Sears-Roebuck Bicycles - Gem or Junk?
 

About a week ago I noticed one of my neighbors had put a bicycle next to their garbage can on trash day. Being the bicycle enthusiast I am, I decided to take the bike to see if it was worth fixing. It was in pretty bad shape, the brakes were unaligned, wheels were pretty out of true, tires were cracking and flat, bar tape ratty and not even covering all of the bars, cables were all kinds of messed up, etc. Clearly this bike is really old, it has stem shifters and suicide brakes. I notice a badge on the head tube that says Sears & Roebuck. Oh great. It's a department store bike. An OLD department store bike. I decide to fix it up anyway, I need the practice.

A couples days ago I was interneting it up and come across a discussion about old bikes and the name Sears-Roebuck comes up. I google the name and find out that these bikes are actually a little collectible, not as much as the older Schwinns, but not the piece of junk I thought they were.

Here's a pic of the bike:
http://i.imgur.com/aIm5I.jpg

The top tube and the name on the head badge say 'Free Spirit'. It has ten speeds (2 in the front, 5 in the back).

I'm still waiting on the new wheels in the mail, as well as some clamp on cable stops before I can get test riding it and stuff. So is this bike a piece of junk, or a nice usable bike?

The really good stuff from Sears predates your Free Spirit
and usually goes under the name of J.C. Higgins or there
was one 531 bike sold as a Ted Williams.

The older JC Higgins three speeds were Austrian sourced,
and they were very solid bikes of that type. The rear
hubs were a Sturmy Archer ripoff, which at the time
of the 60's and possibly 70's were actually of better
quality (IMO).

If you get one old enough, it will have a custom cutout
J.C. Higgins Chainwheel on the front.

I've had a couple over the years. Probably as good as
the Raleigh 3 speeds of the same era.

Better than nothing.

There was a Ted Williams Free Spirit made of Reynolds 531 that was decent and some of the other Puch built bikes were decent but none of them really have any real resale value.

As said above, Sears has sold some fine bikes over the years. The one you found is not really one of them; cheap, not much fun to ride, and (as you're learning) difficult to work on.

Ah, that's what I though. At least it's not a total POS. And it's not too hard to work on, the only thing that's thrown me for a loop is the lack of cable stops (wtf). Oh well, I'm having fun learning how to fix up a bike, so there's that. :shrug:

Thanks for all the info!

What you have is a Murray built Sears. Cheapy, but not necessarily bad. Hard to work on? Preposterous. You will probably never find an easier bike to work on. Nothing out there is as easy to work on as an old one piece crank American bike. You can take it apart with an adjustable wrench and a flat head. No special headset tools/bottom bracket tools/proprietary baloney.

That being said, it is a low caliber bike. I'd put cruiser bars on it, get a basket and make it a grocery getter/knock around bike. A job it is well suited for.

Murray actually supplied bicycles to Sears before Puch did. Puch originally supplied lightweights, and continued to provide some models through the 70s, but because of the bike boom in the early 70s, Murray began to supply more and more of the Bicycles Sears sold. Indeed Sears had such a hard time getting enough bikes in the 70s they sourced them from just about everybody, but Puch and Murray were their two biggies.

The young Sheldon Brown on his J.C. Higgens
 

http://sheldonbrown.org/images/jchiggins1960-2-200.jpeghttp://sheldonbrown.org/images/jchiggins1960-200.jpeg

1950s J.C. Higgins 3-speed

OK to work on. Pretty easy, actually. Kind of like work on a cheaply made version of a Schwinn Varsity. Trying to "true" those wheels to perfection, however, can lead to a mental breakdown, or alcohol abuse. With that said, parts and supplies similarly "sourced" is the way to go. Wouldn't put much cash into it. It's something to work on. It wouldn't make the worst "campus" bike. Ok for short rides of about 1 to 5 miles on relatively level, dry ground. Those hard to align steel wheels can cause all types of problems when you hit the brakes (irregularities in the rims cause pulsing if you're moving fast, brake pads don't grip right when wet). I bought a new one from Sears when I was a kid. They were about $59 on sale at the time, which really isn't that cheap when I think about it now. I returned it. If I still had it, I could probably still get my $59 back for it today (in 2012 dollars).

Yup, now that I see it I'd say use it as a take apart toy to learn how to work on them.

True story.....
When I was a kid of about seven years old, an old master carpenter working on our house was showing me all the different tools in his big wooden box of tools he had......he started pulling them out of his box one by one and described to each one of them to me and how they were used and I had a good time learning expecially how his woodworking moulding planes and different saws work for specific jobs. At the end of my impromptu class on tools with him he noted how proud he was of his tools and how he will pass it on to his kids and hopefully, his grand kids, then he paused and gazed at his silver bicycle parked next to us and he noted how he loved it too, just much as his tools. I still remember really clearly, him noting specifically, that it was a "Sears and Roebuck" bicycle and he even showed me how it read that on its head tube. The memory of that day and that bike's name stayed with me since then and it always pop up in my head when people are discussing such bicycles. Lesson is, some bikes might be "junk to some" but it will be a "gems" to others.........I say that any bicycle that can turn a wheel on the road and give pleasurable rides to its owner is certainly not deserving of the description of "junk"!

Chombi

Free Spirit Bikes are okay, they sure beat some bikes out there for sale in todays market . Enjoy the ride . If you can sell it, you can make a profit. That's the beauty of bikes for free. If you give it away, you'll build up good bike Karma

If it doesn't say Free Spirit, then it is probably a Puch. I had a Puch made Sears 3-speed from 1970, and I'd say it was one of the best bikes I've had. The cheap Murray made Free Spirits can work as transportation, but if it comes with plastic shifters they need to be replaced if you don't want it to be a single speed.

It blows my mind the junk that's out there in the new bike market. Not worth carrying home, if it was free. I have a Free Spirit, in pieces, and it is a very solid frame.

i wonder how many of us in the middle class born in the u.s. before 1980 rode a free spirit as our first bike. i would guess it's between 25-40 percent of us. my first three bikes were either free spirit or otasco. the last of these three was a free spirit 10-speed i rode in middle school, and i remember it as being fast, reliable and a lot of fun. used to go everywhere on that thing...

I rode one in Northern California, in the 70s. I had no problems with it either. Then it got stolen.

My Free Spirit has cottered 3 piece crank, pointed luges, tapered flat seat stays, candy apple pearlesence type red paint with lots of chips, 6 inch chrome stem, high flange chrome wheels and is a true 10 speed with stem mounted levers. I get looks from other people, one even asked if it was new. In the sun it sparkles. Shined up the chrome sprung seat, i need to paint the nasty seat clamp and bolts. Its the bike i ride after my crashes as i recover.

I love mine.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...n/DSCF3959.jpg

I found it on the side of the road in a rusty heap, pretty much. I removed the rust, replaced the broken shifters (converted it to downtube shifters) and have enjoyed riding it ever since. Every mechanical bit of mine, including the tires and tubes, (minus my replacement shifters of course) is original to the bike. It's solidly built.

One of the (if not THE best) rides I've ever been on was on my Free Spirit, I rode it for 53 miles and crossed state lines for the first time ever on a bicycle. Here's a picture of it loaded up during this ride:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...man/IMG146.jpg

The Free Spirit is an incredibly smooth and pleasant ride...really the only negative thing I have to say about it is that it is a bit of a chunk at 35 pounds with all my crap on it. I suspect it would still weigh over 30 bare. Definitely not a bike built for speed, but it's great for cruising and even some long distances. I may tour with it this year. Yup, on an ancient Sears bike, 27" chrome-steel wheels and all...

Mine has a lugged steel frame and three piece cottered crank. It's a 12 speed.
.
.
.

'it's the bike i ride after my crashes as i recover.'
now that's funny. i need a bike like that. wait. no, no. i'm never crashing again. but if i do, i hope i'm on someone's free spirit.

I still have a Free Spirit trike , but it's still out on loan. When I bought it , I had to ride it through a couple of towns and some open country to get it home , as it would not fit in a car . Learned all about the vagaries of tricycle handling as well as getting a few compliments and reminiscences about these bikes . May become a parade bike, if I ever get it back .

One of the few new bikes I had as a kid was a Free Spirit BMX with yellow Skyway wheels, gosh I loved that bike and rebuilt it many times with all the cool BMX parts I could find. One of my Wifes favorite bikes was a very clean Free Spirit 10 speed I got in a trade deal, it was kept in a heated garage it's whole life and ridden less then a handful of times, she would still have it except I sold it to a customer that needed a womans bike that fit her. I picked up a 1976 Ted Williams Free Spirit in rough shape just for the crankset, I still have the frame hanging around as I thought it was built pretty nice with lugs although the seat post is stuck.

Glenn
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/m...AUCTION019.jpg
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/m...009pics034.jpg

This is the Ted Williams Free Spirit I did a couple years ago, it was a Puch built bike.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y17...s/DSC03161.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y17...s/DSC03167.jpg

Depends where you live, people in Portland like em as bar cruisers. I made over $100 dollars flipping one that looks the same as the one in the OP, but step through frame. And it was one of the easiest sales I've ever done on CL. Didn't haggle or anything.

Though it was kinda funny how it took my suggestion that she could ride it the two downhill miles to their home when they figured out that it wouldn't fit in their car.

Summed up nicely. My buddy picked up a "bad" bike next to the neighbor's trash. It gets regular use. I've said it before, love it for what it is, don't hate it for what it's not.