My eBay catch of the week and pickup today was a 1938 (at least according to the AW-8 rear hub) lady's Raleigh rod-brake 3-speed Tourist for $51: 28" wheels, original Terry saddle, 22" frame. The seller has owned it since 1957. At some point, such as in the 40s, someone put a bar-mounted Sturmey Archer trigger on (instead of a top tube one), and way back when I'm guessing someone did a repaint as there are no disernible decals or pinstriping. This one will be for the wife to match the '37 Sports I noted a couple of weeks ago.

Neal

I like the details in the light mount and shifter conversion. A neat find, congratulations!

That Raleigh is fantastic! Love it.

Granny got a muscle bike. Found this cool AMF Hercules lady’s 3 speed at a yard sale today. Cool Sturmey Archer 3 speed stick shift. Shifter and hub both work great. Hub is 3-speed coaster brake and dated 1967. Sweat ride at $3.00.




Also picked up an Orly Tour de France 10 speed, pulled the Huret shifters and derailleurs, rear brake, Atax wing nuts and Atom rear hub and recycled the rest. Gave $2.00 for it.

3 speed WITH coaster brake AND whitewalls?! Wow you really lucked out, I'd love to get me one of those. Congrats on the nice 3 speed!

Do you expect any less from Sturmey Archer? Great find!

A small catch today - has anyone ever heard of Batavus? This petite emerald green gem came off of CL for $35. It says "Made in Holland" on the seat tube, and features all Japanese (Suntour) components. It needs tires, tape, and a little dusting.

The interesting thing is the freewheel. The two largest cogs have a "tooth, sawtooth, tooth" configuration

Bought a Schwinn Voyageur SP at garage sale today for $10. Everything seems in order, no dents, little bit of surface rust on hardware but everything is straightand operative. The serial number on the headbadge is 3F03815. The original stickers are still on bike and say it was made in Japan. Anybody have info on this type of bike?

That Batavus would look great with some natural cork bar tape.

Austrian built Sears & Roebuck 3 speed.. wait a minute sears AND roebuck? I have a feeling this puppy immigrated from the united states.

Features luxurious stock black paint, a two-tone white and blue sprung saddle (missing right spring), seized rear brake, worn-out tires, not one- not two- but all three speeds work on the shimano 3 speed hub. And finally, this ladies model features enough rust&dents that even a man can ride it.

Nope. First bike I bought after getting out of the Army in 1970 came from the Sears Roebuck catalog and was an Austrian Built 3 speed with an F & S (I think) Three Speed Hub. Had the same decal with the three stripes on the down tube. Don't remember if it was a Free Sprit or Ted Williams model.A very good, well built, all puropose city bike with all the normal commuter stuff - fenders, chainguard, etc. Picked it up at the catalog warehouse on the Roosevelt Blvd in Philadelphia.

What's the deal with Columbia and Raleigh? Did Columbia like to copy Raleigh's designs for domestic sale or were they produced under license? This pair of Columbias on Portland Craigslist causes me to ask: one model looks so much like a Sports I, with my inexpert eye, couldn't tell it apart from a Raleigh (except, where is the shifter?) and the other model is a Tourist, which to me also looks like a Sports.

What is you assessment of the quality of Columbia's bikes?

Columbia machines were in-house, produced in Westfield Massachusetts.

I doubt if any licensing existed - although a Raleigh Sports and Columbia Sports/Tourist may appear to be similar 3-speed machines from afar, they really are quite different. The Columbias remind me of low-end Schwinns without electroforged frames.

As for quality, they hold together, but their cheap frames are quite whippy. No match for a Raleigh Sports. That '73 Columbia hasn't been out in months since I gave my Mom a beautiful '74 Coffee Raleigh Sports - both she and I prefer the Raleigh's handling and frame characteristics.

That Columbia you link to is a 20 dollar bike, particularly in the condition it is. $75 MAX for a nice machine, and a positively MINT machine might fetch $120. Don't pass up a free Columbia though, for they're well worth it at that price.

-Kurt

Catch of A Few Days Ago:

*'70s Le Jeunet from Craigslist, $15. Nice, but I can't stand a frame with a shallower headtube angle then seattube angle.

Catch of The Day:

*Lyotard rattrap pedals
*Campagnolo Record quill pedals, one mint, other some roadrash on the outside, no quills...and get this: Only twenty-five dollars...
*Wrecked Campagnolo Nuovo Gran Sport RD, paralellogram bent/warped beyond use, pulley cage mutilated, but all the hardware including the top bolt intact, two bucks.
*Set of four Campagnolo brake pads and holders, very nice, but the pads are dry.

Take care,

-Kurt

Found a Specialized Shark for $5 at the Goodwill a couple weeks ago. Tubes were flat, but a inflated right up and hold air fine. Rear wheel is only slightly out of true; still perfectly fine for slow cruising. The shark's mouth is a bottle opener. My wife is damned happy with it.

Also found this weird little Bianchi for cheap at a pawn shop last week. It's a Sport SX "campione del mondo" -- so it's a mid- to late-80s bike (?) -- but it's got a bizarrely small front wheel. Unfortunately, the size of the tire has been worn off. The frame is for an extremely short person, as well. I might part the bike out, but it would be a real shame because it's just so neat.

The small/big wheel setup was a '90s marketing tactic (or at least, a marketing tactic IMHO) for women's roadbikes - was supposed to make for a better fit. Nothing but a lot of rubbish in terms of it being any better or worse then a standard setup, but it makes for an interesting, unique machine.

And if I'm wrong, would someone please correct me?

Take care,

-Kurt

I caught a batavus a year or two ago, and people here had some good information that I'm sure a search would turn up - but yours looks like a nicer bike than the one I found, which had VERY fancy decals and VERY low-end parts!

I wouldn't part that out, that is a vintage Sprint/TT bike from before aerobars and the small front wheel is to achieve better aerodynamics

a pursuit bike? Never seen one geared...

Hmmmmm, true, now that I think of it! Whoops, my bad! I guess it's styled after a pursuit bike then! It would make a really cool SS/Fixie though!

No I mean I am in canada, I believe we never used "Sears and roebuck", we had "Simpson and sears", and eventually just became known as sears. I just meant I believe someone bought it in America and brought it to Canada.

Pretty good day for old bikes. Bianchi Grizzly, Tange lugged frame with Shimano Six speed indexed thumbies, U- brake on bottom stays in excellent condition. Second bike is a lugged Team Fuji with a Superbe Pro RD, in very nice condition. Third is Schwinn voyager 11.8, a Japanese Panasonic I believe in good condition with six speed indexed. A balloon tire'd Sears single speed in excellent condition . Nishiki Olympic 12 in excellent condition with gold anodized rims. Univega Sportour and a Viva Sport, both in excellent condition, Peugeot Mixte in great shape with a Nervar crank. Centurian Super Lemans , excellent shape, no braze-ons a great single speed candidate. Western Flyer three speed. Trek 330, scratched ,but otherwise a solid bike.

Now you have



Thats my vintage Schwinn Prologue Time Trial bike. Definately a road race frame not track, It's a blast to ride however it looks as if it is going to be stripped and sold to finance other projects/create space.

For more info on the bike see:

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/155642-schwinn-prologue-tt-funny-bike-project.html

Any parties interested in purchaseing the bike can view this thread in the for sale forum:

https://www.bikeforums.net/sale/204519-schwinn-prologue-time-trial-bike-sale.html

Also I believe Cuda is right aout it being a womens model, TT's had sloping top tubes.

Attached are pictures of the Schwinn Voyageur SP I posted about several days ago. Am looking to trade, even steven for a European Commuting bike/3 speed; preferably a Gazelle or Batavius. PM if interested.
Click to enlarge:

You sure about that headbadge number? It should only be 4 digits.