# American Roadsters And Lightweights: Fourth Of July Weekend



## SirMike1983 (Jun 30, 2016)

It's almost the Fourth- show us your classic American lightweights, roadsters, and utility bikes. Any brand is fair game- just has to be American-made.

1940 Westfield Sports Roadster:




 



 

1947 Schwinn New World:



 



 

1940s Manton & Smith:


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## Intense One (Jun 30, 2016)

My Western Flyer lightweight.


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## Eric Amlie (Jun 30, 2016)

My '56 Schwinn Racer. It now has the proper screened chainguard. Need to take another pic.


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## Schwinn499 (Jun 30, 2016)




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## Eric Amlie (Jun 30, 2016)

Say now...there's a collection!


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## Schwinn499 (Jun 30, 2016)

Eric Amlie said:


> Say now...there's a collection!



Not all are still with me, ive got more roadbikes now than 3s and 5s...


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## bulldog1935 (Jul 1, 2016)

In honor of Lafayette





(there were actually more American Colonials fighting against the revolution at Yorktown than for it - the French outnumbered everybody)


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## Gasbag (Jul 1, 2016)

1939 21" BF Goodrich badged Schwinn New World. It is hard to see the dark green paint, it looks black in most light. This is presently the oldest member of my fleet. It is waiting for its turn at the repair stand.


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## Intense One (Jul 2, 2016)

'74 Speedster.......vroom!


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## SirMike1983 (Jul 2, 2016)

The 23 inch frame size on 26 inch wheels is often a good fit for an adult rider.


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## cyclingday (Jul 2, 2016)

1959 Schwinn Paramount Road Racer.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Intense One (Jul 2, 2016)

SirMike1983 said:


> The 23 inch frame size on 26 inch wheels is often a good fit for an adult rider.



Yep.....high and dry!


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## SirMike1983 (Jul 3, 2016)

I'd like to eventually do some kind of American-made bike photobook type webpage for these bikes. I think there's a lot more knowledge and webspace devoted to English 3 speeds from the 1940s-60s than to their American cousins. There are many, odd and interesting variations in the American-made bikes. It's too bad nobody has posted one of those wild-looking Monarch 1950s lightweights- the ones with gold paint.

Edit:

Found one

http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/ju...ight-1950’s-monark-silver-king-3-speed.77431/


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## Gasbag (Jul 3, 2016)

A webpage devoted to the early American made lightweights would be excellent. There is information out on the web, but it is pretty scattered. 

The early lightweights are a largely overlooked segment in collector bicycles. That is good when looking to find them as the prices can be low, but not good when restoring or selling because they just don't seem to get a fair value return on the parts and effort. The exception seems to be wartime victory and blackout bikes.

Somewhere out there is a nice 23" early American lightweight to add to my fleet. The 23 inchers are a scarce item.


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## parkrndl (Jul 4, 2016)

it's not quite midnight on the 4th, so I will throw a couple of mine in just under the wire:



 



 

i just stumbled into this segment of the hobby from the land of Stingrays and other muscle bikes.  last week I got the green '76 for my daughter and I like it so much that I picked up the Sierra Brown '69 for me.  the plan is to transfer the components onto a camelback frame...

--rick


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## SirMike1983 (Jul 5, 2016)

Gasbag said:


> A webpage devoted to the early American made lightweights would be excellent. There is information out on the web, but it is pretty scattered.
> 
> The early lightweights are a largely overlooked segment in collector bicycles. That is good when looking to find them as the prices can be low, but not good when restoring or selling because they just don't seem to get a fair value return on the parts and effort. The exception seems to be wartime victory and blackout bikes.
> 
> Somewhere out there is a nice 23" early American lightweight to add to my fleet. The 23 inchers are a scarce item.




I think the page might be a project I could try. At the least, it could be photo-heavy and give some idea of the variety of these bikes. Perhaps something like the old Retro Raleighs site, but for US roadsters and similar utility bikes from 1939 to 63 or so.



parkrndl said:


> it's not quite midnight on the 4th, so I will throw a couple of mine in just under the wire:
> 
> View attachment 336489
> 
> ...




You will find tons of those 60s-70s era bikes for cheap. They are totally reliable, if a bit heavy. I see some still used as daily commuters.


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## sfhschwinn (Jul 6, 2016)

SirMike1983 said:


> It's almost the Fourth- show us your classic American lightweights, roadsters, and utility bikes. Any brand is fair game- just has to be American-made.
> 
> 1940 Westfield Sports Roadster:
> 
> ...



is the manton and smith the one I sold you a while back or is it another one that looks similar? if it is I hope that you kept the og parts but it looks good with that chain guard


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