Univega is a bicycle brand created during the bike boom of the 1970s by Ben Lawee (1926–2002),[1] 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.
Lawee marketed the Univega brand using the taglines "Discover the difference" and "Ride it your way" and began marketing their Alpina series of mountain bikes in the early 1980s. In 1985 Lawee moved Univega Headquarters to Signal Hill California in his new building designed by Randy Morris and Brian Corntassel of Phelps Morris Architects, Long Beach, CA. Univega now had a competitive look that would last another 11 years of success.
Univega competed in the U.S. with domestic and European bicycle manufacturers including Schwinn, Raleigh, Peugeot and Motobecane — as well as other Japanese manufacturers including Miyata, Fuji, Bridgestone, Panasonic, Nishiki, Lotus and Centurion. Bikes manufactured in Japan succeeded in the U.S. market until currency fluctuations in the late 1980s made them less competitive, which led companies to source bicycles from Taiwan.
In 1996,[1] the parent company of Raleigh Bicycle Company, Derby Cycle, absorbed Univega along with the Nishiki brand of bicycles.
In 2018 Univega was purchased by Kent International. All Univega bicycles have since been assembled in the USA at the Bicycle Corporation of America factory in Manning, South Carolina.