I consider myself fairly knowledgeable when it comes to bikes but I’ll admit I don’t know much about older bikes. I just got this one fixed up. What is everyone’s opinion of these bikes?
Dropbars59 on
That was my first bike! Haven’t seen one since. Got it for xmas around 1967 I think.
Mezodonis on
Done good! The ’60’s Sears 3-speeds are worth fixing up, for general riding/commutes. Steyr (Austrian) made solid bikes. I have a 3-speed Steyr, and 10-speed “clubman” and a Sears 3 sp. (Steyr branded) all from the ’60’s. One thing adds to the value; easy to work on with everyday tools. Yeah, bare-bones tool box; 6-inch “Cresent” wrench; hammer; slotted screwdriver; and a punch to loosen (and tighten) the crank bearing cup lock-ring. I mean, this was genius X10. The cottered cranks are bothersome to remove, but lots of “how to’s” out there. Tires are easy, too. EA-3 ERTO.
Once these are set up, you ride and never look back. That was the basic design force, but the trade off is in performance. We drove these over the Coast Range (30 mi.) and back in a day, no problems.
3 Comments
I consider myself fairly knowledgeable when it comes to bikes but I’ll admit I don’t know much about older bikes. I just got this one fixed up. What is everyone’s opinion of these bikes?
That was my first bike! Haven’t seen one since. Got it for xmas around 1967 I think.
Done good! The ’60’s Sears 3-speeds are worth fixing up, for general riding/commutes. Steyr (Austrian) made solid bikes. I have a 3-speed Steyr, and 10-speed “clubman” and a Sears 3 sp. (Steyr branded) all from the ’60’s. One thing adds to the value; easy to work on with everyday tools. Yeah, bare-bones tool box; 6-inch “Cresent” wrench; hammer; slotted screwdriver; and a punch to loosen (and tighten) the crank bearing cup lock-ring. I mean, this was genius X10. The cottered cranks are bothersome to remove, but lots of “how to’s” out there. Tires are easy, too. EA-3 ERTO.
Once these are set up, you ride and never look back. That was the basic design force, but the trade off is in performance. We drove these over the Coast Range (30 mi.) and back in a day, no problems.