Palm Cycle Brand?
 

I found this bike a while back, all it says is Deluxe Palm Cycle on the head badge. It was all early Shimano 3.3.3. equipped. It looks to be pretty well made, even though it's likely plain steel.
It's lighter than a comparable Schwinn Traveler or Peugeot UO-8.
I've just never run across this brand in my 30+ years of working on bikes here.
I believe it was bought on the west coast somewhere near Palm Springs, CA but I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it's name or not.

Anyone seen one before? Heard of the brand back then?

My truck is lighter than a Schwinn:-)

The bicycle looks to be entry level Bike Boom offering from Japan. My guess is it would be of mid seventies vintage but I could be way off on that call.

The bicycle will build up OK but it will never offer a quality ride, so often sought by vintage road bicycle enthusiasts. Were I you, and if you intend to build the bicycle up, avoid spending much money on it.

I hope this is a help.

I realize that its an entry level bike, but its different than most in fit and finish.
I wouldn't say that a Schwinn Traveler is all that heavy, its far lighter than a Varsity or even some of the old Ross bikes, I've got a Ross Grand Tour here that's near 30lbs, the Traveler complete is around 26lbs or so. I'd say this is in that class. I'd put it in the class with a Raleigh Grand Prix, Schwinn Traveler, or Nishiki Sport. I own and ride a Nishiki Sport which I converted to straight bars and wider tires and it rides great, I think this will be about the same. I'd probably use steel rims and hubs since I sort if figured that's how this came. I also have a large frame Varsity, which rides just fine too.

On this bike, like on my Nishiki Sport, I'll need to hunt down a super long seat post and stem to make it fit me. Although this will take far less to make it fit as the Nishiki was only a 21" frame, this measures 23".
This frame is also lighter than the Nishiki by a bit if it really matters.
I never worry about weight on a bike like this, I ride my 1936 Western Flyer and that weighs somewhere around 65lbs or so. When your 6'4" tall and over 300lbs, the weight of the bike means very little. In fact, I'd be a bit leery even riding some lighter machines. I doubt any Columbus SL tubeset was ever meant for a 300+lb rider.

Those foil decals look late 60's/early 70's to me but its hard to guess with a Japanese bike, it could just be that they copied what others had been doing and kept it up longer.
There were a lot of all steel bikes that rode just fine, I've got a dozen Raleigh Sports three speeds that are all steel, and no doubt far heavier than the Palm frame. I like that color, it would make a cool IGH conversion with fenders and northroad bars, and I'd build it all steel for the chrome look.

Japanese/Chinese/Taiwanese Raleigh Sports ripoff.

-Kurt

Yep, one that no one would steal too.

A rip off copy, sure, but I bet it'll be a lot lighter than the Raleigh Sports.
Those things are pretty heavy. I've got an old Ross Grand Tour plain steel bike with all stamped dropouts, I added alloy northroad style bars, rebuilt the rear wheel with a three speed hub, and added a set of steel Wald fenders and padded and sprung saddle, it's a great riding bike, its lighter than most if not all of the Raleigh built 3 speeds, it's taller, without having to add a 24" seat post, and its not a theft risk.
When your building up a bike to use in the city, one that's going to get left parked out front of stores and maybe even at work, it's best to stay away from clean, shiny, and name brand bikes. They only attract attention and eventually a thief. Years ago I had a buddy that rode a new Raleigh Pro, he took flat black primer and painted the whole bike, tires, saddle, everything. He said it was the only way to keep it from getting stolen. It was his only means of transportation. It was a shame to take such a sharp looking bike and ruin it like that but he rode that bike for years, I had four stolen in that same time, and mine were better secured and far lesser bikes.

About 40 years ago there was a shop here that sold those bikes, $39.99 was the price, he had a huge sign out front saying ROAD BIKES - $39.99, he operated out of his garage, sort of a backyard bike shop type place.
He probably sold hundreds of them. The bike itself wasn't bad but the components were pure junk. The derailleurs were Japanese made Huret Svelto clones, steel cottered cranks, steel wheels with steel hubs, and the freewheel was some oddball brand that rarely worked. The frame was on par or maybe even a bit nicer than a low end model Nishiki or similar bike but it just had crap components. I'm not sure where he got them but he also sold Royce Union, Sun, and a few other super cheap low end bike brands.

That frame can be just fine; road abilitys always a question of geometry and no-one has measured it. You say its pretty light, the colour stands out, "unique brand" and the cost of components can be spread to other bikes if you dont fancy this one. Have fun!

I had this very same bike back in 1977-78 in central Virginia as a teen. It carried me up and over many hills...

If you should decide to sell the frame (and other components that may have come with it?) then please let me know. I'd enjoy taking this on as a project.

Best Regards,
Andy

Now I know I'm 13 years late to this thread but I just saw one of these in an antique shop for 15 bucks. I searched it up and this thread is pretty much the only thing about these bikes on the whole entire internet. Considering getting it.

Edit: I guess I restarted this thread

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suspect four leaf clover symbol shown in transfer may prove a good clue toward identifying manufacturer


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The two headed eagle might suggest it's Polish Polish or Russian......
But it is a bit strange that they might choose the word "Palm" for their brand name, as there's not that many palms in both countries.....

I still have the bike, its still hanging on the rack where I left it back then. I've been knocking around a few ideas for it but so far its not been high on my list.
I've been knocking around a few ideas but the most likely set up will be some wider than usual rims and a pair of extra wide 27" tires with a three speed hub.
I have a few new Shimano hubs, but was looking for a Suntour instead for reliability.

The bike says Made in Japan right on the seat tube near the bottom bracket. It looks to be on par with a same era Nishiki or other Japanese bike. Its plain steel but fairly light. I have no doubt that the finished ride would be significantly lighter than most three speeds.
looking at the decals and headbadge they were likely trying to invoke a reference to other brands. The four leaf shamrock, the double headed bird, the Palm name, they seem to be covering all the bases in trying to reference a more euro look.
The serial number is blatantly placed, maybe that's more of a clue as to who made it.
I've never run into another one here and I later found out that this one was brought here from Redlands, CA in 1979.
It had a faded out bike shop decal on it but it was right in the middle of the seat tube decal and I removed it when I cleaned the frame. The decal was completely faded to white and shaped similar to a shield.
I was told some years ago that the brand may have been a house brand sold by one of the wholesale distributors back in the day.. They just didn't make it to this area.
Its not a cheaply made bike, they had good attention to detail. The frame is well fitted, cleanly brazed and well painted. Its a candy copper color with a silver base coat. The decals are perfectly applied, not just slapped on like so many bikes of that era. The foil decals give me the idea its early 70's or late 60's, maybe the first digit of the serial number denotes the year? 1971? But that's just a random guess.

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yes, it certainly appears right close to 1970

if purchased new in Redlands in 1979 it must have been old stock...or else it was pre-owned

if you wish to explore further you could go to the "asian serial number guide" here at the forum

serial placement and format can be good clues in moving toward a manufacturer identity

​​​​​​https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...ber-guide.html


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Serial no.
 

I believe the first character is a"T", not a "1".

It was brought to NJ from Redlands CA in 1979, I have no idea when it was bought new. The guy I got it from moved here with it in late 1979.

It is a T, I looked at it, read it, took the pic, blew up the pic, and still saw it as a one somehow.
Does the serial number pattern match any particular brand?
All I've got is that they were sold as really cheap bikes that were cheaply equipped but this came to me with Araya rims, (Chrome steel 27", and chrome steel fenders) . I don't see it as high end or even mid grade but I do feel its better made then most unless someone has information otherwise?
I"m surprised that after all these years I've never run across another bike with the same brand, The only other person who ever said they saw them before said they sold them at a bike shop in Erie, PA years ago but again, none have ever popped up here.
It was either a very regional brand or just wasn't around for very long. I'm fairly certain it was probably built by one of the major brands. The markings, lugs and style just don't match any that I've seen here before. Its a cleaner paint job and frame then most early Nishiki or American Eagle models, It really don't 'look' much like any other brand we have seen here.
I would think that if they were being sold through a bike wholesaler someone here would have at least bought and sold a few of them over the years or someone would have posted a pic somewhere online of one, be it good or bad, I find nothing.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b110fa2d82.jpg