SpeedofLite 

This article adds 17 more bikes closer to $250 and reviews the drive trains in the $150 - $250 range.
Added bikes are listed below.

ATALA Gran Prix 104
AUSTRO-DAIMLER SE
BERTIN C-28
CENTURION Le Mans
JC PENNEY Professional Racer
KABUKI Submariner
MIYATA Liberty
MOTOBECANE Super Mirage
NISHIKI Olympic Royale
PUCH Cavalier
RALEIGH Super Grand Prix
SCHWINN Superior
SEKAI 2400 Limited
SOMA Sport
TREK TX 302
UNIVEGA Gran Turismo
VISCOUNT 5000 GS

52telecaster

Ty so much!

dddd

Thanks for posting the test!

A lot was said about the old gearing strategies with names like "half-step", "crossover" and "alpine" gearing.
They criticized one grouping of bikes they describes as having "poor alpine gearing", but which was closer to how I would do it (and obviously the bike makers felt the same way)

I have long wondered just when it finally occurred to bike journalists that only very few riders actually did multiple cross-shifts while moving through the gear range while riding (including those of us who had gear charts taped onto our handlebars). Most of us were plain old "crossover" shifters, such that a five-speed freewheel allowed for six sequential gears through the range (or perhaps seven if the crankset was a wider-ranging double like 52-36t, which was a thing in the late-60's and into the 70's). I'll give that gearing strategy a name and call it "2x crossover" gearing.
Around here, if limiting myself to a mere 5s freewheel, I found that 2x crossover was just about the only way to make 5x2 work for sporting riding in hilly terrain, and work it does, giving up surprisingly little even to today's bikes! I custom-built a 13-24t Uniglide freewheel to go with my bike's 36-52t chainset, and after adjusting the cage-pivot spring to keep the top pully close to the small freewheel, the setup works seamlessly just about everywhere.

old's'cool

My preferred setup is a half step plus granny in front with what I call a "natural" 6sp cluster in the back, natural because the gaps between the sprockets follow the natural number sequence, i.e. 1,2,3 etc.: 13-14-16-19-23-28 (you could extend this to 7sp with a 34t wall climber). Ideal chainring configuration is 52-49-36 (36 is the largest I could find on the common 74mm inner BCD). You can tweak the granny to a smaller toothcount as needed, as I did on the bike I took on a 6 month assignment to Switzerland. A 48th middle chainring works pretty well also, which is good since the majority of triple cranksets out there are 110BCD and I've never found a 49T in this size.
Here in Illinois I need the granny about once in a blue moon, but it's nice to have just in case.

Senrab62 

TY for sharing! I'm not old enough to remember these when they were new, but the ads and the actual reviews are perfect.

Kent T

I remember when these bikes were new. As I was at the cusp of this model year when I outgrew my beloved 1969 NOS Raleigh International, Campy equipped Greenie which I'd had since 1973. And suffered from inflation. This was the price range or a bit above I could afford. The Schwinn Superior is a favorite, and if one had been in stock my size, the bike I would have bought then. A 1978 LeTour at the end of the model year was the bike which came home with me, stolen 6 months later on. And even with the best lock I could buy locally. Insurance did pay for a replacement. I had a used Continental for a while, heavy but got me from A-B. Bought cheap. Got a gentleman wanting to buy it, offered me $120, I took it, and the insurance settlement, Bought a end of the model year new Voyageur and it was stolen 3 years later. After that, radio station manager allowed me to park my bike in the storage room. The upgraded bike lock guarantee paid for the Voyageur without depreciation, I bought two Travelers (blue), and did some selective upgrades on them, and they were ridden many tens of thousands of miles (one new, one used). Mainly rode the used one, and it was well cared for. The new one, got rode and someone offered me good money for it, and I accepted. Last bike I had for 29 years, a new old stock World Sport, which was decent, and $150 in 1986, several years old.