Originally Posted by -holiday76

Can someone break down for this newb what were the good quality bike companies in the "vintage days"? I realize that you can't go on that alone, for example raleigh might have made some great bikes, and some that were crap, but I'm just wondering if someone is able to list out what the good stuff was on a general level.

For example, were Huffy's ever good? Are Schwins from the 50 and 60's mostly quality? What about Peugoets and Motobecanes? What about 80's bikes? Which ones were department store bikes that were heavy POS's?

If a bike has Shimano components is it usually pretty good? What about Suntour? Is campy top of the line?

I know this covers a lot, but I'm starting to get really interested in vintage bikes and I've been looking all over the place for neat fixer uppers that people are unloading cheap or have thrown out, and I'm trying to learn enough not to waist my time driving 10 miles away to look at a 1975 huffy womens bike for $35 for example.

Thanks in advance for any info. If i'm asking way too much here, what's a good site that can kinda generally outline for me something like this?