Gravity Aided

Median income in the US was about 12,000.00 in 1972,about 230.00 a week.

LesterOfPuppets

I love my Free Spirit Sunbird. Made in Korea. Only frame, fork and headseat are original and the headset is going to get replaced soon.

rotharpunc

Greenbriar fixed gear beater townie thing. Not a bad bike, except that the seat collar bolt mount is smashed and the brake hanger thingy doesnt sit right.

dweenk

I got my hands on a Free Spirit with a horrible Shimano 3-speed hub. If you got out of the seat, you would never know if the next pedal stroke would be a "free wheel". A real ball buster. It had really crappy paint anyway. So I stripped and painted it, put a coaster brake wheel on the back, and rode it for a couple of years. When I got a Panasonic Cruiser 1, I decided to sell it. A Chinese exchange student from the local university bought it (his bike had just been stolen). I don't remember what the price was, but I cut the kid a good deal. I must say that selling a bike to a Chinese kid with limited English skill was interesting. Here is a pic. The rear rack in the photo was temporary, the bike came with a purpose built still rear rack that was being painted at the time I took the photo. The fenders are original.

dweenk

That should have been "a purpose built steel rack".

Flying Merkel

Just got back from a 25+ mile ride on my Free Spirit Sheffield 3 speed. Picked it up for $20. Needs a few details attended too, but it's not bad. Swapped out the awful stamped steel brakes for a set of Ebay-sourced ($10 including shipping) Weinmanns. It's a decent grab & go bike. [IMG][/IMG]

dweenk

It looks a bit like mine. Shimano hub and shifter? I thought mine had a decent hi-ten frame (at least it as well constructed).

dweenk

I am posting this to be able to PM other members. This is # 50.

Flying Merkel

Mine has a Sturmey-Archer AW hub dated 1985. Swapped out the stem with a longer one because my knee would hit the bar end.

LadyVexar

So, firstly, my apologies for bumping an old thread with my first post. On the other hand, it appears that people have been necroing this one throughout it's lifetime, so...

Anyhoo, I was hoping to determine the origins of this Free Spirit 10 speed I picked up for a few bucks yesterday. I'm going to go ahead and guess it isn't a Puch-built bike since it doesn't say 'made in Austria' anywhere I can see. Anyone have any thoughts?

Mos6502

It was made by Murray. The way the top tube tapers at the back is the dead giveaway.

brightwinds

Just got a Free Spirit and dated it pretty easily--found a guy on Flickr who has a bunch of old Sears catalogs. You can use the decals and other clues to date for between the years that he has available.

'77-- https://www.flickr.com/photos/wishbo...7622122081597/
'79-- https://www.flickr.com/photos/wishbo...n/set-1360453/
'80-- https://www.flickr.com/photos/wishbo...57608220146364
'82-- https://www.flickr.com/photos/wishbo...7594229749541/ (@ladyvexar, I think this is yours)

This person also has a bunch that are older catalogs, I just didn't have those pages up and handy.

linnefaulk

I remember wanting one of these.

Frank.T

I've must have an newer model that's a 21 speed, it's my daily rider to and from work, I take it out in all conditions, I just need to keep truing my rims and consistently need to clean my derailleurs it's been a good bike for 25 bucks, just today I went for a spin on a trail behind my house and my handle bars started to seize

LesterOfPuppets

Handlebars are supposed to be seized! I hate it when they move.

Oh, maybe your headset is seizing? Now that would suck. Yeah, cheap bikes often aren't properly packed with grease. First thing I do when I get a new cheap bike is repack hubs, headset and bottom bracket.

Highgear

dopiejoe

Found these at a second hand thrift store last week. Figured they would make good exercise/ bugout bikes.Both need new tires and tubes,everything else seems to be like new.Paid $50.00 each.Both made in Taiwan,beats walking.

eastbay71

Did they have extra chain and seat stay material laying around that needed to be used up? Those chainstays gotta be 60cm

Rsmith11

Here's some sort of free spirit cruiser I found on Craigslist.

https://fargo.craigslist.org/bik/5119774390.html

chikon2000

Is this a reasonable price for a Free Spirit Dynasty?
vintage sears 10 speed bicycle

Toch

Originally a 10 spd, now 21 spd with sugino cranks

GTBruiser

Today, I gave 20 bones for this 1981 Free Spirit. Love the original blue bar tape and matching saddle. The color coordinated parachute pants protector is a crack up! I'll ride it for a couple of weeks, then, take it apart, clean and lube, and put it back together. I'd love to keep it, but, my get one bike/give one bike rule comes into play and I don't want to get rid of anything currently in the stable. I'll give it to a friend whom I know would love it.

big chainring 

That's John VandeVelde, Christians father, riding on the Northbrook Velodrome.

plonz 

Are those cleated Chuck Taylors?

ollo_ollo

1 of my grand-daughters got through 3 years at Oregon State before her Raleigh Retroglide with 7 spd IGH was stolen. Her dad & I dug a Free Spirit out of his basement. A $10 Goodwill find I gave to her mom 10 or 12 years ago. Shiny metallic blue paint, Chromed steel wheels and bars, not a bit of rust. Probably only ridden around the block 2X in its lifetime(once by original owner + once more by daughter-in-law).

We cleaned it up for the 2nd time, lubed, adjusted and added a Pletscher rack. Grand-daughter gave it heavy use for a few months before its shininess attracted another thief. I'm sure it is still rolling along somewhere, they are good basic transportation and great bang for the buck. Don