Dutch’s Free Spirit Sovereign

Posted

Happy Monday! Here is Dutch’s Free Spirit Sovereign chillin’ at the Gate.

Mid 80s? Free Spirit Sovereign

A little bit about it:

I picked this bike up in a two for $30 deal. I’ve cleaned it up, replaced the tires, tubes, seat, seat post and wrap. It’s my very first road bike and I hope to put many miles on it.

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  2. Duncan’s 1987 Panasonic Sport-500 10-Speed
  3. Dave F’s 1974 24" Schwinn Varsity
  4. Barney’s Roadmaster Pro Tour
  5. Francis S’s 1974ish Sears Free Spirit
  • Ryan Surface

    Sounds like you got a deal -the Sovereign certainly turned out nice-very sharp

    • Dutch Rapley

      Thanks! Even with what I put into it, I still think I came out ahead. I’ve been enjoying it. The other bike in the 2 for $30 deal is a women’s Free Spirit Sunbird. It’ll get some TLC either this year or next.

  • BeaterRezQ

    That is one beeeeautiful bike, is it burgundy/cranberry colored? Did it come with 27 inch rims or 26 inch? I would be perplexed in my own dilemma…to customize or not, tweak or leave original? Leaving it close to original like you did would most likely be the path I would’ve chosen. Nice!…………………maybe block pedals?

    • Dutch Rapley

      Thanks! I’d say it’s more on the burgundy side of the color spectrum. It has 27″ rims. Most of it’s life, I think it just sat in a garage. There was very little wear on the sprockets when I got my hands on it. There chrome had a fair amount of rust that must have just come with age. I polished all the chrome, including wheels, with Lucky No. 7.

      Just getting into cycling, I didn’t see the need to put many customizations into it. For now I took care of the necessary ones. I’ve got $100 wrapped up in the whole project. The original seat is was very uncomfortable and the seat post was too short, hence the replacements there.

      I’ll probably change the pedals this year to include straps. I’ve also got a 70s Schwinn Suburban 5-speed, it does have the traditional block pedals. Expect to see it sometime in the near future when I get it cleaned up.