Show me your Sears bikes.
 

This one is the only one that I ever had. I had to throw the frame away because it was bent. For some reason I really love these cheap American tense speeds with one piece cranks and clamped in dropouts. I really would like to collect more of them but where I live they are getting kind of rare as nobody wants them and people keep throwing them away. They used to be everywhere around 6 years ago but I've only seen 3 in person in 2022. All 3 were the step through ones which I am not as much of a fan of. It seems that the 3 speed ones have have more value and are being maintained more.
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Free!! The men’s bike has gone to a new, happy home and the step-thru is in my garage awaiting attention.

There is a 🍞 on your bike.

That perch manages to be very squishy yet uncomfortable. That takes skill!

I think my parents still have theirs that they bought in '71 or '72. I took this photo in 2015.
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I have this one , I think it was the top of the line for Sears in 1973,
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Lol. I am in Colorado

They have an enduring look about them.
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I’m anxiously waiting for someone to post a pic of their 24” five speed stick shift Spyder.

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1970's Ted Williams - Frame Only

Ted Williams Free Spirit. Work in progress, will be a NYC commuter.

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Still cobbling this together. Or as they say in car ads: Concept vehicle shown, some options may vary.

Interesting placement for that housing clamp mid down tube.

Yeah, it wasn’t snugged down and I haven’t gone back to get it properly placed. I’ve been working on it in fits and starts in between other demands. If I had 2-3 straight hours I could actually get somewhere with it.

Me and my free-spirit about 1975. Loved that bike…and the North Stars!
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OK, I admit I had one in middle school. My brother a year behind me got an identical one. I think my parents had a monthly payment to their Sears revolving charge account for most of their lives. Bikes, appliances, clothing, Christmas presents, car batteries and tires all came from Sears.

My brother and I really wanted dirt bikes, and we rode the Spyders to pieces. After too many jumps, the head tube on my brother's bike broke loose from the top and down tubes. Sears's "satisfaction guaranteed" policy sent the bike to a local weld shop, repaired the frame, and sent it back for more abuse.

The pic is a web find, but the bikes were exactly like this. Dig the dual rear brakes!

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My brother and I actually rode these about 30 miles from our home in Fresno to my grandparents' ranch in rural Madera County, not far from the one-time home of a young @gugie. No patch kit, pump, tools or water bottles. We found out many years later that our dad had followed us all the way there, staying just out of sight.

That’s what I wanted to see. My brother was 1 year older than me, and we both got the spyders too. We used them on our paper routes. His was like the pictured one but in blue. Mine was in the color in the photo but had a front brake. I’m not totally positive, but the frame might have had a different top tube arrangement. They were bought at the same time and mine definitely had a front brake.
We rode them hard delivering papers. I do remember that with the 24” tires they were quite fast compared to the 20” stingrays of the day. Fast was good for getting papers done.

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Work in progress, will not be a NYC commuter. Top

My daughter's Suteki mixte.

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Sorry to disappoint, but.....

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I think it's a '69. No fancy dual rear calipers, just a single coaster brake. It was only $15.

I'll have to get a photo of my very-much-NOT-531 1970 Free Spirit Ted Williams 10-speed.

Same seat as on one I had. I searched online for pics, as I know I had a front brake. I believe the frame was what in Schwinn parlance was a fastback style. It still had the same stick shift with the white handled lever. I’m surprised the 24” bikes weren’t more popular at the time. They were just so much more useful than a 20” bike that was outgrown by the time one was 12.

When I was 14, I almost purchased a Sears bike as my first ten speed. I had saved some Christmas and birthday money, so when the new spring catalog came out, I was ready to place my order, at least until I told my dad about my plan. He took me to one of his friends who had a little bike shop on the side and I came home with a lightly used Kabuki. I don't know if it was a whole lot better than the Sears bike, but it was the bike that started my love of cycling.

My parents had "his and her" versions, in the color in your first post. I remember slamming the seat post all the way down to ride my dad's as I was growing up.
At least I think they were Sears bikes. Did they ever come with frame mounted pumps?

The road bikes? I don't think the Sears road bikes came with frame mounted pumps unless your parents bought them separately at the same time of buying the bike. I believe that the matching frame pumps was more of a Euro thing based on what I have seen