PUCH. (rhymes with Hutch, or at least i wish it did. it would be way more funny that way. my guess is its probably more like rhymes with Swoosh though.) Originally a Austrian machining company back in the day that dabbled in bikes. went the way of eventually being bought out and being built either in the US or Taiwan for Sears. Although I think the company that was originally Puch kept making bikes under another name, Austro-Daimler or something like that. This is a Puch Alpina, made in Austria before the Sears days...not sure what year (yet).
Yet another of my bikes connected to Scott, this one was his ride from back in the day but had been chillin back at the rents house doin nothin, but will now be reborn into a sweet touring ride.
the PUCH rides again....except not quite yet cause its really windy and cold today. but as soon as i have the cojones enough to ride outside this baby is going for a spin. dirt roads here i come.
i saw a PUCH in harvard sq today...first time i have ever seen one "in the wild", it was buried in ice
ReplyDeleteim gonna try and get this thing online as soon as i can, so i can ride it around in the snow and also hopefully get covered in ice.
ReplyDeleteI am thinking about selling my SS roadie and using this as my commuter. if you run into anyone my size who wants a SS down in boston tell them i want $150
i pretty much love this thing. two rides so far and minus a front QR issue all is well. gonna open up a whole new realm of riding for me. dérailleurs don't work that well anyway so i can ride it in any weather and any roads dirt, frost heaves WHATEVAH.
ReplyDeleteIm thinking up and over stinson mt. is gonna be my first epic dirt road Giro'esque touring ride.
Hi there, I was hoping you could help me with some information... I just found a Puch Alpina for sale, and was thinking of getting it, but I don't know much about these bikes. A quick google search came up with your blog, so I thought I'd try to message you...
ReplyDeleteI was wondering how you liked your Alpina, and what you think one in working condition would be worth. Also, are all the Alpina's preSears, or did Sears make them as well? How would one tell the difference?
I'd really appreciate any information you could give me!
Thanks!
Hi Pshaz,
ReplyDeleteFinding any accurate info about this brand/model is pretty hard. I tried when building this bike up and didn't have much success. Easiest way to gauge whether it is pre or post Sears is to look at the components on the bike (assuming they are stock). This should give you a general idea of the year it was built, based on when certain components were available then you can see if that time period was pre or post. Basically its a guess at best. I would imagine the quality is comparable either way.
Frame itself was nothing special but solidly built. I probably wouldn't spend more than $200US on any old 10 speed, PUCH included, unless it was beautifully maintained with perfect period correct components.
definitely helpful, thanks so much!
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