Just recently, a 1970's ladies Vista Duchess 10 speed came into my possession. I paid nothing for it, it was just handed over to me one day when I started tooling around on it after discovering it in my mother-in-law's garage.

Has anyone ever heard of the brand Vista, or can lend any info on the credibility of the bike? The thing is heavy and built like a tank. And for not being used since the 70's, it is still in remarkably good shape. I know that there were a lot of brands that popped up during the "bike boom" of the 1970's. Is this one of them?

I am hardly a bike-brand aficionado, but I have never heard of this brand ever, and after a long online hunt, I still found nothing. I have no major plans for it, I am just curious about the origin of the brand and bike.

Thanks,
Diane

I guy across the street from me when I was a young teenager got a Vista ten-speed for Christmas one year (sometime during the mid-'70's). It seemed it was probably a little better bike than the average dept. store bike at the time. I think you're right, it was probably one of those "bike boom" brands.

OK, here's the scoop. Vista was a bike brand manufactured by Columbia Bicycle Co. of Westfield, Mass. during the late 60's and mid 70's. It was Columbia's attempt to make a bike shop quality bike and it was quite good. They were very similar to a USA made Schwinn Varsity. The bike was made for a distributor called Service Cycle Supply of Commack, Long Island. The weakest point of the bike was the frame quality which had dropouts that were pressed and welded. This caused alignment problems . The forks were solid steel. Wheels and hubs were good quality. Brakes were usually Japanese made Dia-Compe , plus they used Suntour shifters and derailleurs. These worked infinitly better than a lot of the Huret and Simplex junk that was being used at that time by European brands. Later on, the supplier had Vista bikes made in Japan and TAiwan for them. They were sold exclusively through independent bike shops. Good bike, solid parts.

Hola Jacksbike,

Sorry about my tardy reply.

Rock on though, about the bike. I searched high and low on the internet for info about the bike and found nothing--I'm glad you guys could help me out!

I'm still not sure what I plan to do with it. What typically is the fate of bikes like this?

Diane

I got one used from the LBS for my wife to learn on last year. Nothing great, but it's ok for short rides.

Gee, what is the fate of bikes like this ? Well, considering that everything is made in China these days, maybe USA bikes will now become classics. OK, enough of the xenophobia. Well, you could have it tuned up and it will be a good reliable bike. Basic easy to repair parts-if a cable or else goes bad, your local shop shoudl have parts , no problem. Good commuter bike. Fate- I guess people use it or it gets tossed into the local metal recycable dumpster. Hope you don't do that , Diane !

I just bought a Vista Duchess today (Saturday the 26th) for $5 at the local firefighters' annual burn drive sale. It does indeed have SunTour gearshift levers, although oddly enough, it has two levers but has only one front gear. It is mostly intact, missing only the rear reflector, and has a "coffee" brown paint job with chrome fenders that are just beginning to show specks of rust, and an AMF battery-operated headlamp. My wife was at first dismayed to learn I'd brought home yet another bike, but when she saw the relatively good condition of this bike, she said if I clean and shine it up, she'll ride it.