Batavus Identify?
 

I saw this in a local ad. I do not know much about Batavus. Can anyone help with the model and is this a good candidate to fix and ride? Thanks!

I think it's a mid-70s Champion variant, maybe a Monte Carlo, similar to the bikes shown here in this catalog. It's a bike-boom era 10-speed, comparable to a Raleigh Record or a Peugeot A-08, with bolt-on alloy high-flange hubs laced to steel 27x1 1/4-in rims, a steel cottered crankset that is probably 40/52T, what looks like its original Simplex front derailleur, stem shifters and "turkey" extensions levers operating what are probably Weinmann centerpulls. It'll weigh around 28 lbs or so, I suspect.

It does NOT have a lot of collector value and it would not be a good candidate for sporty riding, nor would it be my first choice for really long-haul stuff. It was a decent entry level bike in 1975, which was a long time ago.

If you have access to good cheap used parts (as in CHEAP!) swap out the steel cottered crankset for an aluminum alloy cotterless one (should be standard ISO threads, mine was) and some good alloy wheels that fit (should be a 120mm OLD/5-speed rear). It could be built up to be a decent utility or campus bike.

I owned the next model up, a Batavus Tour de l'Europe that came with chromed fork socks and quick release hubs and the cheapest alloy cotterless crank you could get, the Sugino Maxy. I paid Dixon's in Roanoke to replace the steel rims with Weinmann 27-in alloy and I rode it all over southwestern Virginia, including a 3-day loaded cycle-camping tour. Probably millions of people rode bikes very similar to it, and I knew at least one guy who did the last half of Bikecentennial on a comparable bike. No bragging rights, but the potential to be a decent low-cost beater.

I agree with Rusty, pretty uninteresting and low end bike. Not worthless, not "junk," but I'd only be interested in it if I had a deep bin of upgrade parts already on hand with nowhere else to use them.

Good eyes guys. It is a Champion. Derailleur is a Shimano Lark. Got it cheap so I can part it if necessary. Thanks for your knowledge!

Had one of those when I was in college around 1974. Not a great bike by any means, but it does bring back good memories. I caught my wife on one of those!