanische Dollarkurs ins bodenlose und sein Kurs halbierte sich gegenüber dem japanische Yen. Japanische Fahrräder wurden für die meisten US-Amerikaner unerschwinglich.