Private company
Univega
Logo: Univega, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3
American bicycle brand
Univega is a bicycle brand created during the bike boom of the 1970s by Ben Lawee (1926–2002), who founded Lawee Inc. to design, specify, and import bicycles initially manufactured in Italy by Italvega, and subsequently in Japan by Miyata. Prior to creating the Univega brand, Lawee had been the importer of Motobécane bicycles in the U.S. and had created the Italvega in Italy. His Bertoni brand appeared after the creation of Univega.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0
Last updated Oct 21, 2026.
Overview
- Websitewww.univega.com
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Univega is a bicycle brand created during the bike boom of the 1970s by Ben Lawee (1926–2002), who founded Lawee Inc. to design, specify, and import bicycles initially manufactured in Italy by Italvega, and subsequently in Japan by Miyata.2
Products and brands
Models
Univega marketed road and touring bicycles and later, mountain bikes.
Models
"Second Series"(incomplete list):
Nuovitalia – base model with Columbus Matrix double-butted tubesets and a mix of Ofmega and Shimano components.
Corsa Mondiale – Mid-range steel-frame (Columbus SL; Matrix used on tall frames) model equipped with Shimano 600 crankset, hubs, derailleurs and brakes.
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Specialissima – uprange steel model with Columbus SLX tubing and Shimano Dura-Ace hubs, crank, derailleurs and brakes.
Professionale – similar SLX frame with Campagnolo SR componentry.
TSX – Columbus TSX tubing, Daccordi Griffe type "webbed" lugs and bottom bracket shell.
Top-end models
Models manufactured under the Italvega marque include (in order of increasing quality):
Viva Sport
Nuovo Sport
Nuovo Record
Super Record
Super Speciale
Super Light
Viva Touring
The top-end models were built with double-butted Columbus tubing and Campagnolo Record and Nuovo Record components. The low- to mid-tier framesets have the inverted triangle Columbus foil decal, while the better models have the rectangle Columbus foil decal. Models in the lowest tier have no Columbus decal.
From Wikipedia’s article on Univega, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4
Timeline
- 1970Founded Founded1
Links
- Websitewww.univega.com1
- WikipediaUnivega
- WikidataQ4052409
Sources
The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.
- 1WikidataUnivega on Wikidata
- 2WikipediaUnivega on Wikipedia
- 3Wikimedia CommonsUnivega logo by Univega, Public domain
- 4WikipediaUnivega on Wikipedia (revision used)