Champagne wishes and Cavalier dreams

[Tommy Atoms]

Found this beauty at a garage sale for a dollar. Its got an sturmey archer 3 speed. Its made by Vista and looks like it borrows parts from Schwinn. Anyone know anything about these bikes?

 

[deorman]

1 dollar??!! STOP THIEF!!! :shock:

 

[tnt1]

I think a vista is a cross between a schwinn and a columbia.

 

[schwinnmesa]

A dollar?! Wow! :shock:

 

[jaydub]

How did you get that for a buck..Was there a price on it and you talked them down.. or it was not selling and they said give me a buck for it..Either way thats a cool bike ..I can see the Schwinn in it.. :wink:

 

[Bunbury]

I've seen a few Vistas, mostly with the Schwinn knockoff headbadge, but a friend has one that's a complete ripoff of a 70's Motobecane road bike. I suppose their specialty was building knockoffs...

 

[slacker]

Here is my Vista Stingray knockoff. Not a bad little bike.

 

[Rustinkerer]

I think Vista was a Columbia model at one time, and the built in kickstand on the Cavalier is very Columbia-like. Maybe it was a junior brand. ~Adam

 

[Hooch]

I read somewhere once that Vistas were sold by some Schwinn dealers in the early 70s when the Schwinn Factory couldnt keep up with demand

 

[icyuod2]

thats the first time! i've never seen the little rubber boot on the sturmey hubs, didn't even know they were surposed to have one.

sweet little vista ya got there!

 

[Tommy Atoms]

Yah I almost lost the little rubber boot when it rolled away when I was cleaning it up. It really was a dollar, I couldnt believe it. they also had a Mongoose pro "speed limit" I snatched for $18. It was a nice haul for under $20.

 

[roadmaster]

cool bike and everything about that frame and chainring scream columbia. thats in nice shape too.