Nishiki (bicycle company) Nishiki (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 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,
Chicago Bicycle Company of Champion Cycles, also in Vermont, to design a marketable bicycle concept that would appeal to commuters and people wishing to have a practical alternative to the mountain bike and road bike without the complication of derailleurs, and above all, made in the U.S. The bicycles sold for $500– $1000, depending on hubs, and options chosen by the customer. They used internal gear hubs from Sachs, with drum, or internal brakes, to avoid the complications of vulnerable external mechanisms. The bikes would later become known as "comfort cruisers", and though CBC was unsuccessful in marketing, famed bicycle maker and MTB