His/hers Kool Lemon Collegiates

[expjawa]

So a guy a few miles from me was cleaning out his barn and decided to sell off the old bikes. I picked up a pair of of yellow 5-speed Collegiates last night. One's a '72, the other '73, but were purchased new together apparently. No pictures yet, but both all there and in reasonable shape, in need of cleaning and regreasing. Not sure what I'll do with them yet. The plan was to flip them, but I'm rather partial to the Kool Lemon. Also, my nephew loves anything yellow and has nearly outgrown his 24" bike.

They happened to come with a pair of older Mongoose mountain bikes (both w/ no wheels) and a girls Free Spirit Sears 3-speed, relatively ready to use with some cleaning. The later has a Shimano 333 hub, but the shift arm comes out of the left side of the hub rather than the typical right. Kind of odd, which I can't think of any reason for.

 

[expjawa]

A couple quick photos. The girl's bike is complete, just not fully assembled.

 

[SCHWINNRAY69]

Nice!

 

[mos6502]

That shimano 333 probably has a coaster brake which is why the bellcrank is on the left rather than the right.

 

[expjawa]

You might be right, I only recall a brake caliper on the front.

 

[expjawa]

OK, it appears that you are right. Here's a picture of the bike:

You can't see it in this shot, but there is a brake arm on the opposite side. And obviously, there is no rear rim brake.

 

[jaydub]

They still have the Babby seat brackets on them LOL

 

[mos6502]

I think you made out pretty good, they all look like decent bikes.

 

[expjawa]

I think so. I worked on the ladies Collegiate a little last night; everywhere I put steel wool to chrome or polishing compound to paint, it cleaned up quite nicely. I think this bike will look pretty good without much effort. Even the wheels were nearly true. I only need to replace the tires, well, and the hardware for the axles and brake calipers. Someone previously removed the nuts and lost them. Same goes for the other one. New photo:

The other two bikes that came with this group are a pair of late model Mongoose (or is it Mongeese?) mountain bikes. I don't know much about Mongoose, but I have the impression that they're department-store grade. Still, both frames are in good shape and not too heavy, relatively speaking. One appears to be mid-90s - no suspension, threaded headset 3x7 gearing. Or, at least would be if the rear wheel was still there. The other looks more recent - full suspension, threadless headset, but also would be 3x7. This one is missing both wheels. I'm not sure what I'll do with these. Maybe I can scrounge up enough part to complete them, then flip them. The older one might make a nice urban commuter, if not a real MTB.

Pics:

 

[wheelymarko]

The yellow Goose is nice! Seems gas prices in the early 70s made bike sales boom. My Aunt and Uncle have the same set of schwinns in blue.