Actually, the freewheel is a little chumped up. When I first saw it, I spun the wheel and found the freewheel spun freely in BOTH directions
but everything else had enough potential to overlook a bad freewheel. I took the clips off the pedals so I could test ride it while waiting for a guy to show up for another deal--bought a saddle from him--my feet wouldn't fit in the clips, dress shoes were too wide.
I've nothing against index shifting but I'm just fine with friction. I don't race, so I'm not sure I see a point to leaving the simplicity of friction shifting.
I now have 5 road bikes in the stable that are in my size: this one, 68cm Fuji Monterey, 64cm Fuji Special Road Racer, 64cm Gitane InterClub, and a 68cm Schwinn Traveler. I want to decide what I like best and downsize by 2. I don't have to get rid of anything since I've got the room, but I don't see the point of having more bikes than I can ride regularly. For road bikes, I know I need my main ride, a back-up bike, and a project in the stable at all times. The trick is how to determine what I like best, what combo of style & performance & fit is going to do it for me. The 68cm frames feel more comfortable in the cockpit, but the 64cms have a better standover as on the 68cm frames my bones make contact with the toptube standing flat-footed. This bike is close, visually if it had chrome stays and a little more interest going on on the seat tube that would help a lot. I don't know what my 'grail' bike is yet, but this isn't it. Maybe a Paramount some day, I'm not sure.