I picked up a 1968 Sutton 10 speed the other day from a guy on Craigslist. Serial number looks like 2R(or 3?)681(or 4?)24. The guy said he traded for it at a swap meet and that's all he knew. Couldn't find much more online except that maybe it was a Japanese model sold though Royce Union.

My plan is to restore/upgrade it for my wife to ride. I was wondering if anyone could tell me more about it, I'm interested to know what parts are original or not. Based on the condition of the rims the bike seems like it's hardly been ridden.

That's a really nice looking bike! I really like stem shifters.
I'd take the kickstand off and give it a nice saddle.
I never heard of Sutton, though. Cool!

Shimano Titlist GS derailleur (D-611)

Your rear derailleur looks like a Titlist GS, which Disraeligears starts at 1971... how did you come up with 1968 date for your bike?

Sorry, I grew in Japan in the 70's and never saw these.

I agree, it looks quite clean. If it fits the wife, give it a tune up and go for the miles.

It is in fact a Titlist GS, front is a GTO Thunder Bird. '68 is what the seller told me. There's a 68 in the serial, maybe he got it from that?

Forgot. Welcome to the Forum. Appreciate your posting here and showing this bike.

These were found at K-Mart, Venture, and other discount department stores. There was another brand for a while called Kent that was very similar. Not too bad a bike. Heavy, but it will get you around. It was the Japanese trying for bike names that sounded English.

@3speedslow, I'm glad I joined, this forum seems like a great resource with some very knowledgeable people.

@wrk101, thanks for the tip, I found the Trek site and was able to do a bit of detective work on the component codes. I couldn't find any visible codes on the derailleurs, but the Shimano 333 hubs had "R N" and "R O" on the front and rear wheels, respectively. The codes don't make sense looking at the '76+ year codes, but there is a mention of "R" possibly referring to the year 1975 on Suntour-made Shimano 333 hubs.

It seems like you guys are right about it being a 70's model. Hopefully some more codes will reveal themselves as I dissemble the bike.

@big chainring, it definitely has Japanese components, and you're not the first person to say it's a Japanese bike. However, it seems like there are two competing theories about this brand's origin. I've found several mentions online of Sutton being an offshoot (maybe even a premium offshoot?) of the Royce Union brand. I guess Royce Union sold Japanese bikes? Also, someone on another forum, who seems very passionate about the Sutton brand, claims that Union Cycle Co. (same as Royce Union?) in Brooklyn built them.

Sources:
copper Sutton 3-speed on velospace, the place for bikes
Finally Found one.

Of course, this is the internet, so there's probably a lot of misinformation out there too. I'm also trying to track down the model of the bike. So far I've only read mention of the Sutton Racer and Sutton Supreme. The Racers seem like they all have decals with the name on it, while the Supremes just have the Sutton name plate. None of the Supremes I've seen online look exactly like my bike, but close. In fact, no two Sutton's I've seen online look alike, which is pretty cool. Maybe it's just the lack of specimens.

Thanks for the schooling on American branded Japanese bikes. Any idea who the Japanese manufacturer is, or did factories just throw together available components and give away the rights (the bike "boom" of the 70's I hear about)?

Interesting you mention the Nishiki Internaltionals, they look a heck of a lot like my Sutton, specifically the crowned forks. I'm guessing these components were generic and widely available.

The forum had some discussion of the Sutton marque in this thread:

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...ton-racer.html

I found a tiny "made by Kuwahara" sticker on a Puch entry level bike once... but that's the exception. Some manufacturers used details within the serial number, i.e., Giant supplied Schwinn's had a "G" prefix on some frame serial #'s. Most of the 70's and 80's suppliers didn't readily identify their product. If others have tricks, I would like to learn them. I have a fondness, and a strong curiosity, surrounding the entry level bikes of the seventies and eighties. Their history is sketchy at best, lost at worst. For instance, it's amazing to me that your Sutton, with it's level of quality, rivals the entry level products available at a bike shop at the time. Most department store bikes of the time are a step down in quality of components, frame material, and build construction.

I'll second the suggestion this bike might be, like Nishiki, Kawamura-built, though I've never had a Kawamura-built bike with Shimano components until possibly last week when I bought a 1985 Centurion RS Elite with a K-prefix on the serial number.

What is the brake set, the levers look like the first Dura-Ace named brake parts, which later gave up their name to the upcoming very first Dura-Ace gruppo, and with the old brakes being re-named Tourney.

Again though, this bike totally seems to have Kawamura's style, making these especially good bikes to be sold in a department store!

Based on checking a lot of original bikes I have placed those "R x" codes as 1972 date codes. I'm less sure about the 2nd letter but I believe it equates to a 2-week period from the start of the year.

The brakes are Mafac Racers and the levers have no markings I can see, seem sort of cheap.

Awesome, thanks for sharing the knowledge! Hopefully I'll get to start breaking it down this weekend, will be keeping an eye out for more codes.

Nishiki International is the only other bike I've seen with the same nice chromed fork effect.

That is an immaculately clean bicycle. Looks brand new from your pictures.

I found zonatandem's comment interesting, since after looking at the pictures, I noted a stylistic similarity between the head badge here, and that of Nishiki, and decided to read through the postings before making that observation.

Provided it fits, that should be a very serviceable bicycle for your wife to ride around on.

Good to know! Those pictures are actually from the original Craigslist ad and make the bike look cleaner than it really is, there's a lot of caked on grease and dust that needs to be taken care of. The bike should clean up very nicely though. Component-wise all it really needs is new cables, but I have plans to switch out several parts with newer, more wife-friendly ones. I know she's going to hate the friction shifting so I'm considering upgrading it to an indexed 14-speed. Ideally I'd like to keep it looking as vintage and original as possible. Should be a really fun winter project!

I'm new to pre-1990's bikes and all this sleuthing on the Sutton's origins really has me fascinated. @uncle uncle, I see what you mean, reading around mytenspeeds it seems like best guesses from component/frame clues is the best we can do. We got the bike because it was relatively cheap, fit my wife, and looked cool, but finding out that it's good quality and an obscure model makes me glad we picked it up. Thanks to everyone pitching in their knowledge.

I bought a new Sutton at GEMCO in Southern California in 1976. I was surprised by the equipment as I had already ridden a Nishiki Custom Sport from LA to SF and found it heavy. This bike was so much lighter, better & faster. No price on it so the manager gave it to me for $100. Dropped it off at Redondo Cyclery where they repacked the bottom bracket and made all the fine adjustments. Rode it to Sequoia & Yosemite the following spring. I ride a Specialized Sequoia now but still take this one out occasionally.

Reminds me of some Sekines, lugs, chrome, kit etc. Great casual rider. A serial number may help [MENTION=20650]T-Mar[/MENTION] identify it for you.

Some Pictures

Sutton was a sister brand of Royce Union. The brand had its debut in late 1969, for the 1970 model year. Ben322's bicycle has an interesting mix of Dura-Ace, Crane and Titlist, which suggests 1973-1976, however it also clearly has mid-1980's Shimano aero pedals, so is somewhat frankenbiked. Based on the apparent era and forged dropouts, it is probably a double butted CrMo frameset.

The bicycle is several levels above a Nishiki Custom Sport. The frame is lighter, as are all the components and the aluminum rims. It is probably about 6 lbs lighter overall.

While it is reminiscent of the Sekine, to the best of my knowledge, Sekine never had a sister brand. Also, the lugs are different and Sekine always used top tube brake cable clips on their mid-range models.

The seat post diameter and serial number may provide additional information as to the exact age and tubeset.

So, T-Mar, were Royce Union and Sutton private labels for specific retailers? And if so, do you know which retailers? Thanks for your infinite patience, as always.

The bottom line is that I don't know. There was an actual Royce Union bicycle company, so it wouldn't appear that Royce Union was just a private label brand sold only through the owner's retail chain (like Sears with Free Spirit). This would indicate that the brand was probably available to any retailer, though it's possible that there may have been protected territories, so that only one retailer in a region could sell the brand.

Royce Union also owned the Savoy & Sutton brands. Again, I'm not sure if these were in wide, open distribution. They may have been used to supply retailers in regions where there already was a Royce Union dealer. This was a fairly common tactic to expand coverage in a region, without violating contracts.

If a chain store signed a contract for any of the brands, there could have been quite a large protected territory that would have resulted in the brand being associated with a particular chain. I also wouldn't rule out the possibility of Royce Union having acquired these brands from a chain (brand history can get quite messy with acquisitions and divestitures) or that they were used specifically to service a particular retail chain who did not want the cost and maintenance associated with owning the brand. Sorry, I can't provide a definitive answer.

I like it and I am sure your wife will love it.

The stem will have a date code down near the wedge, and the cranks should have a code too. Surprised to see Mafac brakes on an otherwise all Japanese spec'd bike.

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Purchased two of this model ~1977 new from a chain store. Same frame and colour, mostly same fittings. One difference was pedals, they were just some counterbalanced KKT RTSF alloys.

Shimano did not have a complete D-A group at launch ~1973 and created a group by filling it out with pre-existing components.

Have never known who Royce Union's Japan vendor was. There could easily have been more than one. Nothing on the machines I had was consistent with a Kawamura build. While they received quality frame tubing and forged ends the fork crown wore a cap of stamped sheet.

[MENTION=458690]ben322[/MENTION] - My two examples were purchased at GEMCO branch in Walnut Creek, California. Mondo piccolo!
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