wow, great response, thanx so much matt.
i think however that you could build a race winning bike with suntour cyclone/winner drivetrain, sugino mighty cranks, and sunshine hubs, if a frame builder decided to step up to the plate in 1975.
Among volume manufacturers i think i remember that only fuji and nishiki were widely advertise in magazines and present in many bike stores in the 1970's.
I think another thing that might hurt collectability is that the japanese just didn't try very hard to sell their high end bicycles in the states. many of the high end bikes were, e.g. rebadged by schwinn and sold as voyageurs or letours.
- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA