Ahkhira

After years of keeping one eye open for an old favorite, I pulled this old girl out of a junkpile:



It's in mostly working order, and looks to be near to all original.

It was working enough that I could take it around the block before a tire deflated. It felt like riding an old friend. I really haven't been this comfortable on ANY bike in a long time. I really don't know what it is about it, but I LIKE this 25 plus pound steel monster. (OK, laugh. I don't really know why I prefer riding this thing on the hills instead of one of those newfangled carbon things.) The dang thing just fits me. I could ride in the drops forever.

Anyway, anyone have one of these lying around? I'm looking for a rear derailleur and original shifter if anyone has them.

Thanks!

wahoonc

I might...need to look in the bike barn tomorrow.

Aaron

auchencrow

^ You're not alone in that around here! ^

Obviously, you have the right stuff to be a real dyed in the wool C&V'er, Ahkhira.
Welcome to C&V!

WickedThump

I don't have one, but I remember selling dozens of those around Christmas of '77 at a JC Penney offshoot discount store, The Treasury. (anyone remember those?) I'm pretty sure that bike came with a Shimano Eagle RD.

LesterOfPuppets

I had a men's version back in my youth. Your seat clamp is backwards, perfect for triathlon position.

I have lots of olde parts in bins, so if you could photograph rear derailer and shifters, I might have a match.

josh.d

My brother has one of these in a boys version. Coolest Huffy ever.

thirdgenbird

I understand serotta built huffys being exempt in this competition but my vote goes to the huffy aerowind.

illwafer

i rode the men's version of that in 8th grade.

it always got me home before 10pm .

mike

Ya, Folks have long pooo-pooooed Huffy, but in the end Huffy outlasted them all for USA ownership and production. They outlasted even Schwinn at least for USA ownership. In fact, Huffy continued to produce in the USA after Schwinn had moved nearly all its production off-shore. Hail, Hail Huffy creatin' jobs for Americans and representin'

Huffy is a stalwart part of America's bicycle culture. I think it was the marketing strategy by Huffy to be priced lower than Schwinn that gave it the second rate image. Truth be told, most old-school Huffy and Schwinn parts are interchangeable.

I have owned several Huffy and commuted on a Huffy three-speed Escape for about eight years. I LOVED it! It was a smooth and reliable ride. I eventually sold the bike and as far as I know, it is being used even today by the family of the friend I sold it to.

So, Ahkira, there is no reason for anybody to laugh at you riding a Huffy Santa Fe. They are good and reliable machines.

sailorbenjamin

I just parted one of these out. I think I've got a back fender for it if you want it. Don't know if I kept the derailler or shifter. What kind are they?
I just found a Huffy MTB in the trash. This will be my third. The first two were fine bikes. My neighbor was just asking me if I had a decent bike around that's her size. I bet this one is.

gearheadgeek

Wow - flashback!!!

I lusted after a Sante Fe for what seemed like forever before I finally got one (birthday or christmas gift I'm sure). I must have been around 10 or 11. Not sure what characteristic pulled me in (the "tooled-leather look" saddle, the chrome mini-fenders, the perforated plastic handlebar grips?), but I would stop and stare at them every time I was in the local department store. Mine saw a lot of miles and serious abuse over the years. At one point it got BMX bars and knobby-ish tires, way before I ever heard of a mountain bike. Not sure what ever happened to it.

Mine had Shimano Positron II shifter and rear derailleur. It was a two cable setup and had indexing. Worked OK as I recall but wasn't easy to adjust.

Enjoy it!

Ahkhira

Ok, found the derailleur. I am looking for the Shimano Positron II shifter.

Even better news, the local bike shop had NOS (new old stock) rims hanging around. I dropped it off there for a few parts- turns out the freewheel was indeed a bit of an unfixable mess. I got it riding, and it just felt crunchy, so I called Mr. Awesome Bike Shop Guy, and he had a source for a rear gears.

I guess the tooth spacing on the large chainring is quite the anomaly- and probably most of the reason it is so comfortable to me- the gearing is rather unique to the bike.

Thanks all, and I can't wait to show the "after" pictures when the parts get here!

josh.d

I have an 86 Raleiegh USA in Reynolds 531, and as I understand, Huffy owned the right to the 'Raleigh' namesake in America at that point in time. So I guess I lied by saying the Santa Fe was the coolest Huffy ever.

thirdgenbird

I forgot that fact as well. My vote still goes to the aerowind. Without ever riding one, I think they are 40 lovable pounds of misguided aspiration. I would like to know how the early design went on them. "think we can crimp hiten to look like ovalized chromoly tubing?"

CMC SanDiego

My older sister had one just like that. I'm sure it was long ago buried at the dump. Kind of cool to see one again.

wahoonc

The one I saw is just like that one. I thought it was in my barn...it is in my FIL's and is a bit rusty. Same model though.

Aaron

reggieob

Great to see one of those - my parents bought me one as my first "ten-speed!" I remember the Positron shifting and the southwestern-look decals and seat. Those grips were the sweatiest things ever as I recall. Rode that thing everywhere until I got into BMX or got a Raleigh - can't remember the order. No idea what ever happened to it...

mnmkpedals 

Anyone still posting in this thread? I came looking for "after" pics of that Santa Fe. I can't laugh, I just bought one... yes... BOUGHT one. Think it's a midlife crisis. Back in the early 80s it was the first bike I ever bought with my own money. Saved up weeks from teaching swimming lessons to neighborhood kids and paid $60 second hand to someone through the want-ads (remember those?). When I got drivers license and bikes were uncool, let my sister take it to college where it got stolen. NEVER forgot that bike. And low and behold, few days ago after my biking bug got reignited by a garage sale find, I stumbled across a mens, riding condition Santa Fe about 20 miles from me on Craigslist. My size frame in fact, or close enough. Wife thinks I'm nuts, but at least its not a red corvette...

would love to see pics of how yours turned out if still out there to revive this post.

Zinger

My riding partner was riding a Huffy in our 1st century. We stopped at all the water stops so he could smoke a cigarette. He weighed about 220 lbs and finally tore the welded BB out of it.

Ahkhira

I'm reviving my old post. I STILL have this bike, and I rode the ever living hell out of it. It's still quite rideable. I pulled it apart after a rear hub failure, and I'm calling all my vintage friends to find the damn parts.

I've come into a summer place that sits along the Cape Cod Canal- 7 miles of flat asphalt to cruise and enjoy at all hours of the day (14 miles round trip).
I'm astonished to say that after I have no idea how many hundreds of miles, the original handlebar tape is STILL intact and just looks like it needs a bath.
I LOVE this bike, as it's the favorite in my arsenal, but after so many rides, I think it's going to the summer place permanently so I can stop toting other bikes back and forth. Both the Huffy and I are aging, and I just can't climb hills on her like I used to. I'll post repair photos as I'm working.

JCNeumann

That bike trail is the Cape's best "unknown treasure". I've spent summers around Sandwich since I was a kid, and got to teach my own kids how to ride on that path.

And Huffy rocks. If you grew up in the 1970s, Huffy was the bike you wanted. That, or a Ross-Apollo.

Post some pics when you are done - looks like an awesome bike.

72Paramount

I had a his & hers matching pair of huffy aerowinds. I gave them to a neighbor who was having a sale to benefit the local women's haven. He sold the pair for 25bucks... What a dummy but also a doer of good deeds, so it was ok.

mightymax

In the late 70's into the 80 s I worked at Toys R Us followed by a short stint at Children's Palace. We sold tons of Huffy bikes. The first bike I ever bought myself was a Huffy Wind. I loved that bike and still have it hanging in the garage. Just needs a tune up and it is good to go. It was retired after I bought my friend's Father's Raleigh Gran Prix. I look at it every so often and it makes me smile. I also have an Aerowind that I picked up but never rode hanging next to it. I also have the frame of a Concours. I remeber those being the most expensive Huffy's we sold and we didn't sell many of them. We assembled the bikes ourselves at the store and for some reason there was this Concours we never sold cause it was scratched. It never got disposed of through the store return goods policies. One day it was gonna be pitched into the compactor and I acquired it. I was gonna repaint it but never did but I did take the fork and headset off (at least I think I did) because I could not find it while cleaning out my Mother's house. So I am trying to remember after 35 years why we just had this frame hanging around the store and if it came home with me with it's fork etc... I would like to get it built up so it can actually be ridden at least once in my and its lifetime....
So I have nothing but love in my heart for my Huffy's. They represent a much happier and simpler time in my life

Max Bryant

Bikedued

I have 3-4 Aerowind frames in the garage, I got them about 11-12 years ago. Every once in a while I will pull one down and start working on it. What usually stops me is the fork crown race. It is made from a piece of stamped SHEET METAL,and barely fits tight enough to stay in place. Sad construction on their flagship bike of the time.,,,,BD

junkman71

I was dragging off peoples "junk" bikes for free this summer....... one was a 77 huffy sea pines... half the front fork was rotted off and all the 3 speed shifter and linkage were missing..... got it put back together with parts from a ladies western flyer that had a bent frame and crank( hit by a car I guess)......threw on some drop bars, took off the fenders and chain guard and turned it into a hipster bike and sold it for $20.... I would have fixed that up for myself, but I had to choose between that bike or my schwinn varsity......varsity needed less work to be rideable and the schwinn seemed better made as the huffy sea pines had the crimped in wheel stays instead of the welded ones the varsity has... if my wife would have let me keep both I would have.....I like to see old bikes put back on the road if they are in decent shape or at least used for parts to keep one on the road....... I hate to see people toss them in the trash when thay can still be ridden