Bridgestone Bicycles Serial Numbers
I recently bought a second bicycle from a bicycle store in Thailand. This store sells only second hand bicycles; a small portion of their business comes from vintage Japanese bicycle brands such as Nishiki and Nara. The bicycle I bought clearly has Bridgestone stickers on them, but they look shoddily put on/peeling. The paint also looks to be a rattlecan job and is a bit chipped. I would very much appreciate it if anyone could confirm this is a genuine chromoly frame Bridgestone, and if so does anyone recognize what model and year. Any help would be much appreciated! Sean flores 22:52.
That's a tough one. I very well could be legit, but if it came from Japan, it makes it that much harder to narrow down. BS is Japan is like Schwinn or Huffy in the US, all over the place, in terms of both quality and models. Even within Bridgestone, you had sub brands like Anchor, Eurasia and Gran Velo (may have been others as well). I would go to Goolge.jp and type in Bridgestone and look at the image search. I would start with the Eurasia line, the TT cable stops and fork crown remind me of some of those.
I have a Bridgestone bicycle that I would like to find more information about. It is labeled as a '450 Racing Series' at the top of the seat tube. It has a 'Bridgestone Cro-Moly Tubing' sticker near the bottom of the seat tube and a 'Coca Cola' sticker right under that. The only other markings are a hand painted serial # on the BB shell.
I recently bought a second bicycle from a bicycle store in Thailand. This store sells only second hand bicycles; a small portion of their business comes from vintage Japanese bicycle brands such as Nishiki and Nara. The bicycle I bought clearly has Bridgestone stickers on them, but they look shoddily put on/peeling. The paint also looks to be a rattlecan job and is a bit chipped. I would very much appreciate it if anyone could confirm this is a genuine chromoly frame Bridgestone, and if so does anyone recognize what model and year. Any help would be much appreciated!
Key people Mitchell M. Weiner, Co-founder Junya (Cozy) Yamakoshi, Co-founder, Product Development Centurion was a of created in 1969 by Mitchell (Mitch) M. Weiner and Junya (Cozy) Yamakoshi, who co-founded Western States Import Co. (WSI) in (initially Wil-Go Imports) to design, specify, distribute and market the bicycles. The bikes themselves were manufactured initially in by companies including H. Tano Company of and later in Taiwan by companies including. The Centurion brand was consolidated with WSI's mountain bike brand in 1990.
WSI ceased operations in 2000. Centurion and WSI competed in the U.S. Against domestic and European bicycle manufacturers including, and — as well as including, and — itself a line of Japanese-manufactured bicycles that were specified, distributed and marketed by West Coast Cycles — a U.S. Company similar to WSI. Japanese-manufactured bikes succeeded in the U.S.
Market until in the late 1980s made them less competitive, leading companies to source bicycles from Taiwan. WSI marketed the Centurion brand of and in the United States using the tag line 'Where Centurion leads, others must follow' and 'A Lifetime Bicycle', offering a warranty without time limit. For a brief period the bikes carried a 'Centurion Bicycle Works' headbadge. The Centurion, which still exists, imported Centurion bikes from Japan to Germany from 1976 on and bought the name-rights in 1990. Contents.
Bridgestone Bicycle Serial Number 8e08831
History According to Frank J. Berto, Raleigh Industries of America had been looking at a Japanese source for their Grand Prix model. Raleigh America ordered 2,000 bicycles from Tano and Company of Osaka but their parent company in England, TI-Raleigh, disapproved — concerned that the Tano-built bikes were too well made and would have outsold their own British bikes. Raleigh's sales agent, Mitchell Weiner, who was reading at the time, took receipt of the bikes, placed Centurion decals on the bikes and marketed them successfully, subsequently forming Western State Imports after merging with Rick Wilson's company, Wil-Go of Santa Clara, California. Because the bikes had all been intended as Raleigh Grand Prix models, as Centurions, they carried the colors of the Raleigh America Grand Prix model. Cozy Yamakoshi served as the company's product development manager, designing the bike's frames, coordinating the manufacture of the bikes by Japanese manufacturers, and importing the bikes into the US. Subsequently, around 1986, Centurion introduced their first Taiwanese built model, the Signet.
The Cinelli Equipe Centurion of 1985 (only) was a joint-venture of WSI and of Italy. Early bike sales were limited to the West Coast, with the brand receiving wider exposure by the late 1970s. WSI stopped using the Centurion brand name in 1990, consolidating their road and touring bikes under the Diamond Back (later DiamondBack) brand. While the brand Centurion had become well known, under the new brand name the company's market for road and touring bicycles soon evaporated. Early Diamond Back models (ca. 1990) carried a top tube decal reading 'Centurion Designed' and stickers near the bottom bracket reading 'Designed in the USA' and 'Exclusively built for WSI.' Was eventually sold to Raleigh USA, and manufacture was moved to Taiwan.
WSI later opened an office in, and eventually maintained offices in, and — in addition a headquarters in. After Weiner died, the company continued its growth under the management of Mike Bobrick. Cozy Yamakoshi, product and development manager, worked with Mike Bobrick (Executive President of WSI) and Sandy Finkelman (1947–2005)(Diamond Back team manager and product development) and left Diamond Back in 1986, to start Parkpre Mountain Bike in 1989. Parkpre USA was based in Moorpark, Southern California, USA., producing bikes from the early 1990s until 1998. Ken Yamakoshi, son of Cozy Yamakoshi, is in the process of re-launching Parkpre in the US.
Serial Numbers Nero
The rights to the brand name Centurion were sold to Germany's in 1991. Renner had imported Centurion to Germany since 1976, including made-extra models like the first German mountainbike 'Country'. Today, Centurion remains as a German brand with design and engineering in-house. Models Centurion eventually marketed a full line of road and touring bikes, with steel construction ranging from full (all eight tubes) high-tensile 1020 steel at the lower end, to full (all eight tubes) bikes at their high end — with top quality componentry.
Bridgestone Bicycle Catalog
Notable models included:. Centurion Cinelli Equipe: WSI/Centurion and Cinelli offered the co-branded Centurion Cinelli Equipe for model year 1984/85, as a joint-venture, designed by Cino Cinelli several years after he retired in 1979 and sold Cinelli to the Columbo family, manufacturers of Columbus tubing. The Cinelli Equipe's production was coordinated and supervised by his staff. The bike featured all Cinelli frame components: Columbus SL tubing; chrome chain stay, Cinelli chromed sloped crown, head lugs, bottom bracket shell, handlebars and stem; new-style Cinelli logos embossed on bar and stem, fork crown, seat and seat stays, rear brake bridge and under bottom bracket; Campagnolo dropouts, derraileurs and shifters; Universal 'AER' non-aero brakeset; Mistral headset, bottom bracket and crankset; Gipiemme seatpost; Regina chain and CX-S freewheel; Miche 'Competition' hubs and Fiamme, Hard Silver tubular rims. Other markings include a 'Cinelli Equipe' decal on down-tube just above shifters and on left chain stay; an 'Italia: Made in Italy' decal high on seat tube; Columbus tubing decals on fork ('Forcella Originale') and frame ('Acciaio Speciali'); Centurion decals on down-tube (left and right), and a Centurion 'C' decal badge on head tube. Centurion Pro Tour: 's 'Richard's Bicycle Book' included the Centurion Pro Tour (ultimately manufactured from 1976–1984) on his list of 'Best Bikes' in both the 1978 and 1982 updates of his book — along with the P-13, a bike that sold for two to three times the price of the Pro-Tour.