show us your vintage road bikes

[GarryG]

Me too, found some brochures online, but they don't list the Buckingham.

 

[Gravity Aided]

Puch really seems to lack much online presence. There isn't an enthusiast site I can find. I looked all over for information on one I had, many long years ago. Many Puchs were sold by Sears Roebuck and Co. over here as J.C. Higgins, Ted Williams, and Free Spirit. Much nicer than their domestic offerings, but until Trek and Cannondale and some of the 1980's Schwinns came along, most American bikes were Sh*te. Excluding the Schwinn Paramounts, which were superb.

 

[howdenbiker]

I'll get some decent pictures of my Rossin next weekend, I've put 3 on for a starter. I think it is from around the early eighties although was 'modernised' in the nineties with Campagnola Chorus gearset, although oddly with a Shimano RX100 front derailleur. It has all of the Rossin marks but unusually the cabling for the gears and rear brakes runs on top of the bottom bracket. It was not a top model as the frame is Columbus Zeus which I think is a mid range steel. Any help would be gratefully received.

I also have a Raleigh 625ti Dyna-Tech somewhat younger at 1993.

 

[velovoice]

Puch had an unusually complicated corporate history and connections with the Naxis so information is both scarce and hard to identify as relevant when you do find it. I've got a few websites bookmarked on my home PC - will post links later. I haven't heard of the Buckingham before and have never found anything about the Emerald or Touring models which I've owned.

 

[GarryG]

Would be interesting to take a look at those links.

 

[velovoice]

This one will keep you occupied for a few days (if not months!): http://www.company7.com/bosendorfer/ADbicycle.html

 

[midlife]

When we sold Puchs in the 70''s they went under the banner of Steyr-Daimler-Puch and they seemed to sell a whole range from cheap and cheerful to really quite nice. We stocked the cheap ones to compete with the catalogue bikes of the time.

Shaun

 

[velovoice]

Whole different brands were used in different countries for different ranges, giving the impression of several distinct companies. For example, bikes were branded Austro-Daimler for the US market to sound posher and European!

Whereas the Puch Emerald (era possibly 1970s) that I owned until last summer had a "Steyr-Daimler-Puch (GB) Ltd" sticker on the seat tube. @midlife, if you're in the UK, that all kinda fits.

It's still very complicated.

 

[midlife]

Hi. Yep, I am in the UK . The Austro Daimler we could get was 531 if memory serves and came in black, rather like the Raleigh Record Sprint came in black. Seemed to recall it was better than the Sprint but the memory is somewhat hazy, well it was 40 years ago lol

Shaun

 

[GarryG]

The Puch Buckingham I have is in Black 2500 frame with gold lettering and edging, a bit like the record sprint colours, upright bars and 7 speed sachs huret.

Still none the wiser on age, guessing 70's.

 

[GarryG]

@midlife - just wondering if you recall whether any of the Puch range came with the corsair san marco hide saddles as standard?

Just asking on the off chance as mine has one fitted.

 

[midlife]

7 speed is probably into the 80's as factory bikes lag behind what happens. Manufactures generally tried to save money on saddles, the Brooks B18 plastic saddle was a godsend as it was a cheap as chips saddle with a well known name.
My guess would be that the saddle is not OEM and was swapped later.

Shaun

 

[GarryG]

Ok, thanks. Shame it has split and warn in the back corner, might fit a Dawes tourer if it's not original.

 

[Gravity Aided]

We did see some Puch bicycles over here as well, It seems especially in the Chicago area. I see a Marco Polo on their Craigslist every now and again, as well as an Ultima. But, on any given day, there will be scores of biicycles on Chicago's Craigslist.
Here's a Pacifica, from yesterday.
http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwi/bik/4845011682.html

 

[paul-kent]

My recently refurbished Raleigh
Painted frame and wheels, the rest is lacquered bare metal
Seat is unknown, schwalbe tyres
Before and after pics