I came across a Huffy with complete Shimano group on frame by Serotta today at a bike swap. At least the chain stays said Serotta. It looked to be about 59cm center to top. Just a smidgen too tall for me. If there is any interest I will try to track down the owner, no guarantees. I applaud Jerry Moos for his resistance to the ho-hum record equipment. I like something more than just Campagnolo, too. It seems back in the day it was Campagnolo if Italian and Simplex and Stronglight, maybe some TA if French, for "nice" bikes happy trails And for the record I know there was other stuff around but in Davis California in the mid-seventies that was about it. The wider distribution of other branded parts was not prevalent in the hinterlands. this may have been in part due to the import duty on parts being higher than when attached to a frame as a complete bike. After all bicycles were toys for kids. Velo-Sport in Berkeley imported whole bikes, stripped then and sold the frames and parts separately. the parts were essentially new just no boxes and a little assembly grease. And then came the Japanese; Shimano started with cheap parts and made inroads to quality by supplying the venerable Schwinn company as Huret and Weinmann had done previously. the only Shimano parts I have actually used were bought new; one first generation Dura-Ace front derailleur and two Crane rear derailleurs(one regular reach, one long reach GS.) Both were on Peugeots. The other front derailleur was a Cyclone with the band mount. The bikes were a PX-10 and the other a PR-10 . Still have the Blue PX, sold the PR frame last fall. I have saved the white plastic Simplex derailleurs in the Shimano boxes. Ah, another stroll down memory lane which is hard to do in an old pair of cleated Dettos or Lambertinis (which I still have along with the wool Kucharik shorts and custom made jersey, etc., etc., etc.. Good night all time for my metamucil and go out for the geezer early bird special . "LOL"
Happy Trails
j. strizek
Sacramento, California in the USA