# Hibbard Spencer and Bartlett “Chicago “



## rusty_apache (Jan 22, 2021)

At midnight A good friend gave me a heads up on this 28” Chicago at an estate sale this morning just over in Comal county!

 I’m not used to finding wooden wheels this close to home. He also had two straight NOS rims for it for $25 each!
I assured the seller that it was Schwinn built, but now I am not so sure because the serial number doesn’t seem to jive....


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## tacochris (Jan 22, 2021)

What an awesome piece of history!  Congrats on the find!


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## rusty_apache (Jan 22, 2021)

tacochris said:


> What an awesome piece of history!  Congrats on the find!



Thanks!
The the stem sticks out like a sore thumb, but maybe the bars are original.


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## rusty_apache (Jan 23, 2021)

Looks like someone cut down a Davis built fork tube and stuck it on this bike. Cant win em all I guess!


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## tacochris (Jan 24, 2021)

If you looked at the last page of my Shelby thread, I dealt with alot of the same issues and had to weld in a new steering tube.
It seems lack of funds and the overall emphasis on the “do it yourself” mentality in the old days created alot of cobbled-together beasts that we end up having to fix.  While i do value the older generation and detest mine, there was way too much “chicken wire and bondo” activity back then.  Lol!


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## rusty_apache (Jan 24, 2021)

tacochris said:


> If you looked at the last page of my Shelby thread, I dealt with alot of the same issues and had to weld in a new steering tube.
> It seems lack of funds and the overall emphasis on the “do it yourself” mentality in the old days created alot of cobbled-together beasts that we end up having to fix.  While i do value the older generation and detest mine, there was way too much “chicken wire and bondo” activity back then.  Lol!



It’s true.
... and to be expected when an object is a 100+ years old!
Think of all the rare vehicles lost to the Wartime scrap drives as well!
One reason I bought it was to save it from further butchery!


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## tacochris (Jan 24, 2021)

rusty_apache said:


> It’s true.
> ... and to be expected when an object is a 100+ years old!
> Think of all the rare vehicles lost to the Wartime scrap drives as well!
> One reason I bought it was to save it from further butchery!



I shutter to think what got lost and ive seen pics that still give me nightmares.  Blah!
Yeah, at the end of the day i get it though...an item sometimes cost half a years wage or more just to obtain and if it broke, there wasnt much in the way of a fix-it fund so they did what they had to which usually involved using whatever would wok.  Plus the bike was just a mode of transportation like a pair of shoes.  
I would have done the same and i hope to find a bike from that era eventually.  My oldest is 1933 currently but i hope to hit the teens eventually.


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## rusty_apache (Jan 25, 2021)

“My oldest is 1933 currently but i hope to hit the teens eventually.”

Granted,
Hey kids!
I spoke with Chris yesterday evening and he will be the new caretaker of the HSB.
Anyone have any insights to the manufacturer of the frame? The serial number are stamped diagonally but maybe that was just the personal style of the stamper.
also the frame tubes are slightly turned down close to the head tube.....


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## tacochris (Jan 25, 2021)

rusty_apache said:


> “My oldest is 1933 currently but i hope to hit the teens eventually.”
> 
> Granted,
> Hey kids!
> ...



Hey bud, I am beyond stoked to be the future care-taker of this beauty and Im sure it wont be my last.  Heck of a cool opportunity and Im watching for new info as well!


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## rusty_apache (Jan 26, 2021)

Got a close up of the odd bends at the steering tube.


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## pedal4416 (Jan 27, 2021)

rusty_apache said:


> Got a close up of the odd bends at the steering tube.



Kids liked to crash head on into stuff a lot back then! Might be why the steerer and stem were replaced. Here is a 1916 catalog and another page for colors.


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## rusty_apache (Jan 27, 2021)

Ouch, you’re right...
the fork tube is about 2degrees off. 
any idea who manufactured for HSB in that era? 
The frame looks to be Davis built as well...


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## Archie Sturmer (Jan 28, 2021)

Isn’t there a _*technical*_ *term* for when a front end of a frame is bent like that — 
is the frame said to be “_*taco’ed*_”?


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## rusty_apache (Jan 29, 2021)

Taco’ed, like this?

This rim is back in operation....


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## dnc1 (Jan 31, 2021)

Those bent frame tubes would definitely explain that replacement steerer! Ouch!


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## rusty_apache (Feb 1, 2021)

Yeah, actually the steering tube was repaired, so I still think it could Possibly be a Davis built frame.


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