This is what most rode back in the 1970s if they had a "lightweight", a ten speed from a department or hardware store. This Huffy has Belknap Bluegrass labels on it, which like Western Auto was a chain of hardware stores in the USA. Only rich kids had bikes with high-carbon steel lugged frames and alloy wheels, the rest of us rode bikes like this.
I bought this Huffy at a local garage sale for $3 because it had a tall frame and it reminded me of the Columbia ten-speed I had back in the 70s my parents bought me, same one-piece steel crank and steel rims, steel everything.
The entire bike had to be taken down and all bearings cleaned and repacked, , some new spokes and two new inner cables for the shifters, some usable used tires were added and new brake pads as the old ones were like stone. The front wheel on the bike as-found was French, so I put a more appropriate wheel on that I found in the loft of my father's barn on the bike that had an Araya steel rim to match the back. Sadly I could not save the original Persons saddle with it's steel base as it had large chunks of upholstery missing and the mounts were strangely and severely bent. The bike may have been in a violent endo that destroyed the front wheel and bent the saddle.
It is a heavy, ill-handling beast, maybe weight twice what a contemporary high-end lightweight might weigh. It is surprisingly heavy. The brakes even with new pads work poorly, and even with it's conservative frame geometry it does not want to track with the hands off the bars, I remember being able to ride my Columbia hands-off very easily. Maybe the fork-trail was altered in the theorized collision, but it is not noticeable if it is there.
A friend of mine had trouble understanding why someone would work to preserve such a low-quality bicycle. I told him that if the only part of history that is preserved is that of the elites, then it is not history. The average and worst parts of history are as important as the highlights of course. And the history for 90% of bicycle owners was a bicycle from a department store or hardware store, not an expensive brand-name bike such as a Schwinn or a European or Japanese lightweight of higher quality.
I bought this Huffy at a local garage sale for $3 because it had a tall frame and it reminded me of the Columbia ten-speed I had back in the 70s my parents bought me, same one-piece steel crank and steel rims, steel everything.
The entire bike had to be taken down and all bearings cleaned and repacked, , some new spokes and two new inner cables for the shifters, some usable used tires were added and new brake pads as the old ones were like stone. The front wheel on the bike as-found was French, so I put a more appropriate wheel on that I found in the loft of my father's barn on the bike that had an Araya steel rim to match the back. Sadly I could not save the original Persons saddle with it's steel base as it had large chunks of upholstery missing and the mounts were strangely and severely bent. The bike may have been in a violent endo that destroyed the front wheel and bent the saddle.
It is a heavy, ill-handling beast, maybe weight twice what a contemporary high-end lightweight might weigh. It is surprisingly heavy. The brakes even with new pads work poorly, and even with it's conservative frame geometry it does not want to track with the hands off the bars, I remember being able to ride my Columbia hands-off very easily. Maybe the fork-trail was altered in the theorized collision, but it is not noticeable if it is there.
A friend of mine had trouble understanding why someone would work to preserve such a low-quality bicycle. I told him that if the only part of history that is preserved is that of the elites, then it is not history. The average and worst parts of history are as important as the highlights of course. And the history for 90% of bicycle owners was a bicycle from a department store or hardware store, not an expensive brand-name bike such as a Schwinn or a European or Japanese lightweight of higher quality.
While looking at the frame I noticed how the seat stays were attached to the seat tube. I think this is the first time I've seen that type of attachment on a diamond lightweight frame. I was given two 70's 10 speeds that a good friend purchased new for himself and his wife and sold at JC Pennys? and can't say now how the seat stays were attached. One for sure was a Murray built bike and the other was made in Italy. That piece still had the rare tan wall Pirelli tires on it and I hoped they were still usable.
