The Team America was the 2nd model from the top after the Team Europe model. So what was the Team America? In a nutshell? It is a Japanese bike built with Italian Columbus SL tubing and named the Team America. How about that for a mind bender?<\/p>\n
The 1986 Team America model came with a full Dura Ace component group and lovely Araya Aero 4 tubular wheels. The three color paint job is perhaps one of Panasonic\u2019s more attractive designs.<\/p>\n
Owner\u2019s Story\u2026<\/strong> I wanted one of these for many years\u2026 since 1986 to be exact! The only problem was that I had never actually seen one anywhere other than in the bike shop catalog back in the day. I have been watching ebay and other sites for quite some time and never saw one for sale. I sort of figured that perhaps this bike was a bit of a unicorn within the Panasonic line. You see pictures but can\u2019t be sure they actually exist.<\/p>\n Well, during mid May of 2008 the unicorn bike became a reality. I spotted one on ebay and was determined to own it as long as the price didn\u2019t go up to insane levels. As luck may have it, I won the auction and the bike is now sitting over my left shoulder. I spent several evenings going through everything in order to get it \u201cmuseum clean\u201d.
\nWhat can I say about this \u201986 Team America other than the fact that it is likely my personal favorite Panasonic bicycle. You see, I remember looking at the 1986 Panasonic model year brochure back in the day and even though this wasn\u2019t the top dog (Team Europe) within the line, it was far and away THE bike I wanted. It is also the bicycle that prompted my quest for more Panasonic information\u2026 and turning up fairly empty-handed, I guess you could say it also led to the creation of this web site.<\/p>\n
\nIt turns out that I had in fact purchased the bike from the original owner. The bike was originally purchased from a now defunct Schwinn\/Panasonic dealer in East Liberty, Pennsylvania called The Bike Barn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20168,"featured_media":462,"template":"","class_list":["post-34719","pbvm_featured_bike","type-pbvm_featured_bike","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t