I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for bicycles because they gave me freedom long before that driver’s license ever arrived. There are some people just as enthusiastic about old bikes as we are about old cars and some of the desirable models are worth just as much! This stash of bikes may not be worth millions, but with so many in the lot, I’m sure someone could make some money by cleaning them up and relisting them individually. They are located in Zachary, Louisiana and are listed here on eBay where bidding is currently at $6k!
J.C. Higgins was a brand of sporting goods sold in Sears. I’m sure a ton of these were bikes were sold, but they don’t pop up very often anymore. Nice Colorflows can sell for over a thousand dollars depending on model and condition. Many of these are probably only worth a couple hundred bucks, but there’s a lot to work with here.
Someone spent a ton of time collecting all this stuff! There are 23 complete Colorflows, 11 frames, and a ton of spare parts. If bidding doesn’t get too crazy, one could start selling the parts to pay for the restoration of the complete bikes.
Which one would you keep though? There are a bunch to choose from, but it’s going to take a trained eye to spot which ones are really worthwhile. There are quite a few people into these old bikes, but nothing like the four-wheeled hobby. That makes information harder to get, but I bet bargains are a little easier to come by. Any classic bicycle collectors here?
Looks like the basement of the Alamo.
Hi Cc, there is no basement at the Alamo. Pee Wee Herman found that out looking for his bike.
“Tank-style” bikes (like the Higgins Colorflow) were just slightly before my time. When I was growing up, Schwinn was the bike to have – J.C. Higgins was considered a step down. Kind of like your Dad going to Sears and buying an Allstate (a rebadged Henry J) instead of an offering from one of the “Big Three”.
I got a Schwinn 5 speed a fews days after they first came out. I was the talk of the town. Took me about 15 seconds to break the shift cable because I didn’t know I had to be pedaling while I shifted.
Fat bottom girls you make the rockin’ world go ’round
Get on your bikes and ride!
I also like and collect old bikes….I appreciate the listing…..
Way before my time too however my dad was a Sears guy. Both my bikes came from there. I was 5 when I got a 20″ Spider and when I was 10 or so he bought me a mens 27″ three speed because it was on sale for $39. My feet still didn’t touch the ground even when I was 16. Didn’t care. I saved my money from my paper route and bought a car. Bikes? Four wheels are better then two! Never looked back!
My first was a spider from sears. back in the early 70,s
One day, when I was about 8 years old, my dad hauled a load of junk to the dump. When he returned, he brought home my first bike. A 24 inch off brand girls bike with two flat tires. Four or five patches later and a lot of hand pumping, I was flying down the hill next to our house. When you’re walkin’ …. Girls bike…. Who cares!! I was ridin’!! Later on, when I was about 12, I got a brand new Huffy 26 inch.
The missus had a JC Higgins……….I just need one :) Zachary Louisiana is Cajun country……….
I collect and fix old bikes also and it is always cool to see old collections like this. However, collecting JC Higgins bikes is sort of like collecting old Ford Tauruses. If you find one that is in great shape, it is really neat but not necessarily worth much.
Years ago, we called these bikes “rock crushers”. Higgins were for folks that couldn’t afford a Schwinn. They were heavy, clumsy units,( that your sister usually rode) you wouldn’t be caught dead on, but they were fun to crash into things. ( or sail them riderless down “Adams Hill”) ( stupid kids) Amazing collection, and still pretty universal, people still ride bikes. I enjoy my bicycle and at 62, it’s one of the few things I still do from when I was a kid. Retro bikes of this style are being reproduced now, called “beach bikes”, and are very popular. Mike Wolf would be all over this. Great find.
Do you mean Mike Wolf from Bloomfield Connecticut?
Oops, forgiveness please, should be Mike Wolfe, from American Pickers.
I think Mike Wolf has better taste in vintage bikes and cycles than to waste his time with old Sears bikes.
I have Schwinn Stingrays, Apple, Orange Krate, Lemon Peeler, and repro Pea Picker, even an adult chopper Schwinn Spoiler. These Higgins are neat, the real collectible ones are pre war balloon tire bikes, I only have a 1936 Cadillac by Shelby Bike Co from Shelby Ohio, has stainless fenders and a glass rear reflector.
My first new bike was a Western Flyer sold by Western Auto stores which I believe are total extinct. I got it in about 1946 when I was about 9. It was a nice bike probably equivalent in quality to the J.C. Higgins.
I went on from 2 wheel vehicles to 4 wheel vehicles. Have had 44 so far, including domestics, imports, sports cars and a neat ’39 Ford street rod. My current hobby car is an ’08 Corvette (photo included).
I do still have one bike which is a British Rudge made in the early ’50’s. Rudge was to Raleigh as La Salle was to Cadillac. Nice bike but fairly heavy. Has Sturmey-Archer 3-speed, hand brakes, front-hub generator with headlight and taillight, enclosed oil-bath chain guard, Brooks saddle and lugguge rack. It’s mostly restored to original. Hope to resume riding it someday but not sure just when that someday will be.
Hey Jerry, that is the spitting image of the ’08 Corvette I traded in on my C7. Jetstream blue, neat color. Mine had the 4LT two-tone leather interior but it was otherwise exactly like yours right down to the ‘chrome’ wheels and the Z51 package. Nice car!
Now back to bicycle talk……
Hello Jerry. So you’re 80 years old and drive a corvette and still ride a bike too. You must be in good shape, most 80 ear olds couldn’t get in and out of the corvette let alone ride a bike. Way to go, keep cruizing.
Nice batch of bikes! I’m a bike guy, but not a restore-old-JC Higgins-bike-guy. This is beyond what I’m willing to pay. But it’ll be an awesome score for someone!
I love old bikes, I found a copy of my first bike and bought it, still waiting to restore it. A Hercules 3 speed from Monkey Wards. In ’56 it was a fast lightweight.
My Hercules
InCanada, when I was growing up, it was CCM, Canadian Cycle and Motor Co., for the vast majority unless you had a weird uncle that had gone to the Boston states, in which case you might be an odd duck riding a New Departure bicycle from Connecticutt.
Cried for a Schwinn Black Phantom, but got a J. C. Higgins instead! Got even later, getting a Whizzer.
my uncle had a furniture store and sold bikes I loved my Schwinns th I roder for years and also Roadmasters great times many many years ago
That’s what called the holy grail of classic bicycles.. I bet there is one in there that’s worth a few thousand dollars..
I Love bicycles. I used to fix them up and repair them when my kids were young. Now that I have grandkids I began collecting a few that were tossed out as garbage. I really hate to see them discarded. Each one has a potential for someone to love, lol.
I got a hand-me-down J.C.Higgins tank model from a cousin when I was about 10 yrs. old. It weighed a ton! It was OK on level ground, but I had to walk it up most hills because I couldn’t pedal it up hills of any length. (If you’re familiar with the Pittsburgh area, you know that you can’t go anywhere without climbing a hill.) Consequently, I was in good condition because I had to walk so much. Anyway, I kept the bike for a couple of years, but I stripped it down so that I didn’t have to haul all that weight around. That made it a little more bearable, but I still walked a lot. I don’t remember how I disposed of it but I’m sure I didn’t regret it.
Yeah hills everywhere around Pittsburgh, as fact mid to all western Pennsylvania is Hills.. Good State for finding Classic cars hidden behind barns in them!
My grandpa to me to the junkyard up the road and we procured enough parts to build my first bike. I remember it had a purple frame. We spray bombed it blue. Looking back now, it was some sort of rare schwinn frame that would be worth a ton now. I eventually passed it on to a cousin. Still love bicycles.
Here’s a weird Sears bike I owned back in the day – a hydraulic brake 10 speed.
Mine was flat black.
Interesting rig….
This hord pulled very nice #’s….
Posting here to gain info… I rescued my grandmas second hand bike that I used to ride when I was a kid at her house in the 1960s. I am trying to decide if I want to referb it to how I remember it or closer to original. I know it is a ladies style and the front badge is J.C.Higgins Made In Germany. Based on what I have found so far it is a 1956? It also has chrome front and rear fenders. I think the original color was blue with white lettering on the chain guard. One wheel is chrome and one is white. One tire is white wall and one is not. The tread does not match. There is a wire basket on the front but I dont know if it is original. Although I do see some pictured with this basket. I would love to find a picture of what it original looked like. Thanks!