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, 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
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1984 Terra XT
Shimano Deore XT v1 (1982-84), bullmoose bars, biopace cranks
1984 Terra XT
bikeindex
1985 Terra SL
Shimano RD-L512-SGS or RD-L514-SGS rear derailleur (1984-85).
1985 Terra SL
ebay
1986 Terra XT
Shimano Deore XT v2 (1985-86), $435
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
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1988 Terra Alpha 5000
SunTour Alpha-5000 (1987-89), center pull Dia-Compe rear u-brakes.
1988 Alpha 5000
flickr
1989 8000 DTX
Shimano Deore XT M735 (1989-93).
1989 8000 DTX
ebay
1991 4000X
Elevated chainstay, Shimano Deore LX (1990-93).
1991 4000X
mtbr
1992 3000X
Shimano Exage 300LX (1990-92).
1992 3000X
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