flammenwurfer

I've searched and only found posts from a guy inquiring about one he bought, but never got an answer. There is one for sale on my local CL and the head badge says made in Japan I think. I've never heard of them and can't find any info on them. Are they good bikes?

old and new

Bikes brands appear from time to time that few people recognize for the simple reason that these unknown brands were made by large Co.s then often painted elsewhere or just labled. To me it's been obvious that some brands were commonly found in some regions and actually unheard of elsewhere. Some of these names, if it wasn't for internet, here, for instance, would remain unknown.

If you were inclined to post photos it would help some, if you won't or can't, OK too. Whether you list what the frame's tube-set, components, anything helps.
You can then evaluate the "worth" , it's potential ride within reason and the like. The factory of origen can be pinned down and comparisons, relavent ones can be made to more well known brands. If you return I can try, others too. Or given what I stated at first, you,yourself can narrow it down, whether it be to a fifty or hundred dollar bike. I can sight many examples of "oddball" brands that are desireable in a spcific area but not thought of highly elsewhere.

wrk101

+1 At one point during the bike boom, every department store, tire shop, even lawn mower shop sold bikes. I got my first bike at a lawn mower repair shop (guy did not even sell new mowers!!) Often they sold private label/branded bikes. Some of these bikes were made by good manufacturers. Others were just rebadged Huffys and similar. The boom is long over, and many of those brands disappeared as quickly as they were created. Finding information on such bikes is usually fruitless. But the good news is that regardless of the specific brand of any bike, all the manufacturers used components made by just a handful of manufacturers. So my older Schwinn has the same derailleurs and crankset as my Univega and Fuji had. Such bikes were made all over the world, from Italy and France, to Japan and Taiwan.

flammenwurfer

I see. thanks guys. I haven't gone to look at it, but the seller has sent me 2 very small photos that don't show any good detail or what kind of components it has. He also didn't put an asking price, just says best offer. I was just trying to decide whether it was worth checking out or not and what a reasonable offer would be.

Here are the pics.

wrk101

Thats a real bottom end bike. Turkey levers, stem shifters, cottered crank(?), nutted axle, super cheap side stand (stamped steel). Typical department store quality. On top of that, bike needs quite a bit of work (cables dangling all over, housings separated, etc). If what you can see has not been maintained, then I always assume what you can't see also needs maintenance (bearings, bottom bracket, wheels out of true or bent, etc).


What are you seeking? I would look for something better. And it sounds like the seller thinks he has something good.

flammenwurfer

Yeah, I was assuming the same wrk101, but had never heard of the brand so I wanted to be sure I wasn't passing up something good. I'm not looking for a bike to ride, I just saw it on CL and and didn't know what to think.

USAZorro

That "F" is identical to the large letter that Firestone used as their logo. I think you have a bicycle made for them to sell from their tire stores back in the 70's.

RiverCityCyclis

very funny I was checking out this same bike and trying to research it a bit led me here. Did you make an offer btw? :-)

flammenwurfer

Haha, interesting. No, I didn't make an offer. I have 3 other bikes to work on that are better so I passed on it.

RiverCityCyclis

cool what did you end up getting then?

flammenwurfer

I got a Gitane Grand Sport De Luxe and a Takara. It says Custom 12 on the top tube, looks pretty decent. I have a thread with pictures here. Oh, and the third one I guess is probably not better, but it's a Free Spirit 10 speed that was Korean made.

RiverCityCyclis

Ah ok nice I like that Takara, nice color

flammenwurfer

Thanks! The Takara is in really good shape overall. There's just some rust on the hubs. I'll probably turn that into my commuter. The paint is much nicer than on my Motobecane, which doesn't even have any paint. haha