Please Help Identify a Hiawatha/Gambles - 3spd internal hub !

[Hunh?]

Hello y’all ~ I’m new here.

Just found this beauty at an antique store off the highway in Minnesota for $10 !!
Incredibly, it didn’t even need air in the tires, and the shifter worked.

When I can get better pics I will post them here, I only have these at the moment.

I’ve scoured the thing & flipped it upside down for any serial numbers and can’t find a thing.

*pedal off left side for roof-top travel

 

[Freqman1]

A mid '70s, box store, touring bike with no collectable value but if everything works it will be decent transportation. V/r Shawn

 

[Hunh?]

A mid '70s, box store, touring bike with no collectable value but if everything works it will be decent transportation. V/r Shawn

Fantastic. Thank you !

 

[partsguy]

Welcome to the CABE! That’s a great buy at $10 if it doesn’t need much. What brand of rear hub does it have? I’ll bet it’s a Sturmey Archer or Shimano. The bike itself was built by AMF Roadmaster for Gambles Dept Stores between 1971-1980. So, not valuable or genuinely collectible, but it is a decent American-made bike that can be good transportation and still better quality than anything at Walmart these days.

 

[Rivnut]

Remove that clamp and see if there’s a date on the sticker.

 

[partsguy]

I owned a few Roadmasters in the past, and there was no way to decode the serial number. I did, however, find a date on the crankshaft when I took it out. Also, if this bike as a Sturmey Archer hub, that may also have a date code.

 

[Hunh?]

Thank you for such helpful and immediate responses y’all.

 

[Adamtinkerer]

Generally, these used the Shimano '333' 3 speed hub, and the darker brown colors were used on the early end of the BMA/6 era.