What is your favorite type/brand of bike to find in terrible shape and restore to a rider?

Mine favorite is Raleigh Sports/Sprite type.

They consistently seem to make a major transformation and always make the person receiving them happy

Scott

Upper entry level or mid level Fuji bikes.

Quality bikes to start out with. Easy to find replacement parts for, if needed. Quality paint usually shines up easily.

My personal fleet is a mixed bag, but mostly Trek, Schwinn, Miyata, Motobecane. For reconditioning and resale, Trek, Fuji, and any mixte I can get my hands on.

I like the Sports very much, too. It's well made and well understood. It can be a pain if it has been badly abused or neglected, but so can any bike.

I've had some pleasure refurbishing some 1980's Japanese bikes such as Fuji and Univega. Stuff on those bikes "just works."

+1. The frame is the foundation, the rest is the the details. Just about any Japanese-built frame from the mid-70s to mid 80s would be tough to beat. Fuji, Miyata, Univega, 'Schwinn-approved', among others. The high point of Japanese frames, as far as I'm concerned.

My most complete has been a Schwinn Traveler, frame built in 1954, 3 speed SW, and a lot of abuse, leading to a complete strip and paint. All I am missing is a set of fenders. These seem impossible to find unless you want to pay big $ for nos.