BikeRaceInfo: Current and historical race results, plus interviews, bikes, travel, and cycling historyBikeRaceInfo: Current and historical race results, plus interviews, bikes, travel, and cycling history
Search our site:
Email Newsletter icon, E-mail Newsletter icon, Email List icon, E-mail List icon Sign up for our Email Newsletter

Why Your Bike Is Made in Asia:
My Career in Bicycles as I Watched Two Continents Squander an Industry

By Bill McGann

Why Your Bike is Made in Asia

Formats: Print & Kindle eBook.
Suggested retail print version: $16.95, Kindle eBook: $3.99
Audiobook version will be available some time in October, 2024.

Get the book

Third Street Books, McMinnville, OR: Print version
Amazon.com: print and Kindle eBook or click on the link on the right.

The reviews are in: "Why Your Bike Is Made in Asia" is a must-have, compulsively readable book for anyone with an interest in the bicycle industry in the U.S. and/or Europe, and/or the rise and subsequent dominance of Asian manufacturing. McGann’s knowledge of events that shaped the bicycle industry on all three continents is nothing short of encyclopedic. - Rick Vosper, Bicycle Retailer and Industry News 

About the book: When author Bill McGann opened his bike shop in 1974, his stock of bicycles, parts and accessories were all made in Europe. At the same time, the nearby sporting goods store sold Schwinn bicycles that were made in Chicago. But across town was a busy shop owned by a gentleman named “Chuck”. It was stocked with all the famous imported lightweights; among them Peugeot, Motobecane and Raleigh. But his top-selling brand was a bike McGann was barely familiar with, Nishiki, made in Japan. Chuck had populated the town with hundreds and hundreds, possibly thousands of bright orange Nishiki Olympic bikes, Nishiki’s basic consumer ten-speed.

find us on Facebook Find us on Twitter See our youtube channel

Melanoma: It started with a freckle Peaks Coaching: work with a coach! Schwab Cycles South Salem Cycleworks frames Neugent Cycling Wheels Shade Vise sunglass holder Advertise with us!


Content continues below the ads

Melanoma: It started with a freckle Peaks Coaching: work with a coach! Schwab Cycles

Chuck said his Nishikis were not only a terrific value and well-made, they were equipped with wonderfully reliable, cutting-edge derailleurs. He was adamant that Nishiki bikes shouldn’t be confused with the shoddy post-war Japanese merchandise everyone thought was junk.

The Schwinn dealer argued that customers were best off with Schwinn because of its wonderful reputation of quality. The iron-clad Schwinn guarantee was a no-time limit warrantee that Schwinn honored without quibble. To ensure its bikes were assembled and serviced correctly, every Schwinn dealer was encouraged to have its mechanics factory trained.


Content continues below the ads

South Salem Cycleworks frames Neugent Cycling Wheels

McGann's starting inventory was lean, just ten French Gitane ten-speeds and twenty-five Maserati bicycles. The Maseratis were made in Italy by a member of the famous car family who used the legendary name to brand his bikes. He told his customers his European bikes were light, handled best and were the product of a cycling culture that demanded good-riding bikes.

McGann working on a Maserati bicycle in 1974.

Being twenty-two and sorely lacking judgment, McGann heaped contempt upon Chuck's Nishikis, calling them “Jap Scrap”. He felt righteous selling his French and Italian bikes and succeeded well enough that about six months after he opened his shop, he attended Camarillo Bicycle Center’s bankruptcy auction. The bike boom was by now long gone and there wasn’t enough room for everyone.

But McGann was wrong and Chuck was right.

How that came to be and what followed is his story.


Content continues below the ads

Shade Vise sunglass holder Advertise with us!

About the Author: Bill McGann and his wife Carol have had their lives inextricably tied up with bicycles about as long as they can remember. Their first date was a bike ride. Bill, formerly a Category 1 racer, has been a contributor to several cycling magazines and is widely acknowledged as an expert on road bikes and cycling history. Since his father gave him a small 1-speed English lightweight bicycle when he was 5 years old, Bill has been in love with everything about bikes.

Carol, a former college biology instructor is also an accomplished rider, having cycle-toured extensively. Together they started Torelli Imports in 1981, a firm specializing in high-performance cycle equipment.

Currently they own McGann Publishing and the cycling website BikeRaceInfo.com