I was just thinking about this. When is a Period Correct lightweight bike become 'worthy of the list'? I posted inquiries about a Japan made Centurion Super LeMans, and I thank you all for putting forth honest comments. The owner loves the bike though and thinks it's the best. It's not a mass produced MIG'ed product like Huffys back then. It was clearly produced for the US dealer market. It has many years of a loving cycle of use and neglect. Looking back at the French made Motobecane Mirage and Super Mirage I had abused in HS, they were all of the same quality and spec level if you take price points and inflation into effect. A few ideas why the love for Motobecane and not the Centurion. -The Motobecane had a marketing program that included fielding TdF winning teams, the Centurion at the time did not. - Made in France vs Made in Japan. -too low end to be considered as a 'real' classic lightweight.
Tom
> Dale, are you listening?
>
> All those cool bikes that are representative of the cycling fashion of the
> time DO need a category of their own. Lots of those bikes were our first
> foray into road bikes and while they aren't as valuable (or work as well)
> as their higher-end counterparts, they are classics in their own right -
> and certainly lightweight in their own category. Some of 'em, like
> Harvey's Sears Special actually weren't all that bad to begin with. That
> Sears bike has a nicer frame than the Schwinn World I bought used from a
> student that dropped out of Oregon State University back in 1979. That
was
> the bike that got me into this whole thing in the first place.
>
> Now would a Huffy be included in this category?
>
> Ann Phillips, Atlanta GA
> trying to ride between the rainstorms!