# Old Sears 10 speed Free Spirit.



## doubleduty (Aug 10, 2008)

I recently purchased a vintage Sears and Roebucks ladies Free Spirit 10 speed. The antique shop where I bought it thought that it was from 1958. I asked them what they based this on and they could not tell me. To get them to come down on the price I convinced them that Sears did not have 10 speed bikes until the late 60's or early 70's. I do not know if I am correct about this. This bike is green it has 26" rims. It has fenders and a rear luggage rack. The original head badge is still on it and in good shape. It reads Sears and Roebucks. The Free Spirit decals are all in fair shape. I cannot find any markings stamped onto the bike frame anywhere. So does anyone know when these bikes were first offered by Sears? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!


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## chuckspeed (Aug 10, 2008)

I'm no expert, but...

Free Spirit bikes were a 70's thing.  Spaceliners were mid 60's, Spyders (Sears version of a Stingray) was late 60's, early 70's; if I recall my Sears Catalog reading from back in the day, the Free Spirits came out around 1971.  Green and gold were popular colors.


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## partsguy (Aug 14, 2008)

*What fun*

I once entered a bicycle demolition derby. My entree was a white Huffy Free Spirit. That bike got me a championship. I'm sure it was a 1975.


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## chuckspeed (Aug 14, 2008)

classicfan1 said:


> I once entered a bicycle demolition derby. My entree was a white Huffy Free Spirit. That bike got me a championship. I'm sure it was a 1975.




Yah - the later Free Spirits were red, white and blue - the 74 - 76's


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## Aeropsycho (Aug 14, 2008)

*Air Brakes!!!*

I had a Free Spirit I got for free it had these strange air bellows type brakes with air lines!!!:eek: 

You would squeeze the plastic brake lever and it pressed a air acordion shaped bag the center pull brake had a bag that would expand in the middle kinda cool but fugly!!!  1976 bicentenial model for sure!!!

I would not ride this bike they are kind of unsafe!!!:eek: 

I have worked on bike for years....Not worth the PAIN!!! 

J...


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## bgtcars (Aug 14, 2008)

*Air brakes*

I have one of those I think Hydraulic was on downtube or seatpost. Had brake fluid in it and brakes were great. Hard to work on had to have special lines.


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## JOEL (Aug 14, 2008)

Some of the 'higher end' Free Spirits were made in Germany and are actually decent bikes.


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## tdoorly (Feb 1, 2015)

*Patriotic Free Spirit bike*

I am a Schwinn Varsity collector but recently went to an estate sale and Came across a Sears Free Spirit 10 speed.  It is in super nice shape barely used, 24" wheels, and Red , White, & Blue.  I think it is a 73 or 74 Ted Williams version.  Has a Double top bar, spring seat, and center pull brakes.  It was stored in a warehouse and had about 35 years of dirt on it.  All it needed was a good cleaning,new brake pads, new tires and a wax polish job.  Paid 20.00 for it.  I know they aren't worth much but it is a cool 70s bike.  Can't wait till the weather gets nice to take it out for a ride or a 4th of July ride around town.  Check pics


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## MrColumbia (Feb 2, 2015)

Free Spirits from the 70's were made by a variety of companies. In 1979-1980 when I worked for Columbia we would make from 1500 to 3000 free spirits a day while the contract lasted. Then we would lose the next contract to Murry or some other company by $1 a bike and they would make them. I remember going into the local Sears and three identical model Free Spirits in a row were all made by 3 different manufacturers. Same paint jobs, decals, and accessories but you could tell who made them by the frame and fork.


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## the tinker (Feb 2, 2015)

gone


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## thom (Feb 3, 2015)

I have a few Free Spirit bikes. Here's my latest.









It's in nice shape. I have cleaned a little on one half of the bars and one wheel. It will clean up and look like new.I cannot get the rear derailler adjusted so that the chain won't go past the large (low gear) sprocket. I will remove and rebuild it and take care of that problem. Otherwise it rides nice.I like the green color with the brown grips. The white/tan seat might have to go, though. Anybody ever dyed a seat? Sorry, I didn't realize the pics were so blurry.


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## vincev (Feb 5, 2015)

Vinyl dye in the spray cans works really well and holds up well.


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## bicentinial (Jul 8, 2015)

please contact me about your bike, thank's Tony


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## Brandt89 (Jul 9, 2015)

I own a Sears and Roebucks ladies Free Spirit 10 speed too.  Bought it new in 1984. If all the decals are there - check above the peddle crank shaft. Mine has a decal "4-84" which I take to mean April 1984 as a manufactured date. I still have the original manual too. This bike is a ladies, 26" blue. The 1984 model does not have fenders.


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## junkman (Aug 4, 2017)

I recently repaired a Sears Roebuck Free Spirit.  It has no gears and a coaster break.  It has a pink fork and purple spotted frame.  It has the old cruiser handle bars.  Can you tell me what year it is.  It seems old.


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## Freqman1 (Aug 4, 2017)

junkman said:


> I recently repaired a Sears Roebuck Free Spirit.  It has no gears and a coaster break.  It has a pink fork and purple spotted frame.  It has the old cruiser handle bars.  Can you tell me what year it is.  It seems old.




Probably ancient but we'll need a picture to determine anything.


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## billah (Jun 3, 2019)

this is my current free sprit
my grandfather bought me 1 in 76 it was red looked just like this white one which i am currently fixing looked just like this minus the lights i got it at a thirft store for $8
it just needs some TLC its got no rust its in real good shape i also had a blue one that was just a plain jane version,till somebody stole it off my front porch 1 day it had a cracked back axel i suspect a homeless person got it they were always on the next street over at the place i was living at the time


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## Peace07 (Jul 24, 2019)

tdoorly said:


> *Patriotic Free Spirit bike*
> 
> I am a Schwinn Varsity collector but recently went to an estate sale and Came across a Sears Free Spirit 10 speed.  It is in super nice shape barely used, 24" wheels, and Red , White, & Blue.  I think it is a 73 or 74 Ted Williams version.  Has a Double top bar, spring seat, and center pull brakes.  It was stored in a warehouse and had about 35 years of dirt on it.  All it needed was a good cleaning,new brake pads, new tires and a wax polish job.  Paid 20.00 for it.  I know they aren't worth much but it is a cool 70s bike.  Can't wait till the weather gets nice to take it out for a ride or a 4th of July ride around town.  Check pics



I owned this bike when I was a kid. From what state did you get it?


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## Aardbark (Aug 23, 2019)

Great info.  I have one of these green Free Spirit D3403062 from Sears.  I need tires & tubes but I cant read the size as tires are to far gone.  Any help what size and where to buy?  Amazon?


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## Roger Henning (Aug 23, 2019)

A picture would help as Free Spirit bikes could of had 24", 26" and maybe 27 inch tires depending.  I have no way to look up what D340******* means.  Roger


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## Allrounderco (Aug 23, 2019)

Aardbark said:


> ...Any help what size and where to buy?  Amazon?



 Don't count out your local bike shop. They can be competitive, and the "free shipping" given by the online seller is, of course, not free.


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## freewheel (Oct 31, 2019)

I just purchased a Free Spirit Brittany men's 12 spd for $20, it was pretty rusty, but so far has cleaned up nicely. The paint is actually pretty nice. I have found nicer bikes thrown out for the trash. I already own one of these, so was going to pull the derailleurs for my other bike. It's going to need a new front tire/tube, the weird thing is the back tire looks fairly new and the front tire looks like it could be the original and is super dry rotted and sidewall is delaminating exposing the threads. Not sure why they didn't do both tires at same time, beside wanting to save some money? That or they swapped out the front from or to another bike. The kickstand was missing too.The pedals are mismatched and rough so will need to purchase those.  Even the spokes had lots of rust as well as the factory rear rack. The bike is mostly intact though and all cables inner/outer are good. I just ordered a front tire of same make and tread pattern to match the rear tire, which looks almost new. The pedals are mismatched and rough so will need to purchase those. I'm not looking to re-sell so no big deal. It's Blue and what I'd call an electric Blue that really pops in the sunlight. I will post a pic soon.


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## AndyA (Oct 31, 2019)

For your viewing pleasure, here are a couple of Free Spirits that passed my way. The one with touring bars and fenders is a 26" Brittany like Mr. Freewheel's. Nice maroon paint job. My son rode this bike to work in NYC until it was  stolen. The other bike carries 27" wheels and came with drop bars, but I switched those out for riser bars for my use (my back and hips do not appreciate drop bars any more). Both bikes are kinda heavy but were cheap and fulfilled their function.


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## vincev (Oct 31, 2019)

Looks like old Doubleduty asked for this info about 11 years ago.I would think he has all the info he can handle.lol


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## Freqman1 (Oct 31, 2019)

Timeless classics...


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## freewheel (Nov 1, 2019)

I still need to get some pedals and replace front tube/tire. All the chrome had rust as did most of the spokes which were quite rusty. She will be back on the road again soon.


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## Sven (Nov 1, 2019)

I had a late 70s Free spirit 10 speed. Drove it like a mad man. I know I went through a innnertube a week. Rode it on trails, gravel roads, paved roads....ect. thetes nothing wrong with em


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## freewheel (Nov 4, 2019)

Anyone know what year this is from? I have another one that is same model but has different decals and chrome fenders.


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## freewheel (Nov 23, 2019)

I know these are from late 70s but which one is older the chrome or painted fenders? I'm going to take mine bike packing.


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## Allrounderco (Nov 23, 2019)

freewheel said:


> I know these are from late 70s but which one is older the chrome or painted fenders? I'm going to take mine bike packing.View attachment 1100110



Looking smart all loaded up and ready for adventure!


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## vincev (Nov 23, 2019)

Doubleduty,are you still a guest or have you joined our Cabe family ? 11 years of gathering info on your bike.The Cabe always delivers !!


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## freewheel (Nov 23, 2019)

Blackbomber said:


> Looking smart all loaded up and ready for adventure!




I have other modern bikes of course, but for the rail trail I'll be riding this bike on, it will do the job. I also wanted a bike with full fenders, that and just like old school bikes and having owned these kinds of bikes back in the day, just thought it would be fun to put it back on the road and actually put it to use again.


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## abrownpe (Apr 29, 2020)

I have a yellow S&R Free Spirit underslung 10 speed with 502 472010 stamped on it.  After cleaning and adjusting brakes & deraileurs it's my standby bike for street riding.   Does that number indicate April '72?  Or is this from 2010?


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## dweenk (Apr 29, 2020)

Sears had 3-speed bikes made in Austria by Puch and Steyr (rear hubs licensed from Sturmey Archer). They continued the relationship during the bike boom and had one 10 speed model built with Reynolds 531 tubing (frame sizes were limited and the only color that I can recall was gold).


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## vincev (Apr 29, 2020)

This 12 year old thread keeps coming up like Burritos from Taco Bell after a 12 pack of beer.


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## Archie Sturmer (Apr 29, 2020)

My Sears "free spirit" 10-speed all-steel road bike from the later 1970's (not bicentennial colors) is a Murray Ohio build; i believe the yellow head tube with a "502" designator may also be Murray.  The frame design used an old Murray feature of a reduced diameter (tapered) rear top tube, where it joined the seat post cluster area.


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## Freqman1 (Apr 29, 2020)

Probably need a registry for these...


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## Adamtinkerer (May 2, 2020)

abrownpe said:


> I have a yellow S&R Free Spirit underslung 10 speed with 502 472010 stamped on it.  After cleaning and adjusting brakes & deraileurs it's my standby bike for street riding.   Does that number indicate April '72?  Or is this from 2010?
> 
> View attachment 1183795



502 is a Sears code that indicates a Murray built bike. 47201 is likely the Sears catalog #.


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