I have a line on a bike to look at tomorrow. It looks to me like a 531 Free Spirit, but I've never seen one in person and any traces of stickers seem to be gone. Can I go by the seatpost dimension (I'm guessing 27.2)? Dropouts and Crane rd look promising, no? Opinions and/or tips welcome. Thanks.

I think it is pretty likely that it is for the reasons you mention. The 531s that I've seen in person (which is exactly 2) and the ones I've seen here on the forum have the Crane and the forged dropout.

Long piointed lugs, early '70s, color; it appears that it is.
det. the ST / SP diam. ID & OD respectively will narrow it down some. even 531 can vary in the precise ID in the ST, bear in mind, we're talking in .02 mils. here.

BESIDES.. google "free spirit bicycles with 531 tubing.".. a rental place rents THAT bike.
click-on the second listing. I can't be bothered with intricate html s

Not that hard to click and paste...

https://us.zilok.com/rental/61309-bik...pirit-531.html

I knew that comment would invoke a response, THANKS !! I'll be tryin' that

A PUCH by any other name...Japanese constructed of European tubing.

I thought the 531 Free Spirits were CCMs? Were they Puchs?

Ted Williams Free Spirit manufactured by Puch for Sears; Reynolds 531 frame and fork, I believe a Sugino Mighty crankset, Shimano Crane RD and a Brooks Pro were part of the original-issue kit. If Little Darwin sees this thread, maybe he'll post some pics of the one I sold him early last summer.

23 Skidoo's been through one so I would head what he has to say. I looked over his and it does look very similar. I think the headbadge is going to tell you what you are looking at. The other clues will be the wieght and seat post size. If I am remembering correctly they have a shim to allow the seat tube ( about 27.2) to be shimed down to a 1 in.

+1 on the seat tube shim and ebr898 who scored the Free Spirit for me in the first place; if it wouldn't have been 4cm too small for me Little Darwin would still be looking...

I'd say yes. Looks like sticker still on head tube. Should say "Sears Roebuck and Company" with a Ted Williams signature. Here's one of mine, though most parts replaced.

Thanks for the replies. I'll try to take a look at it in the next couple days. Here's a headbadge pic, such as it is. Looks to me like the bottom lettering - blue section - says Made in Austria, although I could be wrong.

what a weird bike... mostly in the way its built up... wouldnt take much to make it very nice though!

Very nice build; I like it a lot. How does it ride? On another thread I saw it described it as "noodley."

It was originally as OP posted: junk wheels, funky crank, vinyl seat, etc. Most everything was replaced with stuff I already had. Honestly, I haven't riden that one much but I had another frame I built as a single speed I ride almost every day. I kinda like how it rides; has an old-time English stable feel with quick steering; maybe that's from the high bars and stem though. I think it rides much better than it looks!

Yes, head tube sticker says "Made in Austria."

To OP: I have a Reynolds 531 waterslide I can give you if you get it.

It looks like it, but I've never met the Ted Williams 531 in person, so take this opinion with a grain of salt. I'd pick it up and feel how heavy it is. I've have a couple 'Free Spirit' 3-speeds and have had a 'Free Spirit' 10-speed. They all say "made in Austria" but are as heavy as any other old department store 3-speed or 10-speed. If the frame was remarkably lighter, say light like my 531 trek is, it'd be a dead give-away that it was indeed the 531.

That is surely a 531 framed bike... I believe that I have described these in the past as quite a number have passed through my hands and I know I have described them as being noodley.

With that being said, my friend built one up into a fixed gear and despite the massive power he can lay down he couldn't break it... the frame flex might become more noticeable with a derailer set up as I am sure it could cause a little chain rub.

The frame and fork are quite light with a bunch of really weighty parts hung on them... the Crane derailers are nice.

The bikes themselves have a rather nice ride quality too.

These bikes were made by Austro Daimler / Puch in Austria for Sears... the cast dropouts and rear wheel adjustment screws are are a sign this is a better than average Free Spirit.

Dropouts on mine are Campagnolo. I've only ever seen them in that goofy color. Looks like the dropout screws in the OP's pics are in backwards.

I had thought they were made in Japan for Puch in Graz, Austria. This is very interesting stuff. Cool!

I have never seen the 531 model in any other colour either... there are a couple of them tearing around the city and I see them fairly regularly. One of them is the bike my friend built up and then sold and I know this bike really well since I found it for him and helped him build it up.

Those adjustment screws do appear to be in backwards.

Looks like one to me. IIRC they had very long top tubes. A couple of oddly proportioned gents I knew were always on the lookout for them.

What does that mean, flexible at the bottom bracket? I haven't experienced that, though currently its just my errand bike; really doesn't get any hard thrashing.

I picked up the bike today. There is enough trace of decals to confirm the ID, not that there was much doubt. The seller had sold off the wheels but gave me the rest of the bike for $40, so I felt like I did pretty well. It will require a fair amount of scrubbing and no doubt a number of parts, but looks like it will clean up reasonably well. I kind of like the funky green-gold paint. dbakl, thanks for the kind decal offer; I'll be in touch.

OK, quick update and a question. This bike is crazy - Reynolds tubing "made in Austria" for Sears, with Shimano dropouts and fork ends, a French headset (nice AVA stem and bars, btw) and a 70 mm bottom bracket shell, which I believe makes it Italian. Is that right?