1970's American Flyer Jewel Gran-Sport 10 speed
1970's American Flyer Jewel Grand Sport 10 speed
This vintage bike sports a metallic brown paint with ornate lugs seen below along with a head badge to match. The wheels are aluminum araya 27x1-1/4 with a slight raised ridge area in the middle unlike the later boxed rims. Both front and rear quick release. The bike is equipped with aluminum Suntour V lux derailleurs, a sakae handlebar, a pivo style stem, Sugino maxy crank. Suntour freewheel, diacompe center pull brakes.
I picked up the bike with what appeared to be the original rear tire and a newer front tire. Looks like it had not been ridden much in the past, everything shifted and turned smoothly. The frame didn't have any special tubing stickers, just a made in Japan sticker and those seen in the pictures. It did not feel that heavy however for 52cm. Definitely less than 30 pounds but more than 24lb.
The handling wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Very comfortable ride even on those old tires. I have noticed that a great number of 70's bikes came equipped with fairly more narrow handlebars than a comparable sized bike of the 80's to today.
Has some similarities to an Azuki. Can you show the serial number?
ReplyDeleteI had the model right down from the Jewel...it was call the Premium and sport the sane root beer brown metallic paint and it basically had the same frame which was made from hi tensile lightweight steel with the same one piece integrated head tube lugs. The real difference was in the componentryl with mine being made up of steel rims, handlebar and stem, and Shimano Lark derailleurs which in those days were inferior to the Sun Tours on the Jewel. As matter of fact the SunTours were pretty much better shifting than even the European makes due their "Slant Parallelogram" designed which they held a patent on. Once the patent expired everyone copied it with most modern derailleurs still using that basic design!
ReplyDeleteMy friend recently got a couple of these bikes in original condition. I'm looking for a value but I can't seem to find one. Can you give me any idea of what they're worth? Thank you
ReplyDelete*** The best way to price a bicycle like this, is to compare it to similar used bicycles for sale in your city. ***
DeleteThe value for older bicycles like this one is regional. There might be someone in your neighborhood that collects old Japanese bikes and doesn't have one of these and will pay anywhere between free up to $300. If this collector doesn't exist in your city and nobody is interested in a bicycle without an electric motor, then you might find yourself struggling to give it away. It doesn't quite make sense but it does happen. These older bicycles regardless of make/brand tend to appeal to people new to cycling that are looking for something with no frills and classic bicycle style. There are used bicycle pricing guides online, but they tend to treat bicycle depreciation much like that of cars without factoring inflation. They'll price something this old even if it's in great condition for less than the cost of new bicycle tires.