groggyfrog

Hello Seasoned Veterans of Cycling,
I am buying a bike that will take me back and forth to school. I will be riding it about 3-4 miles a day and probably take it out for longer rides on the weekends. I found a 1970's Ross Eurotour 3 speed on Craigslist (link below) that looks pretty good to me, but I could not find any extensive information on Ross Eurotour bikes online. I would really appreciate any input on the quality of the brand and whether it will be worth $90.

The link is:
https://cleveland.craigslist.org/bik/143560647.html

Thanks!

duane041

The Eurotour was a model similar to Schwinn's Collegiate, at least in the 80's. The 3 speed Eurotours used 26 inch wheels, while the 10 speeds used the 27's. It would make a nce commuter bike for a ride of that distance, but I would say that $90 is quite a stretch for that bike. It's going to be heavy, and regardless if it is in excellent shape, I would only go up to $50, and that's being generous. I like Ross bikes, but it seems this one's overpriced at $90.

jacksbike

I agree that $90 is absolutely ridiculous-$50 is a fair price. Good solid USA made bike made in Ross' Pennsylvania factory. Steel frame, fork, rims, Shimano 3 speed etc. It will make a good commuter bike.

alanbikehouston

It is difficult to come up with a "fair" price for any bike. Folks often post here about finding a '69 Paramount at a garage sale for $10. Does that make the "fair" price of a Paramount $10?

I wanted a three speed bike a couple of years ago. I could not find a used three speed in good condition anywhere, at any price. At that time, Trek was selling a cruiser with a Nexus four speed for around $300. If I could have found an old 70's three speed that was in excellent running condition for $100, it would have saved me $200, compared with buying the new Trek.

But of course, if I had posted here to say I had paid $100 for an old three speed, folks would respond with posts about the "like new" three speeds they found in the trash, or bought at Goodwill for $5 or at Salvation Army for $10.

But, I'd still be thinking "I just saved $200 by buying the old three speed instead of a new four speed".

Mad Arson Joe

For average commuting, leisure rides, etc., the Eurotours are great. They have heavier steel components, so don't expect to ride fast for long periods of time with it, but they are easily able to be turned into a commuter bike that is better than some new commuter bikes today! Plus, the steel components, though heavy, will last a lifetime. The Shimano FF system will be great when you're stuck in stop-and-go traffic and need to shift through gears quickly.

Now about the price-$90 is too much. See if you can haggle it down to about $60. I bought my Eurotour at a Goodwill for $25 and have gotten every penny out of it since. Remember as well, that if you want to make it a commuter bike, you're going to have to pay to add lights, a bike rack, and perhaps a shopping basket. Those items add up very quickly, and you won't always be able to get a price break.

To sum it up, get it if you really want it-it will serve you well. But see if you can't bargain first!

Hope this helps.

sonatageek

Need to check the dates of the post Mad Joe -- the tread was three years old.

wrk101

+1 Even at that price, I doubt it stayed on the market for three years.

Mad Arson Joe

"Need to check the dates of the post Mad Joe -- the tread was three years old."

"+1 Even at that price, I doubt it stayed on the market for three years."

Well, excuse me for trying to help! At least I have a Eurotour that I can accurately give a detailed description about, unlike you guys!

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

oh wow

shoota 

I'm gonna pull a Mad Joe and revive this thread
What do you think of this for commuting? What size would guess it is based on the pic?
https://tampa.craigslist.org/psc/bik/3510216484.html

shoota 

Ok new question, and hurry if you know the answer, how feasible is it to add the missing shifter for this bike? I have an old thumb shifter from an 80's mtb, would that work? The seller says the rear derailleur is the kind that's in the hub??

auchencrow

It looks like about a 21" frame.

If it's an SA hub back there, you'll need a SA trigger shifter not a thumb shifter, along with an SA shifter cable, fulcrum clip & sleeve, pulley and clamp, cable anchor and indicator spindle -- or a donor bike.
If it's a Shimano or kickback hub or something else, all bets are off.

shoota 

We decided to pass on it, thanks for the info!

cs1

shoota 

Woah, I don't even remember this.

thriftyswift3

Okay, I picked up a Ross Eurotour to further exceed the number of bikes I can list at the bottom of my posts, and exceed my wife's tolerance.

The seller says it was bought new by his father in law in the mis to late 80s. I'm not familiar with Ross in particular other than my general impression is that they are a sort of not that great bike. I've read quite a bit on here the past several days as I considered buying it, and my impression has been confirmed by just about everyone here who has commented over the years.

I snapped a pic last night of the serial number. I had read on here that the first four digits indicate mm yy. If that's the case, my bike is from '79. It's interesting to me that the serial number seems to have been stamped twice – two different serial numbers over the top of each other. Fortunately, the years are the same – "79."

I bought this bike knowing what it was – a bike that was hopefully sturdy but not overly fast and not respected (I'm quite used to this). It has an old child seat that the seller's wife used to ride in. (Brand name Troxel?) We were looking for a child seat.

This bike has the FFS deal on the front crank. Not thrilled to have it, but it really just fits with the quirkiness of this bike. It's a 5 speed, by the way. I was surprised that the front chainring was not smaller, as it seemed it would be geared too high; but I've found that it accelerates quite acceptably.

thriftyswift3

Here's a question on this bike and its FFS:

The cranks have some resistance in turning. It's not all that much, and it's smooth, but grab a pedal and turn the cranks by hand and it's got considerably more resistance than any bike I've felt.

Do you think that cleaning and lubing the bottom bracket (which in this case included the freewheel) will bring that resistance down to a level on par with what one can expect from a non FFS bike of similar vintage? Or is this resistance just part and parcel of the FFS?

I'd like to do the job, so it might come down to try it and see. I see RJ the Bike Guy has a video online on what appears to be the same FFS on a Schwinn, so I feel pretty confident.

T-Mar

It's a 40+ year old bicycle that has probably never been overhauled ,so yes, you should overhaul bottom bracket and everything else. In my experience, the FFS cranks did not rotate as easily as other Shimano cranks. This is partly due to the greater rotating mass and partly due to the lower grade bearing surfaces. These were the lowest level cranksets from Shimano. If you're spinning the crankset with the chain attached, the rear wheel could also be playing a role in the increased resistance.

thriftyswift3

Okay, I was just over at the mechanics forum, and I read a few things in the sort of "Read this first" thread:

It says to not revive old threads. Oops. Ha!

It says to do a search before starting a thread. Check.

It says something else, but I forgot.

But regarding this Ross Eurotour: It does this thing where the front wheel wants to turn itself As in, you'll be rolling slowly, on even, level pavement and the wheel cocks itself slightly to the left. First time I rode it, I thought it had a flat. That's the kind of feeling. I thought I'd put a different tire on and see if that affected it. It did just a bit, but now I notice that you'll be rolling slowly (actually, walking, straddling the bike) and the wheel will, with no hands on the bars, alternate turning slightly left and slightly right. So weird.

By pure chance, this morning as I'm testing this bike out near my house, up the street rolls an acquaintance who is a bike mechanic!! I hadn't yet mentioned the problem, and he says I might want to look into whether my fork is bent. He says it looks like it's maybe bent back a bit.

So, has anyone had a bike's front end act this way?

mountaindave 

About the time this thread was revived the second time, I got a Eurotour delivered to my house for $25. It’s been a fantastic town bike. I’ve since put many times that into an alloy 700c wheel set, dynamo hub, Edelux light, Brooks B67, porteur rack, and a real derailleur (SunTour VxGT), and SunTour tumbie (some things not in the photo yet).

I was able to improve the FFS by dribbling some oil into the system like you would with a freewheel: in between the moving part and the stationary part. I haven’t attempted to repack the FFS yet.