Univega serial number year chart series#

Other braze-ons were also Gipiemme, including the two styles of brake stay bridges used, depending on the model, and the induction-cast 'box arch' chainstay bridge which was common to all steel Bertonis, with the exception of the TSX model - the frame of which was obviously the Daccordi Griffe, but with Bertoni inscriptions and decals. Seat stay lugs were Gipiemme, brazed into the contour of the rear quarters of the seat tube lug. These 'second series' frames all utilized Columbus tubesets of Matrix, SL or SLX type tubing and featured Columbus 'short point' lugs and Cinelli-type Columbus bottom brackets & semi-sloping fork crowns. The 1984 and later steel frames do not bear the typical Torresini details. Earlier Bertonis have frame details that are similar to the Torresini-made Italvegas. The frames were manufactured in Italy by Daccordi, sometimes mistakenly assigned to Bianchi, which had no connection to the Bertoni brand other than Ben Lawee's Bianchi imports during the 1960s. In 1996, the parent company of RaleighвЂ…BicycleвЂ…Company, DerbyвЂ…Cycle, absorbed Univega along with the Nishiki brand of bicycles.Д«ertoni was a brand created by Ben Lawee circa-1980. market until currencyвЂ…fluctuations in the late 1980s made them less competitive, which led companies to source bicycles from Taiwan. Bikes manufactured in Japan succeeded in the U.S. with domestic and European bicycle manufacturers including Schwinn, Raleigh, Peugeot and Motobecane - as well as other Japanese manufacturers including Miyata, Fuji, Bridgestone, Panasonic, Nishiki, Lotus and Centurion. Univega now had a competitive look that would last another 11 years of success. In 1985 Lawee moved Univega Headquarters to Signal Hill California in his new building designed by Randy Morris and Brian Corntassel of Phelps Morris Architects, Long Beach, CA.

Univega serial number year chart series#

Lawee marketed the Univega brand using the taglines 'Discover the difference' and 'Ride it your way' and began marketing their Alpina series of mountain bikes in the early 1980s. His Bertoni brand appeared after the creation of Univega. Prior to creating the Univega brand, Lawee had been the importer of MotobГ©cane bicycles in the U.S. to design, specify, and import bicycles initially manufactured in Italy by Italvega, and subsequently in Japan by Miyata. Univega is a brand of bicycles, created during the bikeвЂ…boom of the 1970s by Ben Lawee (1926вЂ“2002), who founded Lawee Inc.