Weird 10 speed for $50.

[Grant]

What is this Hatcher Cycles. It is selling for $50. Is it any good?

Even if the seat post is rusted to the frame and even the certified mechanics can't remove it.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

The head badge is from a bicycle shop, not the manufacturer of the bike. The lugged frame and half chrome fork reminds me of an old Fuji road bike (just a guess).

The seat post doesn't look very deep in the frame. You could probably get it out with some patience. It wouldn't be worth the time for a 'certified mechanic' at a bike shop to spend on it for a $50 bike.

If it's something that you really like and want to keep for yourself it would probably make a good project, but you could quickly spend more than it's worth if you plan to flip it.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

BTW, welcome to the forum.

Tell us about yourself in the Intros section HERE.

 

[Grant]

The head badge is from a bicycle shop, not the manufacturer of the bike. The lugged frame and half chrome fork reminds me of an old Fuji road bike (just a guess).

The seat post doesn't look very deep in the frame. You could probably get it out with some patience. It wouldn't be worth the time for a 'certified mechanic' at a bike shop to spend on it for a $50 bike.

If it's something that you really like and want to keep for yourself it would probably make a good project, but you could quickly spend more than it's worth if you plan to flip it.

The shifters are destroyed. I would some day like to make a poor man's single speed out of it.

 

[Grant]

How valuable and rare is this bike with this badge. It is in almost rideable condition.

 

[SSG]

Looks like an entry level bike boom bike, probably made somewhere in Asia. I'd say $20-$50 if the frame isn't bent.

 

[Grant]

Looks like an entry level bike boom bike, probably made somewhere in Asia. I'd say $20-$50 if the frame isn't bent.

This is at the bike co op, the bent frames get thrown out.

 

[us56456712]

Here is a Fuji I got from the local bike co-op. The frame was too big so I stripped it for parts and threw out the frame. This bike was nice but I couldn't give the frame away because it was so big. To me these bikes are worth keeping if they fit you. If it has down tube shifters and was built before the mid 80s it is eligible to ride in Euroica events. If it was made in Japan then the quality is high, probably even better that the same vintage of most European bikes imported into the USA during this period. I can't see what kind of crank it has or brakes but it might be a good starting place to begin building up a bike for these events. Right now there are not to many classic road bike events in the USA but they are becoming more popular and I think we will see more of these events.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

How valuable and rare is this bike with this badge. It is in almost rideable condition.

From a collectors stand point, I would guess that it's probably close to worthless. The badge doesn't make it any more valuable unless you happen to have a personal connection to it. However, as I said earlier, if it checks off all of the right boxes for you personally, I wouldn't let $50 stop me. I've spent more for less!

As @us56456712 pointed out some of the Japanese frames from that era are very high quality. Just because it's not rare or sought after doesn't mean that it's not well made.

You're spending a lot of time looking for info, sounds to me like you want it! Good luck.

 

[Grant]

I'm not sure, I am planning on buying this old Schwinn

.

 

[Grant]

If the Hatcher is still there this summer, I'm buying it. It probably will be, it has been there for about a year now.

 

[Duchess]

If you like it and it fits, why not? If it's to sell, forget it. Personally, I don't bother with 27" wheels or frames made out of less than chromoly, but there's nothing actually wrong with either. This one's got downtube shifters, which is a better sign than stem shifters (another thing I hate, but they're easy and cheap to do something with).

 

[Grant]

I don't sell the bikes I buy. If the frame is broken, I will strip off all the parts and donate just the frame.

 

[restodave]

It appears to have a cottered crank. Folks my way seem to think that adds nostalgia value but to me it's a sign of the lowest quality 10 speeds. On the other hand it's hard to spend less than $50 on a complete bike. It's a good looking frame and the paint looks good. I do like the chrome detail on the forks and it appears to have forged dropouts. Like everyone else has said, if you like it and it fits, go for it and enjoy it but it probably won't make you rich.

 

[Grant]

I found out that this frame was custom built by a man named Evan Hatcher in Rockford, Minneapolis. The only problems on the bike is 2 flat tires and the front brake is gummed up.

 

[deorman]

If it's hand built it's probably got nice butted ends and all that, if it fits, and you like road bikes, maybe. If it has cotter cranks and you want to to use modern parts, you'll need to figure out the right shaft lengths to properly align the sprocket and the crank spacing. Regular maintenance on cotter cranks is a pain.

 

[Grant]

I am not going to buy the bike because the seatpost is extremely seized and the bike co op owners used a pipe wrench and a bench vise, but still couldn't get it out.

 

[Grant]

It is a 1974 Peugeot uo8. The seatpost isn't stuck at all. I am making it into a great singlespeed.