HELP ID My Vintage Sears Roebuck Bicycle!?

[frospike38]

Please help ID this bike! I received this bicycle for free from my old neighbor and he told me this could fetch some good money if i restore it. I cannot find this bike online. I have no idea what model or year this is. All i know its a Sears Roebuck bicycle obviously. Hopefully someone here knows a little bit about it? Thanks any info is much appreciated

[nfmisso]

Hi;

#1 - do NOT restore it !! The bike is worth more to a collector in its current very good state, than a not perfect restoration.

There are very very few people in the world that collect low end (or even middle to higher end) bikes. If you can find the right collector, you may get a few bucks, but don't expect much. The bike you have is the equivalent to a 4 door Ford Falcon with a 144 cu in 6 and 3 on the tree - just not very desireable; totally different if it is a numbers matching 289 V8 4 barrel with four on the floor and factory posi.

Did you get the serial number? Usually on the bottom bracket housing or one of the rear drop outs.

[GeorgeET]

Nice old bike in good shape, + 1 to what Nigel said, clean it up service the bearings, chain and enjoy it. Sears bikes are not very collectible, just because they are old. Some very high end bikes are. Like Schwinn Paramount racers. Look carefully where it was made, most likely Murray.

Hey Nigel I had a Ford Falcon they were very nice cars and surprise are collectible today,not like the Cobras however. :-)) In 1961 my father bought it for under $2000.00. Prices of cars sure have exceeded our earnings to cost ratio. Than there is the price of gasoline, but I digress. :-))

[DaveM]

(10-24-2012, 12:28 PM)GeorgeET Wrote:  Hey Nigel I had a Ford Falcon they were very nice cars and surprise are collectible today,not like the Cobras however. :-)) In 1961 my father bought it for under $2000.00. Prices of cars sure have exceeded our earnings to cost ratio. Than there is the price of gasoline, but I digress. :-))

I had a 60 Falcon that I loved. Though have to ask, do you know if Murray made the front end on those things, cause that would explain a lot.

[Bill]

Agreed that this is in really good condition! Not even I would try to restore it, although I would think about lol, but no I wouldn't! I still have my Sears Brittany Free Spirit which I could look and see where they put the numbers on it! I'll let you know by tomorrow.

[frospike38]

I cannot find the serial numbers. I only saw the word TROXEL Underneath the seat. Am I not looking close enough!? Lol

[frospike38]

I found the word TROXEL and Mosscow,Tenn under the seat. I also found a marking inside the rim that said MARK 60 USA

[RobAR]

Troxel was a company that mfd saddles, helmets and other items.

[Bill]

Ok lets try this route, look on the rear hub for any stamped numbers or letters. Same with the front.

Ok on the Troxel Seat I found this.... http://vintageadsandbooks.com/the-troxel-manufacturing-company-vintage-1963-bike-saddle-bicycle-seat-ad.html

[Bill]

Now look at this one mainly the bottom picture of the ad! The Josephine is close to this one!!!
http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A0PDoV36yIlQqGgANjOJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBlMTQ4cGxyBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1n?bac​k=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dvintage%2Bmurray%​2Bbike%2Btroxel%2Bseat%26_adv_prop%3Dimage%26va%3Dvintage%2Bmurray%2Bbike%2Btrox​el%2Bseat%26fr%3Dgreentree_ff1%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D86&w=352&h=476&imgurl=www.retro.net%2Fkeywords%2FSears_Bicycle%2FSears_Bicycle_8.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.retro.net%2Fdb%2Fimages%2FSears_Bicycle%2F36865%2F&size=39.4+KB&name=...+Rack+fit+some+Schwinn+Huffy+%3Cb%3EMurray+%3C%2Fb%3ESears+Balloon+T​ire+%3Cb%3EBike+%3C%2Fb%3EBicycle&p=vintage+murray+bike+troxel+seat&oid=ebb8196533bb5c86f2a62fa6af1ac41a&fr2=&fr=greentree_ff1&tt=...%2BRack%2Bfit%2Bsome%2BSchwinn%2BHuffy%2B%253Cb%253EMurray%2B%253C%252​Fb%253ESears%2BBalloon%2BTire%2B%253Cb%253EBike%2B%253C%252Fb%253EBicycle&b=61&ni=110&no=86&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=11ji500vr&sigb=154qm58ii&sigi=11oviovqo&.crumb=oR.rhgbgXeV

[Bill]

Ok I promised that I would look at two different bikes I have and here are the results. The Murray Street Baja does not have any serioal numbers, but there was a sticker with some on it. The Sears Free Spirit 12spd DOES have numbers on the bottom bracket!

[frospike38]

(11-10-2012, 10:49 AM)Bill Wrote:  Ok I promised that I would look at two different bikes I have and here are the results. The Murray Street Baja does not have any serioal numbers, but there was a sticker with some on it. The Sears Free Spirit 12spd DOES have numbers on the bottom bracket!

Thanks for the help and trying to help me figure it out but none of those bikes are it
il just have to keep looking because I want to sell this bike! People are offering me 60 but that seems way too low

[Bill]

Depending on what you paid on it, could be more. I remember someone trying to do the American Picker thing on me, on my Colombia Dream machine. $20.00 for a bike I completely stripped down, sanded, etc. ? I so wanted to tell him go back home and watch another episode lol. Yes, he was VERY rude from the time he got out of his vehicle. I said no thank you and he just left, lol. Even though people can like that I still treat them with kindness and respect.

EDIT: Have you tried listing it on Craigslist, Ebay, or any websites? You might get an interest somewhere. So sorry that I really couldn't find anymore info out about this one.

[frospike38]

i kept looking around online and had found nothing but then i stumbled upon a restored sears bike that looked similar to mine. it was an ebay classified listing and called this bike: 26" SEARS SPORTFLITE CRUISER. I know for a fact my sears bicycle is a 26" so maybe this is it? The only thing that doesnt look right is the lettering on the bike i found similar online because it says SPORTFLITE on the chain cover/protector instead of saying SEARS on it like mine with some pinstripe designs. Plus the handle bars look slightly different and the front sears emblem, even though you really cannot see it, it looks like a different shape than mine. If anyone could look at it and compare it to mine and let me know what they think?

---

here are the pics of the one i found!

* it looks like im getting warmer on finding which model it is! lol

[Bill]

Ok I am throwing my two cents in and I have to say it si VERY CLOSE maybe a year or two difference but DEFINITELY same style and model! Look at the fenders, the curvs of the tubes, and even the 1piece crank is same!!

[Painkiller]

to broad a guess, keep searching
the fork crowns are different, the double down tubes are totally not the same, the sprocket is not the same
the way the other guy has the name on the chain guard looks hoky and has no design flow, I would suspect it not originally like that

[GeorgeET]

Yep 10-4 to what PK said the front chain ring is completely different, and the double loop frame is different. Yours is attached to steering head differently and swoops down to the rear axle. Very nice.

Hey for the hell of it try contacting Sears Costumer Service, maybe someone there remembers this bike. Its a hail Mary pass...........

Did you look here, some unique bikes.

http://www.nostalgic.net/

[frospike38]

Thanks for all the input guys! I will try calling sears customer service and see what happens. And also I bought new commuter tires for it and the bike still has the original SEARS tires on it but they're obviously flat. Do you guys suggest me leaving it as is and not replace the tires or replace them and just keep the originals?

[Painkiller]

If I had the room I would keep them for awhile and use the new ones. one mans junk is another mans treasure. But i am kind of a bike parts hoarder though, mainly to drive my wife crazy !
Good bad or indifferent when it comes time to sell it, some may like the fact you have the original tires

[maxxmann24]

i have 2 of these that were road 2 times to the park and been in storage since