Tomm Willians

I found one of these in great condition dirt cheap and am curious about who built them. The ad says made in Austria but not sure where he gets that, maybe a frame label?

noobinsf 

These were made by Puch, an Austrian company. They're good bikes!

steve sumner

noobinst is not quite right tho very close. the Sears bikes were made for a couple of decades by Styer
the name of the company was Styer,Daimler,Puch. the Styers were the more pedestrian models: Department
store 10 speeds and 3 speeds etc. Puch was the bread and butter bike shop quality mid to upper mid range
bike and Austro-Daimler was the upper end racing bikes. this name was was discarded in the mid 80s and folded
into the Puch name. the Styer model that was equal to the Sears bike was called the Clubman

madpogue 

Actually it's Steyr.

To the OP's last question, the "Made in Austria" appears on the head badge. There was a wide range of models, from heavy gas-pipe steel-wheeled "bike boom" models to one high-end model actually made from 531.

dddd

The Clubman was very basic, comparable to the Sears 10 SPEED model.

The Campy-equipped Ted Williams bikes were much more upscale but still had a few of the "basic" touches such as the "crimped and folded" seatstay ends.
These were closer to the Puch Burgmeister model, having hidden/internal brake cable and fancy fork crown.

There may have been lower-cost Ted Williams models in the later years, mid-70's(?). The Clubman remained very basic (including steel rims) up to 1973 or so.

The notable late-60's to early-70's Steyr/Puch ride-quality characteristics are a softer, slacker-angled cushioning but with the addition of a low-trail fork rake, making the steering quite lively.
I like this combination myself and put a good several thousand miles on my Clubman and Sears 10 SPEED models over the past ten years.

mr3speed

I picked up a nice 23" silver road bike from a thrift store because I needed the handlebars for another project. I decided to keep it to turn it into a single speed or maybe even a 3 speed. Mine also says "Made in Austria"

dddd

I remember the silver 23" ones, made in Austria but now with Shimano derailers iir. That was around 1975-76 or so.

zukahn1 

I was always confused that Sears branded there better bikes in the 1970's Ted Williams since he was baseball star that retired in 1960.

rustystrings61 

Ted Williams was their star athlete endorser, though, and many of Sears’ outdoorsy items were fitted with his name. I once owned a Spanish .22 target pistol manufactured by Star but branded “Ted Williams.” It seems to me some of my friends growing up had sporting goods with his name affixed. This was back when the massively thick Sears catalog fueled pre-teen boys with ideas for camping gear, bikes, sports equipment - pretty much everything.

Steyr-Daimler-Puch’s bicycle story in America is told here - My Austro-Daimler "Vent Noir II" Bicycle And Brief History of Steyr Daimler Puch - and I will note that the A-Ds were super nice, the Puchs were nice but definitely 2nd fiddle. The paint of the Austro-Daimler Vent Noir was stunning, the comparable Puch Royal Force was nice but not as striking, and the same frame with humbler parts (Royal X) got a downright shoddy paint job by comparison. It’s okay, the ride is exquisite.

John E

Thanks for posting your SDP story. With three bikes from Vienna, I am obviously a fan of Austrian bicycles.

rustystrings61 

I wish I had written the SDP story - I think a gentleman named Cohen wrote that one. I do have a story about this one, a Puch Royal X that I've had a long and checkered history with. I foolishly sold it in '87, found it had been stolen when I went to buy it back, and I searched for one like it for decades. Lo and behold, this one surfaced, only to turn out to be my original Puch my father bought me in 1978. It's back home safe and sound with me now, and will remain here!

joesch

Yes interesting that back in that era one of the most famous athletes, Ted Williams, a baseball player endorsed many different sport items including cycling, tennis, and guns. Today the athletes endorse politicians

rustystrings61 

My weird little Ted Williams story - there was a lovely young lady I knew in college who was in the close, but still firmly in the friend zone. I don't remember how the subject of Ted Williams came up, but she, a proper young Southern lady, all but spit on the ground. Her father (since passed away) was Boston Red Sox pitcher Willard Nixon. As his daughter put it, "he pitched maybe his finest ball game ever against the New York Yankees, but all the papers could talk about was Ted Williams spitting at people who booed him."

Pompiere

In that era, player salaries were not as high, so endorsements were a way to add to their income. In addition to his skills on the baseball field, Ted Williams was an avid hunter and fisherman, so Sears sought him out to endorse their line of better quality sporting goods. Sears never manufactured anything, rather they sold items manufactured to Sears' specifications. Sears had various price points, but the higher price points also equated to top notch merchandise.

bulgie 

My maternal grandfather worked at the Steyr factory making bicycles before WWII. I never met the man, and I had started my brilliant career as a bike frame builder before I ever learned that building bikes was 'in my blood'.

Mark B in Seattle

Chuckk