Don, You bring back great memories of those parts...I was an early big fan of the 1st generation Cyclone derailleurs and of the rest as well. They was very capable parts..... YET AGAIN, nobody raced with any significant results and no framebuilders 'stepped up' to the plate. You make many assumptions regarding durability of parts and the ability of 1970 framebuilders in Japan to produce world class racing frames. I don't agree with giving virtual credit to someone based on 'what if'.
As for advertising and marketing I remember many makers beyond the 2 you mention. What about Centurion, Azuki, Panasonic just to name a few. The LeTour is no better than mid range and were largely built to Schwinns specs and PRICE POINT...Sekai and SR built some nice racing and touring bikes...and Bridgestone too!!! The issue is there was no significant innovation, racing heritage or mojo in these bikes other than a good buying value for mostly recreation riders.
Matt Gorski Lower Ca
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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