Originally Posted by Kommisar89
... I rode the department store bikes and an "entry-level" Italian bike back then as it was all I could afford and I'd have to say there was a huge difference between a Huffy, Murray, or Free Spirit and an entry level Atala or Bottecchia or the like. I think a lugged hi-ten steel frame with Simplex or Valentino components that weighed about 26-lbs was a far better ride than a welded steel tank with Shimano Eagle or whatever it was back then (I forget) that weighed 30+ lbs. ...
I concur completely, having owned both a bottom-of-the-line 1962 Bianchi and a ca. 1980 "Mur/fy" Sears Free Spirt boat anchor. I'll put a
stock Peugeot UO-8 class European bike, let alone mine with aluminum cranks and rims, up against any of its welded gaspipe, Ashtabula-cranked contemporaries -- the difference is
very noticeable.
__________________
"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069