Originally Posted by
steve sumner
noobinst is not quite right tho very close. the Sears bikes were made for a couple of decades by Styer
the name of the company was Styer,Daimler,Puch. the Styers were the more pedestrian models: Department
store 10 speeds and 3 speeds etc. Puch was the bread and butter bike shop quality mid to upper mid range
bike and Austro-Daimler was the upper end racing bikes. this name was was discarded in the mid 80s and folded
into the Puch name. the Styer model that was equal to the Sears bike was called the Clubman
The Clubman was very basic, comparable to the Sears 10 SPEED model.
The Campy-equipped Ted Williams bikes were much more upscale but still had a few of the "basic" touches such as the "crimped and folded" seatstay ends.
These were closer to the Puch Burgmeister model, having hidden/internal brake cable and fancy fork crown.
There may have been lower-cost Ted Williams models in the later years, mid-70's(?). The Clubman remained very basic (including steel rims) up to 1973 or so.
The notable late-60's to early-70's Steyr/Puch ride-quality characteristics are a softer, slacker-angled cushioning but with the addition of a low-trail fork rake, making the steering quite lively.
I like this combination myself and put a good several thousand miles on my Clubman and Sears 10 SPEED models over the past ten years.