You are right Jerry. Some of the later bikes have Austro-Daimler decalling plus a Puch headbadge. Then, I think, the Bianch conglomerate bought the Puch name and the frames say made in Italy.
Joe Bender-Zanoni
Great Notch, NJ
> Actually I don't think Puch was always a lower line. My recollection is
that at the end, before Steyr/AD/Puch road bikes largely disappeared from
the US market (mid 80's maybe?) someone decided to feature the Puch name in
the US, despite the bad jokes this name generated in English. My
recollection is that there was an all Campy NR/SR Puch, and maybe an all
Dura-Ace model as well, and that for their last couple of years of
sponsoring elite US teams, the team bikes were badged Puch rather than A-D.
This was a rather odd markerting decision, given that Austro-Daimler
suggested an association with the upscale image of Daimler-Benz, although I
don't believe there was any actual association between the companies.
Meantime Puch evoked the obvious vulgar jokes. Perhaps the decision was
made by an Austrian executive who neither fully realized the upscale image
of Daimler-Benz in the American market, nor was familar with American slang.
>
> Regards,
>
> Jerry Moos
> Houston, TX
>
> HM & SS Sachs <sachs@erols.com> wrote:
> marc garcia wrote:
>
> I know there hasn't been a definate answer as to who exactly made these
Sears Ted Williams bicycles but perhaps I can add some evidence. I began
tearing down my Teddy special this evening and when I started unwrapping the
bars I noticed that bar plugs were badged PUCH. I know this is merely
circumstantial but I thought I'd offer it to the group. It appears all of
the parts are original, but if so than it is truly a mish mash of parts. The
top cable guides are simplex, the bottom cable guide is shimano, the
calipers are weinmann but the levers are dia-compe. It would seem possible
that with the other mix of parts on it, these combinations are possible.
Thanks to Harvey Sachs who sent me a copy of his Williams owners manual I
was able to compare my bike which is nearly identical to that one with a
slightly different decal scheme.
>
> ++++++++++++++++++
> I don't go around yanking seat posts out of every bike I see, and
correlation is not causation, but there is one really good clue, I think:
the trapezoidal punch used to build an airway between the top tube and the
seat tube. I have seen this mark, about 1 cm high, narrow end up, on every
Sears Ted Williams, Puch, and Austro-Daimler I have checked (about half a
dozen) and never on bikes that were not suspected of being part of that
Steyr-A-D complex, for which Puch was a slightly lower line.
>
> As far as the mix of parts on Marc's bike is concerned, one of my calipers
was Weinmann and the other DiaCompe, they looked identical and original
owner said he had not replaced either. Fork ends for and aft on the 531
model were Shimano, and thankfully the threading was English.
>
> but, your mileage may vary.
>
> harvey sachs
> mcLean va