# Help with this American Bicycle company bike



## M & M cycle (Oct 16, 2018)

Hi, we picked this guy up today from the original owners Son ... American Bicycle Company.. no head badge.... haven’t had a chance to research it yet, does anyone know the year? What the head badge would look like? Is the crank original?  any info would be appreciated.. thanks M & M


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## hoofhearted (Oct 16, 2018)

*Circa 1900 - 1901 ... google American Bicycle Company ...
all the brands listed represent those companies bought 
by Col. Pope.*

*If the chainring does not have a crank drive pin hole ...
there is every probability the machine is a Pope-Built.*

*You can pretty-much select a badge-name from the
list of ABC-Manufactured bicycles ... from the 1900-1901 period, of course.*

*..... patric*


*

*


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## fordsnake (Oct 16, 2018)

Your bike was mfg around the early 1900's. The American Bicycle Company had several brand names under its umbrella.





The chainring looks like a Featherstone


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## fordsnake (Oct 16, 2018)

Good luck.


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## Archie Sturmer (Oct 16, 2018)

Crawford is on both the decal and the ABC list.  Westfield must have re-purposed chain rings.  The 3-hole looks same as on my 1927 St. Louis MO bike.


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## M & M cycle (Oct 16, 2018)

Thank you for all the input!! You guys rock!! Lots of info We can use to research further,  We appreciate the info and the effort it takes to find and share it, thanks again M & M


Archie Sturmer said:


> Crawford is on both the decal and the ABC list.  Westfield must have re-purposed chain rings.  The 3-hole looks same as on my 1927 St. Louis MO bike.



hi, you are correct it does say Crawford on the decal ...


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## Archie Sturmer (Oct 16, 2018)

The fine print - “successors to”.


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## M & M cycle (Oct 17, 2018)

Searching Crawford bicycle I Found this in the cabe archives, similar crank as well


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## locomotion (Oct 17, 2018)

What is the distance between the badge holes?


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## M & M cycle (Oct 17, 2018)

locomotion said:


> What is the distance between the badge holes?



Hi , the holes are 2 inches apart .. I wonder if anybody would have a Headbadge to buy ?


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## locomotion (Oct 17, 2018)

the holes on my Westfield Crawford badge are 1 11/16" apart
here is what my bike's badge looks like
but it may be pre-ABC .... not sure


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## bricycle (Oct 17, 2018)

front tires worth a hundie. Kool bike.


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## M & M cycle (Oct 17, 2018)

hoofhearted said:


> *Circa 1900 - 1901 ... google American Bicycle Company ...
> all the brands listed represent those companies bought
> by Col. Pope.*
> 
> ...





hoofhearted said:


> *Circa 1900 - 1901 ... google American Bicycle Company ...
> all the brands listed represent those companies bought
> by Col. Pope.*
> 
> ...



hi, this is a closeup of the area you hi lighted


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## M & M cycle (Oct 17, 2018)

locomotion said:


> the holes on my Westfield Crawford badge are 1 11/16" apart
> here is what my bike's badge looks like
> but it may be pre-ABC
> View attachment 885323



Thank you for checking


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## hoofhearted (Oct 17, 2018)

M & M cycle said:


> hi, this is a closeup of the area you hi lighted
> 
> View attachment 885357





*Thank you, young man. That is the area referred to.*

*Have owned several of the identical chainring design
(as yours).  These were on various juvenile, West-
field-Built bicycles.  *

*Some had what is often called a ''double-D'' feature ... 
shifting energy that is put into the crank to transfer 
into the chainring .. allowing it to rotate.*

*The other variation is identical to the ''crank drive pin''
setup .. just like you have.*

*Very often, when an orphan bicycle cannot be identified 
because the badge is missing .. or because some of the
''tells'' that a frame / fork expressed to the viewer are not 
available in a particular find -- or the viewer simply does 
not connect the ''tells'' to the vehicle identity --- very often 
the identification of major cranking components, leads to 
the identification of the ride.*

*Very often, but not always, the chainring / crank nuances 
help a viewer determine what's what.*

*When I see that ''double-D'' feature ... Westfield comes to mind.*

*But more specifically ... it's the Westfield-Built Columbia.*

*Fair Warning, however .. if the original cranking setup has been
changed-out with something alien to the bicycle ... all bets are off.*

*..... patric*


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## hoofhearted (Oct 17, 2018)




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