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names: vlw makers

Below are some makers of vintage lightweight bicycles and some info about them, good or bad:

The good...

ATALA: Italian company. Made some nice chrome frames. Quality varied.

"AMERICAN EAGLE": Actually, an earlier name used by Nishiki, which is not necessarily true as it was a Japanese company.

BIANCHI: Well known Italian company famous for racing. Makes excellent but expensive road bikes. It's older models are less costly but still good quality.

CANNONDALE: American company knwon for its oversized aluminum tubing. Some early bikes had harsh rides but later ones improved.

CENTURION: Japanese company that made many nice bikes.

MOTOBECANE French company that was a big player in the bike boom of the 1970's when cycle importing to the U.S. grew. Many low-end examples encountered, but they are all sturdy machines. Some nicer ones are really light and ride great, but beware of the clunkers.

MIYATA: Japanese company that made some very nice bikes starting in the 1970's.

GITANE: French bicycle company producing many entry and mid-level bikes of decent quality.

FUJI: Bike company out of Japan that has a large following by the early 1980's.

NISHIKI: Japanese company on par with Miyata or Fuji. Earlier bikes were heavier but by late 1980's early 1990's they were making nice rides.

RALEIGH: Big English maker that brought the "ten speed" [road bike] to the U.S. after World War II and into the bike boom. Made enormous amounts of low and entry level bikes but also some nicer rides especially in the 1960's and 70's.

TREK: U.S.-based company, high quality but entry-level models are now made overseas as with many major names. The bad...

FREE SPIRIT: Beware! Free spirit are made for sale by Sears and though they are okay for cruising a block or two to the corner store they are essentially basic transportation. They have little collector vlaue but more importantly they are not suited to long rides! HUFFY: Your basic department store bike, usually with one piece cranks like the sears Free Spirit. Mongoose: Except for BMX bikes and some mountainbikes, beware the mongoose! Most of their bicycles are manufactured for department stores. SCHWINN CONTINENTAL: Like the Varsity, the Continental is a heavy "lightweight" with basic parts. Unlike the Varsity, however, it doesn't have the historical distinction of being of of the earliest mass-distributed road bikes in the U.S. post WWII, which introduced millions to road bicycling. It is well enough made but just too heavy [though it still beats a Huffy any day in terms of finish!].

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