We all love the threads full of high-end, collector bikes. But what about the other end of the spectrum? Does anyone else have a collection of more common bikes?

I'll start:
Schwinn Varsity - blue
Schwinn World - light blue
Schwinn World - red & white
Schwinn Traveler - red
Schwinn World Sport - grey (moving up the Schwinn line, one notch at a time)
Raleigh Pursuit - red
Murray Nassua (?) - purple 3-speed
Gitane Newport - grey
Miyata 310 - grey (elevating the quality level of the whole collection)

Spalding Blade - black
Viscount Sebring - red
Bridgestone Kabuki SMD - blue & silver

Restored, repaired, original, whatever the condition, let's see some love for average bikes!

I'll bite.

1971 Schwinn Continental:





1980 Schwinn Continentals:







-Kurt

If you want another Spalding blade let me know. I passed on one in Davenport for $25 last week.

let me get home...i'm driving

I love those Continentals. I was going to pick one up from CL and changed my mind. Then a few days later, my boss showed me his "new" Continental. Same one I was looking at! (he collects bikes from the 70's and 80's but mostly high end racing bikes).

My highest end vintage bike is probably my Ross Signature 292s

Otherwise, I have:

2 1979 Schwinn :LeTour IVs

1973 Sears Finest 10 speed

1956 Schwinn Corvette

1961 Schwinn Jaguar Mk IV

A bunch of other bikes so unremarkable, I can't even think of what they are right now.

My '77 Schwinn Le Tour II

and my wife's '78 Schwinn Le Tour III

I don't know if Centurions are low end or not. Some folks tell me they are...
The only thing approaching "high end" would be my 2002 Airborne Ti build, or 1984 Cinelli Equipe Centurion

Anyway, the "low enders," at least nowadays:
1977 Triumph
1983 Centurion Turbo
1984 Centurion Lemans RS
1984 Centurion Comp TA
1985 Centurion Prestige
1986 Centurion Ironman
1987 Centurion Ironman
1988 Centurion Ironman
1988 Centurion Ironman (carbon) 2
1989 Centurion Ironman
2003 Marin Portofino ( I looked it up, truly not a high end bike)

And I'll submit this guy's collection, all for sale near Raleigh, NC. Schwinn folks, take heed.
(and I'd only "facilitate" this if you bought all five and let me crate them up....)

https://raleigh.craigslist.org/bik/1020960857.html
https://raleigh.craigslist.org/bik/1020970441.html
https://raleigh.craigslist.org/bik/1020985722.html
https://raleigh.craigslist.org/bik/1020994914.html
https://raleigh.craigslist.org/bik/1021000449.html

I have a Spalding Blade frame set with crank around here somewhere...probably the scrap pile...or the barn pile.

Low end collection: Schwinn Suburban, Huffy Cranbrook, Motobecane Nomade, Motobecane Nomade II, 4 Raleigh 3 speeds, 2 Schwinn MTB's from the 90's (small frames, bottom of the line) Raleigh Sprite, a couple of Huffy's from the early 80's, AMF 24" wheeled bike, and a cruiser frame of undetermined origin but the weld burn holes from installing the kickstand should tell you something. Most of these bikes are in as found condition. There some more but I don't know what brand they are. Total collection per inventory last weekend was 20 more or less rideable and 16 more in the "pile". Also one 'dale MTB frame with red brake levers.

Aaron

Nice garage door!

On the Schwinn list, I currently have (no keepers):

84 Schwinn World Sport
88 Schwinn Tempo
86 Schwinn Prelude
81 Schwinn Voyageur 11.8
92 Schwinn Criss Cross

Peugeot (no keepers):
74 UJ 10
86 Iseran
93 PE-300

Current keepers:
92 Trek 950
94 Trek 950
83 Univega Gran Turismo
84 Lotus Classique
03 Colnago Master Lite
00 Giant Cypress

And a bunch of other projects: Trek, Fuji, Miyata, Novarra. All steel bikes.

Like Robbie, I have a serious problem with some of the definitions of low end. No way a Centurion Ironman is "Low End".
That said, I have some bikes that I consider low end. Then again, someone riding a Huffy Express would probably consider most of these to be high end or mid-level.
Attached pics, 1978 Motobecane Super Mirage
1984 Schwinn Traveler
Not Shown In Pics:
1986 Schwinn World
1986 Lotus Challenger
1985 Fuji Espree
1986 Peugeot Iseran
Full Pics below: 1987 Nishiki Custom Sport, Someone told me this was a very low end, basic entry level bike. Well, I guess if a full chromoly frame, double butted main tubes, downtube index shifters, 1.8cm clincher rims with duel QRs is your idea of low end, so be it.

I consider this Raleigh Record to fit the description of low end. Still its been a fun bike to own.

This Nishiki Sebring fits the low end description too.

To me, low end is relative. One person's "low end" is someone elses dream bike.

My collection is slowly dwindling (to make room for more bikes!) The current lineup consists of:
Early 60's Rudge Sports
70-something Varsity
80's Panasonic Sport 500
80's Schwinn Cruiser 5
Bernard Dangre of unknown vintage

All but the Dangre and the Rudge are on the slow-moving conveyor belt that eventually leads to craigslist.

And since we're talking Blades, here's one I dolled up and sold recently:



And a Free Spirit FS3 that went the same route:

Some pretty nice sounding collections!

I'll sidetrack this a little. Chris, Wahoo & Slush - do you have any info on the Spalding Blades? Is it the same sporting goods company that makes other equipment (baseball gloves, basketballs, etc.)? Were they serious bikes when they were built or comparable to Huffy's, X-Mart grade? Does anyone have an original equipment list for the Blade?

Slush, if you're around the Davenport area, we should go ride sometime. Maybe when the temperatures get a bit warmer.

I believe they were badged for Spalding Sports Equipment, not sure who the manufacturer was. I will take a look at the one I have and see what equipment was on it, IIRC they were toward the upper end of department store bike line up.

Aaron

I live in Bettendorf and ride a lot with the Quad City Bicycle Club. I bought a Motobecane and a Viscount from the man with the Spalding. It looked OK but I am to the rafters in bikes at this time.

My low end bikes:

1973 Schwinn Collegiate - Campus Green
1978 Schwinn Suburban - Chestnut (seat clamp is backwards in the pic)
197? Huffy Scout - yellow

The Blade that I had was pretty heavy, but at least it had a set of Araya alloy rims. The drivetrain was Suntour, and I replaced the cheap brakes with Shimano center pulls.

I agree with Aaron, it was a high end department store bike. The frame & fork were better than many low end bikes I've had, though I've only seen them in this unexciting black finish (I added the red accents to mine.) Spalding also marketed a mountain bike called "Blade," I've seen a few of them around.

The following collection of bikes was acquired for well under $200. Total.

Right off the bat, there's my current daily commuter, the Dumpster Queen, a 1983 Raleigh Marathon, with low-end Suntour components that work flawlessly.



Although a classic, I think my Raleigh DL-1 is pretty much just a basic bike.



My other commuter, currently sporting Shimano death cranks, is a 1994 Nishiki Sport XRS. The original store price tags said Oshmann's Sporting Goods, so it's low end by virtue of coming from a big-box sporting goods store.



And my future fixie, the Schwinn World Sport I picked up for $10 on CL.



Oh... and I also have some fixer-uppers that will eventually be sold, a 1970 Sears and a 1960 Hawthorne

I'd say the lowest end of my fleet is my Columbia middleweight: single-speed w/ coaster brake. However, I have a soft spot for this bike. While it was a $15 thrift store find many years ago, I've ridden the heck out of it, including 50-mile group rides and as a regular commuter. Early in its life I rebuilt the front wheel with a quick release hub (which is too wide for the forks!) and substituted a flat MTB handlebar for the ape hangers it originally had. I've bent the too long seatpost once or twice, and somehow the headset cracked at some point, so it's hanging up in my basement, awaiting a new life.

Neal

Little Darwin is so averse to 'high-end' bikes, if he ends up with one, he trades or gives it away as soon as humanly possible.

I just sold a 292s yesterday because it was too big. I know Ross is not a coveted name but it was a very nice bike.

My 292s is one I sought out in order to be my reward bike for when I lose enough weight to ride it. I wanted a nice quality American built bike, and didn't want to pay the premium for a Paramount. Plus, I moved to Pennsylvania a few years back, so there is a regional interest as well. Maybe onbe day a Paramount will be in the stable, but for now, my Signature is the carrot I dangle before my eyes.

To be honest, I have never even ridden a road bike of the quality of a Ross Signature, so when I do ride mine, I will finally get to see what all the fuss is about. My Voyageur from about the same era is the highest quality bike I have ever ridden. It is no slouch in the quality department either, but it is definitely a different style of bike.

The only low end bike I still have (sort of) is this Spalding Blade which I gave my son when his commuter bike was stolen. Nothing like Chris in Miami's road Blade, mine's a mountain bike & I upgraded its steel double crank to a Shimano Deore triple. Don

The Ross Signature was quite a different animal than most of the bikes Ross made, with forged dropouts and Ishiwata Prestige tubing all around. I have one that I found at the dump, and currently ride it as a 'cross bike. It's great. They cut some corners on the original componentry, but the frame is really impressive.