Upon researching the web, I am confident that my bike is a Huffy Sportsman made within the 1954-1973 period. While I am grateful that I can associate my bike with a name, I am still itching to figure out when it was made. If the frame was indeed made in the the 1954-1958 period, it may have been manufactured in England. Within the 54-58 period, the English bicycle company Raleigh had introduced the Sportsman to the US market via collaboration with the American bicycle company - the Huffy.
Ironically, when I was looking for a bicycle I was intently focused on either buying a European vintage Raleigh (English) or Peugeot (French). I quickly dropped my elite criterion when discovering that smaller bikes were hard to come by as I am a mere 5'3". Essentially, my decision to acquire the Huffy represented my surrender to the American bicycle. Now that I realize that my Huffy may indeed be a Raleigh in disguise - I am nothing but full of smiles! I think I'm going to have to live with the mystery. In any event, I have to say that my Huffy (Pic 1) and the Raleigh Robin Hood (Pic 2) look darn similar. To add to my misery, I wish I had a decal as cool as the Robin Hood (Pic 3). AHHH.
2 comments:
I have two Huffy made 3-speeds; an FS Elite Edgewood (sold through Sears, hence the FS Elite lable) and a just acquired Huffy Sportsman. The latter is a fantastic machine that is in sore need of an overhaul. It looks decidedly British (whereas the FS Elite looks Dutch).
You want to check the head tube for the serial number. Unfortunately, there are no online sources for decoding the number, but the basics are if it begins with an "H", it's an American-made Huffy, and the first digit is the last digit of the year it was made. Another telltale sign is if the rear fork is crimped and not welded. If it is, it's an American frame.
Enjoy the bike!
RL
Hey! I just found a bike pretty much identical to yours in the garbage, and am going to fix it up. Did you have a hard time finding parts for yours?
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