marc garcia wrote about his "find," a Reynolds 531 DB Sears. That is almost exactly the bike whose frame got shortened (my CR "contribution" last week). I'd describe mine more as lime (shiny slime?) than gold.
I bought mine from its original owner, who had done little except to remove the identifying decals. So, I do have the original brochure, which does _not_ use the term "Ted Williams." The late, lamented Sears (a 74) was not a bad-riding touring bike, but certainly not the nimblest in my fleet. It is, with little doubt, the most crudely crafted full 531 DB frameset I have ever seen, serving best as a benchmark to make the boom-years Bottechias look professional.
Meanwhile, the Ted Williams model is a decade older. Sears also offered tents and other outdoor equipment with the T.W. signature, as their top-of-line. I had one in the early 60s, my first 10-speed, and found a 65 at a bike shop a couple of years ago. Bought it, cleaned it up, and brought it to Cirque, but Dale has refused to add a "funkiest" category. :-) The Ted Williams does NOT have Reynolds 531 stickers, and I believe I remember it to have seamed tubing. It did come with Campy "steel" record rear, campy record front with integral cable stop, Weinmann QR hubs and rims, steel Nervar cranks, etc. That model is gold with white decals, and prominently says Ted Williams Sport on the top tube. I have a poor copy of the microfiche from the '65 Sears catalogue, with the description of this model.
Please, ladies and gentlemen, these are not to be confused with the lowly crushed-fork-end Sears Free Spirits that rival late Murrays in construction quality. These are both Austrian-made.
harvey sachs mcLean va
++++++++++++++++ I stopped at my favorite thrift store for old bikes today (I've pulled a few bianchis out of this place) and didn't see much among the pile of bikes. Then against the back wall I saw a gold frame with drop handlebars, then I saw what I thought was just a Free Spirit headbadge. I almost walked away but I figured I'd check it out see if it by any chance had any decent parts. I got closer and then I saw the shimano crane derailleur, I was intrigued. I looked over the bike and saw the reynolds decals on the seat tube and fork. I walked to the front of the bike and looked at the headbadge again, it was a ted williams bike. I've only heard of these, never saw one up close. I rolled it up to the cashier and gladly paid the 19.53 including tax for it. Anyone have info on these? I can't find much online. Here are the specs: Full reynolds 531 frame, stays and fork. Shimno crane rear derailleur, and a shimano front which is not a dura ace. The body of it is alloy, the cage is steel, I think it is badged, "LITEST." Shimano gold freewheel, weinmann alloy rims and I'm assuming shimano hubs although they are not marked. The front wheel has wing nuts the rear is bolted on. Sugino "melt forged" cotterless cranks and a tange bottom bracket. Pivo stem, alloy bars, weinmann center pull brakes. I thought these bikes were campy equipped and so I thought these components were replacements but then I saw the dropouts were shimano. Is this a later model in the ted williams line? Do these parts sound original? It is pristine condition, paint is near perfect as are the decals. It looks like some kid got a bike he didn't like and left it hanging in the garage. He probably wanted a raleigh or a peugeot. The frame makes me laugh looking at the free spirit top tube decal and then seeing the reynolds decals. Again I've never seen one of these up close or for sale. Any info you guys could give me would be great. I'd like an idea of how rare these are and how much they might be worth although I have no intentions of selling it unless it's worth a grand, then I might consider it but I doubt that very much.
marc
chicago, Illinois