Classic & Vintage - JC Higgins

http://southbend.craigslist.org/bik/3535431808.html
Im going to look at this tonight after work. It seems $40 is worth it if I do nothing but learn some stuff.

I forget if JC Higgins was a older Sears brand, before Ted Williams, or if it was Montgomery Wards. I would not go crazy with paint, alloy wheels and Veloflex tires and try and flip it but for a fixerupbeater I think you could do worse.

http://images.craigslist.org/3G13K13L15L65K25J8d1ae82e4c632e641900.jpg

Somewhere around here I have my Brothers old JC Higgins shotgun.

It Sears before Ted Williams. I am just going to tinker with it. It have no intention of flipping it but want to try a bunch of techniques I have read about of this forum. I have never done anything with cottered cranks or internal gears.

That is a neat old 3-speed bike. I'd really like to get my hands on one of those old JC Higgins. They have a SA clone for the hub and there will be a two digit date stamp on the body of the hub somewhere which will indicate the year the hub was made. The price is fine IMO.

They are good, solid bikes, made for Sears in Austria in a factory based
on the Raleigh 3 speed models. Because the production machinery was of
more recent vintage (post WW II setup), the hubs often turn out to be even
better than the SA of the same age from which they were cloned.

I reworked one once for my wife as a commuter 20 years ago. You could still
find them with decent paint then. I'd look for one for myself, but I've never
seen one that was not a smaller frame size like this one.

They are good, solid bikes, made for Sears in Austria in a factory based
on the Raleigh 3 speed models. Because the production machinery was of
more recent vintage (post WW II setup), the hubs often turn out to be even
better than the SA of the same age from which they were cloned.

I reworked one once for my wife as a commuter 20 years ago. You could still
find them with decent paint then. I'd look for one for myself, but I've never
seen one that was not a smaller frame size like this one.

I am fairly sure it was Puch that made the bicycles. A JC Higgins was my first bike and yes, there was a Sears employee of that name.

Brad

I bought this bike and it needs some tlc for sure. I hope to go through it this weekend and see what it needs and take and post pictures. I have kind of looked at parts and prices and nothing is that expensive. I think I would replace the wheels and spokes. It needs a brake lever and cables. It needs one of those little pulleys for the shifter cable too. A lot of part replacing could lead having more money in it than its worth I think. That seems however to be the same as the Schwinn Pelotons I have.

That is a neat old 3-speed bike. I'd really like to get my hands on one of those old JC Higgins. They have a SA clone for the hub and there will be a two digit date stamp on the body of the hub somewhere which will indicate the year the hub was made. The price is fine IMO.The hub says JC HIGGINS
50320 AND 3 speed

After where it says 3-speed is there a stamp with 2 digits? 50320 is the model number IIRC.

My first road/grown-up bike was a JC higgins also.

After where it says 3-speed is there a stamp with 2 digits? 50320 is the model number IIRC.

I could find no stamped numbers but there is evidence that the lettering was filled with red paint.

After where it says 3-speed is there a stamp with 2 digits? 50320 is the model number IIRC.

I could find no stamped numbers but there is evidence that the lettering was filled with red paint.

Hmmm, I wonder if it's stamped somewhere else. I have a Sears hub, a 503.21, and it has a date stamp.