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What to do with old tires keep or toss?

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cduckworth

'Lil Knee Scuffer
Yesterday I picked up a 26" girls Western Flyer bike from a friend's parent's home. The bike is in great shape with minor wear but the tires are original. So am thinking from a safety standpoint the tires should be replaced. The front tire has some minor checking on the bottom but the rear has some cracking on the sidewalls. The paint in in great shape so am cleaning with mild soap and water. The intertubes look to be good but again they are probably 50 years old. If I do need to replace the tires did Western Flyer ever use white side walls? They would really set off the look but I'd like to stay original. Only item missing is the front headlight as a basket was put on the bike at some time in its timeframe.

Girls certainly took good care of their bikes compared to us guys back then.

Charlie Duckworth
1952 Schwinn Corvette boys
1960 Schwinn Starlite girls
19?? Western Flyer girls
 
If the tires are not NYLON or RAYON

they are cotton and rot from the inside LOTS OF PEOPLE RIDE THEM lots of the blow out.
Things like weslys bleech wite suck the oils out and armorall will send you sliding I do not reccommend riding per war tires period- In 100 years there will be few orig tires left for collectors...
 
they are cotton and rot from the inside LOTS OF PEOPLE RIDE THEM lots of the blow out.
Things like weslys bleech wite suck the oils out and armorall will send you sliding I do not reccommend riding per war tires period- In 100 years there will be few orig tires left for collectors...


Keep in mind, he said the bike is about 50 years old...that puts in the 1960s. I'd bet they are middleweight tires. I prefer to display antique tires just by themselves; no air pressure, no weight on them. The less stress the better, IMO.
 
I hear ya

Keep in mind, he said the bike is about 50 years old...that puts in the 1960s. I'd bet they are middleweight tires. I prefer to display antique tires just by themselves; no air pressure, no weight on them. The less stress the better, IMO.

but some say going to far- for display bikes - just pumping them to shape with a hand pump has lead to no disasters I am aware of- of course you have to maintain them or they get flat spot syndrome or FSS
 
Tires....and tubes

Keep in mind, he said the bike is about 50 years old...that puts in the 1960s. I'd bet they are middleweight tires. I prefer to display antique tires just by themselves; no air pressure, no weight on them. The less stress the better, IMO.

Am thinking the bike is probably older than 50. The rims are painted a very light tan color with two blue pin stripes on either side. Still looking for the serial number. Took the wheels up to a local bike shop to have the bearings inspected and greased and ordered tires last night. Told my wife this was going to be a winter project but the bike is in such good shape I may have it done in a month. Just general cleaning. Paint looks great as well as the chrome.

The bike originally had a headlight but it was taken off to make room for the front wire basket. Are the headlights hard to find if I wanted to put one back on?

Charlie
 
Am thinking the bike is probably older than 50. The rims are painted a very light tan color with two blue pin stripes on either side. Still looking for the serial number. Took the wheels up to a local bike shop to have the bearings inspected and greased and ordered tires last night. Told my wife this was going to be a winter project but the bike is in such good shape I may have it done in a month. Just general cleaning. Paint looks great as well as the chrome.

The bike originally had a headlight but it was taken off to make room for the front wire basket. Are the headlights hard to find if I wanted to put one back on?

Charlie

Adult size bikes had painted wheels up until the early-mid 1960s. I have a 1961 Monark Spartan with white rims and red pinstripes.

I know quite a bit about Western Flyer bikes and so do other members here. You need to post a picture. You'd be surprised what info we can give with just a couple of pictures.
 
but some say going to far- for display bikes - just pumping them to shape with a hand pump has lead to no disasters I am aware of- of course you have to maintain them or they get flat spot syndrome or FSS

Well, I don't have to do much to "maintain" the tires if they are off the bike but also, I ride my bikes regardless of original miles. I would get really tired of changing tires between shows and rides. I think those tires have more than earned a re"tire"ment from holding up bicycles. I like to admire the tread you no longer see on tires, logos of once prominent American companies, the feel of thick rubber and cords made in the USA. The fact that there are still many of these tires left and they are 30, 50, 70, some near 100 years old and they STILL haven't fully decomposed! The modern ones from China that were made in the last 25 years turn to crackled and dry rotted trash after 5 years if left outside! I've had to recycle very, very few vintage tires and the ones that did get whacked were in very bad shape and ridden hard!

There will come a day, in my lifetime or my children's, perhaps yours, that ALL of these tires, no matter how well preserved, will decay into nothing more than the basic elements from Earth of which they were made. I just try to preserve them for history's sake and I honestly consider them to be a form of industrial art.

I feel like if I keep the pressure off them and keep them in my basement, I slow the aging process down so that they might passed on to somebody else. If they're left inflated the rubber and cords are stretched all the time.
 
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