Table of Contents


Bike Nashbar

Bike Nashbar was the friend to many cyclists looking for parts in the pre-internet era, and the foe to Local Bike Shops everywhere, before Amazon brought everything crashing down. They made quality bikes, which weren't any more mass produced than many boutique brands which off-shored to Asia.

Arni Nashbar started Nashbar in 1974 as a mail order bicycle parts company out of his home in New Middletown, Ohio. Ten years later Arni was selling six million dollars a year of cycling merchandise. Originally called “Bike Warehouse,” Arni lent the business his own name of “Bike Nashbar” in 1981. Bike Nashbar soon sold complete bikes and likely sold their first mountain bikes in 19831). Catalogs are hard to find, which is likely due to their being mostly printed on newsprint, and being for decades the largest, most complete cycling catalog published. Eventually Bike Nashbar was sold to Performance Bicycle in 2000, which was then purchased by Advanced Sports International2) in 2016, which then all went bankrupt in 2018, resulting in 100+ brick and mortar Nashbar and Performance shops to be permanently closed.


Resources:

Arni Nashbar
Arni Nashbar, from the 1990 Bicycle Magazine Buyers' Guide. |bikeforums


1983 Nashbar XT

Shimano Deore XT v1 (1982-84), bullmoose bars, Araya rm-20 rims (1988+), Shimano SL-M700 shifters (1982-86). Showed up in 1984 bike guides printed in 1983 and not in the 1984 catalog. However, the 1984 Terra XT has newer components.

1983 Nashbar XT
1983 Nashbar XT pedalroom


1984 Terra XT

Shimano Deore XT v1 (1982-84), bullmoose bars, biopace cranks

1984 Terra XT
1984 Terra XT bikeindex


1985 Terra SL

Shimano RD-L512-SGS or RD-L514-SGS rear derailleur (1984-85).

1985 Terra SL
1985 Terra SL ebay


1986 Terra XT

Shimano Deore XT v2 (1985-86), $435

1986 Terra XT
1986 Terra XT bikeforums


1987 Terra XC

Each year's model name nicely conforms to the installed component group. SunTour XC 9000 (1987-88), SunTour roller cams.

1987 Terra XC
1987 Terra XC bikeforums


1988 Terra Alpha 5000

SunTour Alpha-5000 (1987-89), center pull Dia-Compe rear u-brakes.

1988 Alpha 5000
1988 Alpha 5000 flickr


1989 8000 DTX

Shimano Deore XT M735 (1989-93).

1989 8000 DTX
1989 8000 DTX ebay


1991 4000X

Elevated chainstay, Shimano Deore LX (1990-93).

1991 4000X
1991 4000X mtbr


1992 3000X

Shimano Exage 300LX (1990-92).

1992 3000X
1992 3000X facebook

1)
Late 1983 is when Nashbar's first MTB is mentioned in print.
2)
AKA ASE, for Advanced Sports Enterprises, ASI's parent company