BicycleMonkey

I'm looking for info on this Sears bike I ended up with. I paid $15 for it when I picked another bike. I'm going to use this as my guinea pig for bike maintenance and refurb. I thought I'd better ask tho, before I tear it down.

https://imgur.com/a/poj4K

Johnny Mullet

That might be an English made 3 speed bike popular back in the day. It has no monetary value, but these are a good, solid, reliable ride. I had a similar Huffy branded bike made in England that looks alot like yours.

BicycleMonkey

Ok. I was wanting to make sure it wasn't special before I had it powder coated or painted or messed it up somehow.

BicycleMonkey

Any idea what year this one might be?

Johnny Mullet

Early to mid 1970's?

dweenk

I would check the rear hub shell for a date. It looks like it may be a hub licensed by Sturmey Archer.

BicycleMonkey

The hub does say Sturmey Archer. I'll look this evening and see if there's some numbers on it.

dweenk

The shifter looked like a Sturmey Archer, but the Bendix coaster brake arm threw me off - that is why I thought it may have been a licensed hub.

BicycleMonkey

Yep, Sturmey Archer shifter.

dweenk

You may find the year of the shifter here.
https://genetics.mgh.harvard.edu/hanc...satriggers.pdf

BicycleMonkey

Thanks! This one looks like the one on page 7...it says it was in use until about 1966.

zukahn1 

Not worth a lot about $75 in excellent ready to ride shape maybe half that as presented. Based on the head badge it is from the early 70's they started using the alloy black circle 68/69 and switched to Free Spirit branding in 75. It should make a great project bike to start wrenching on, only issue is the Bendix 3 speed bub with coaster brake can be a bit of a PITA to get apart and put back together in working order.

BicycleMonkey

Thanks for the info. That's my plan for this bike.

BicycleMonkey

OK, I was mistaken. It's actually a Bendix Torpedo hub. I guess just the shifter is Sturmey Archer.

BicycleMonkey

OK, well that was easy.

ramzilla

Awesome. It's complete. Should clean up real nice. Don't mess it up by painting it. Keep it original. Be good. Have fun.

BicycleMonkey

Too late for that lol. My brother manages the body shop and service dept. at the local GMC dealership. I handed it off to him to get it professionally sprayed.

juvela

Thanks for post and photo nr. 14 BicycleMonkey.

The ribs on the hub shell are a clear Torpedo/Sachs indication. This combined with the Bendix marked arm and the SA trigger made for a puzzle until I could see this picture. Suspect SA trigger may be a replacement. Likely original would have been Sachs/Torpedo.

Presence of Sachs/Topredo hub makes it possible it could be a Steyr product. An easy check is to measure the outside diameter of the steerer. If 26.0mm bicycle is likely a Steyr item. If 25.4mm then likely not.

BicycleMonkey

I was looking closer at this photo and the clamp on the coaster brake there is way too big for the chain stay. I wonder if the Sturmey Archer shifter is the original part and the rear wheel was replaced at some point.

juvela

You could check to see if rear rim matches the front one.

BicycleMonkey

The rims appear to be the same.

The chain guard cleaned up nice.

Vintage Sears Bike - Album on Imgur

BicycleMonkey

I got the frame back and installed the fork. After a couple days, the paint is still delicate. I buggered the paint up a little on the fork where I was holding it to tighten down the nut. How long is one supposed to wait to reassemble after painting?

Dsprok

I did a similar hand mark on a fork a few days after I painted it.
I buffed it out with a soft cloth after letting the fork get warm by laying it in direct sunlight.
Good luck, buff gently.

BicycleMonkey

I'll try that. It's supposed to be 86 here tomorrow. How long did yours take to dry enough before you could clamp the components back to the frame?

ksdine

History-wise, it's an interesting bike to figure out since it appears to have been modified in the past, such as already mentioned, by using a Sturmey-Archer hand-shifter with a Bendix 3-speed (w/ coaster-brake) hub.

Its chainguard is a classic after-market chainguard (google for a replacement chainguard and you'll see the exact same thing still being sold today).

Its block pedals (sans reflectors) means it is likely earlier than the 1970s when pedal reflectors were required by law.

While it may NOT be a collector's delight, your bike is still a decent 3-SPEED bike that can certainly be tweaked out and appreciated for many years to come.

I have two 3-speed Sears bikes (both c. 1970s) and they are both very nice. One is a Sears Sheffield (made by Raleigh w/ SA shifting), and the other one probably made by Huffy or Murray, but with a Japanese Shimano hub. Sears didn't actually make their own bikes, so figuring out which bike company made them for Sears under contract is half the fun.

Sturmey-Archer hubs are supposed to be better, but for the last 3 years I ride daily (and hard) on a Steyr that has a 3-speed Shimano hub, and it has taken my abuse without a whimper (I weigh about 210 lbs and I hit speeds around 20 mph on my daily workouts). I don't have any Bendix hubs, but I'd sure like to find a cheap 2-speed Bendix hub.

As for your bike, since it's not a collector's bike, paint away! Personally, I like two-tone paint jobs on that type of bike, such as I did on this old 1970s era Huffy that I bought for $20 (it was a mess and had to be re-painted):

https://i.imgur.com/972DSI3.jpg

Any bike older than 10 years old needs to be properly re-lubed, especially the lower main-crank. Fortunately, on that type of bike breaking apart the one-piece main crank is relatively easy to do since it will likely have caged bearings. Even so, when you break it apart, lay down an old sheet to catch any loose ball bearings just in case.

My paint is usually dry enough to work with after 2 or 3 days, but drying times can vary.