Question for those who happily inhabit the kingdom of three speeds:
Anyone have any personal experience and be able to speak on the differences (functionally and in terms of quality/performance) between the famed British Sports models and the Sturmey-equipped 3-speed Schwinn Collegiates of the 70's-80's, such as the one depicted below?
(photo is not mine, found on web and used for illustration purposes)
http://davemuggleston.com/vintagebik...lue3speed1.jpg
Context is that I'm an old English 3-speed fan - Restored a '74 LTD-3 into a grocery bike about a year ago and it's now near the heart of my stable, and I ride it several times a week. I'm currently searching for a vintage ride for my older sister. She's a young professional inhabiting an urban downtown environment, and is in need of an around-town/errand bike. Like most people foreign to the C&V world, when she asked me to find her a bike and I asked "What kind?", she had no earthly idea.
After showing her photos of my bike and spending a few minutes discussing types with photos on google, she said she loves the look of (1) midcentury, upright European/Dutch city bike with sloping top tubes, (2) vintage, curvy Schwinn coaster-brake beach cruisers.
Immediately I dreaded having to tell her that those types of bikes are extremely difficult to come by because
every woman in the world wants one of those two bikes! (not to mention that
Vintage Dutch city bikes are
extreeeeemely rare finds stateside, and their
modern equivalents or knock-offs will cost you an arm and a leg!!)
Since I'm somewhat of a thrifty snob in all things bike-related, the thought of my sister either an asian-manufactured, poorly tig-welded, wally world beach cruiser knock-off or spending a small fortune on an unwieldy wannabe Dutch bike, I OF COURSE recommended fixing up a ladies' Sports for her.
(How can you go wrong with a Raleigh Sports?? They're eminently available, ubiquitously praised for their simplicity and bomb-proofness, and almost universally admired for their beauty!!)
But she says the standard Ladies' Sports step-through frame just doesn't do it for her, and she's just stuck on curvy top tubes.
Thus, I've arrived at what I'm
hoping could be the best of both worlds (fingers crossed!) -- a Collegiate 3-speed with lugged joints (more than I can say for the old Varsity's and suburbans!), a curvy, feminine downtube, comfortable and upright design, and bomb-proof English hubs/gearing! And with a new coat of paint and a can-light on the front with a Pletscher rack on the back, I'm thinkin' it'll be everything she was looking for in a Dutch city bike but never knew make finding one nearly impossible!
So a bit of realism please - are Collegiates of the same workmanship or worthy of the same lofty admiration lavished to the British 3-speeds of the 50-70s? Will it last as long and be as trouble-free, or am I only dreaming?
(and for the sake of splat, here is
my 1974 Raleigh LTD-3, affectionately referred to as 'Sir Walter':
)