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{"id":578,"date":"2020-05-26T19:04:27","date_gmt":"2020-05-26T19:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/classicjapanesebicycles.com\/?page_id=578"},"modified":"2023-08-08T04:14:59","modified_gmt":"2023-08-08T04:14:59","slug":"sekai","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/classicjapanesebicycles.com\/sekai\/","title":{"rendered":"Sekai Bikes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0 \u00a0 History\u00a0 \u00a0 of\u00a0 \u00a0 Sekai\u00a0 Bicycles
\n<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

<\/p>\n

We want to extend our gratitude to Robert Freeman for granting us permission to share his article on the history of Sekai bicycles and the Velo bike shop in Seattle.\u00a0 We also appreciate the images provided by Mr. Freeman shown in the article.<\/p>\n

\"sekai\"<\/span><\/h1>\n

Sekai Bicycle Company was started in Seattle in the late\"Japanese<\/a> 60s by a local family with Japanese roots and connections.\u00a0 They had started as Velocipede bike shop and were importing bikes and parts from Europe and Asia.\u00a0 Additionally, they developed a small mail order business, and grew quickly in the bike boom years, practically selling bikes right out of the truck at times.<\/p>\n

SEKAI\u00a0BICYCLES: A TESTAMENT OF\u00a0DETERMINATION<\/span><\/h3>\n
\"SEKAI\"
SEKAI 4000 TRACK BIKE<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They partnered with Shin-wa trading company of Osaka to contract Sekai bikes to be built by several Japanese factories.\u00a0 The top of the line Sekai 4000 road and track frames, and superlight 5000 frames were made by a small custom frame shop called Miki.\u00a0 As a matter of fact, they had several distribution partners for the bikes including Merry Sales of San Francisco, Yellow Jersey of Madison, Freewheel Bike Co-op of Minneapolis, and Turin Denver.<\/p>\n

SEKAI BICYCLE COMPANY<\/span><\/h3>\n

Unfortunately, in 1977 Sekai was forced by Shinwa and its Japanese suppliers to divorce their retail and mail order operation from the wholesale, and start over as Sekai Bicycle Company.\u00a0 Furthermore, Sekai\u00a0 was undercapitalized and fell victim to rapidly increasing exchange rates in the late 70s,\u00a0 and eventually was taken over by another Shin-wa customer, Norco of Canada.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Subsequently, they discontinued the Sekai name in favor of the Norco brand in the early 90s, but finally pulled out of the US market in the mid 90s.\u00a0 Sadly, Velo Bike Shop closed it’s doors in May of 2023.<\/p>\n

TEAM VELOCIPEDE OF SEATTLE<\/span><\/h3>\n

The owners were former racers and always wanted to have a high profile presence in Seattle.\u00a0 As a result, they started a racing team also called Velocipede of Seattle.\u00a0 In fact, they got some sponsorship from Sugino and also chipped some in through their Sekai brand name.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The author, Robert Freeman (right) with Velo shop owner, Lloyd Tamura<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They spawned such racers as Mark Pringle (later to be a National Team member and ride in Europe), Rebecca Twigg (later to be World Champion), Kay Henshaw (World Masters Champion), Graham Garcia, Jane Robinson (National Road Champion), Linda Peters, and Dennis Palmer.\u00a0 \u00a0The team pretty much folded when Norco took over the company in 1979.<\/p>\n

\"SEKAI\"
Robert Freeman with 1984 Olympic Silver Medalist and 6 time World Track Champion, Rebecca Twigg<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here are some of the various Sekai models:<\/p>\n

2500\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 2000 Super SX<\/p>\n

4000\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a02700 Gt Deluxe<\/p>\n

Competition\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Magnum GT<\/p>\n

Limited 2400\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Magnum S7<\/p>\n

Grandtour 2500\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 3000<\/p>\n

2500 Grandtour\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 2500<\/p>\n

4000 Criterium\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Sasquatch<\/p>\n

4000 Professional\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Bigfoot<\/p>\n

2400\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Sprint<\/p>\n

1000\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 4000<\/p>\n

We link items through our Amazon Affiliate Links. What are Amazon affiliate links? It’s a way for you to help your favorite creators! It doesn’t cost you anything to use our links and we will get a small % of the sale. You can actually go to another item you were going to buy anyway and tell us thanks by using our link.\u00a0 It’s a win win! We give info and our time, you buy what you need.\u00a0 Thank you for your support!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0 \u00a0 History\u00a0 \u00a0 of\u00a0 \u00a0 Sekai\u00a0 Bicycles<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-578","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nSekai Bikes - Classic Japanese Bicycles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For decades, Sekai Bicycles has been at the forefront of bicycle manufacturing, combining innovation, and craftsmanship.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/classicjapanesebicycles.com\/sekai\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sekai Bikes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For decades, Sekai Bicycles has been at the forefront of bicycle manufacturing, combining innovation, and craftsmanship.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/classicjapanesebicycles.com\/sekai\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Classic Japanese Bicycles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-08T04:14:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/classicjapanesebicycles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Sekai-bicycle.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/classicjapanesebicycles.com\/sekai\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/classicjapanesebicycles.com\/sekai\/\",\"name\":\"Sekai Bikes - 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