# help ..german bike?



## jel3 (Jul 8, 2009)

the only info is wesfalen??i will put some pics,,i cant find any thing on westfalen


----------



## Robert (Jul 8, 2009)

I Googled Westfalen and found lots of bicycle rental agencies. I suggest that you EMail several agencies with a Serial Number. They may be able to give you more information. Good Luck


----------



## Andrew Gorman (Jul 8, 2009)

A quick search turned up a German bicycle historical group at:
http://www.historischefahrraeder.de/index.php?article_id=1
I can almost puzzle my way through with what's left of my high school German, but you can also use babelfish to translate the site. There is a message board, and probably a post in English with a picture will get a response.
They may have some more information for you.  What hubs does the bike have?  that could provide a clue or two.


----------



## Yannick (Jul 19, 2009)

Nordrhein-Westfalen is a part of Germany so it was probably built in that area.








Yannick


----------



## 3-speeder (May 20, 2019)

@Mercian  do have any info on these bikes?  Wondering if they were a wartime bike used by the German military or maybe more of a prewar era civilian model? A seller has one posted as WW2 era.  Anyone have any ideas on them? Thanks for any info. Appreciate it, Bob


----------



## Mercian (May 21, 2019)

Hi Bob,

I've had a look for you. They are a bit of a mystery bike, the main internet references being people asking what they are, and a few different models, mainly 1970's, for sale on EBAY Germany.

This is typical of the responses

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/293606-westfalen-top-model.html 

https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/p...ague-questions-about-its-age-and-value.13057/ 

ie, tumbleweed. 

They are difficult to research, since Westfalia is a region of Germany (famous for a type of White Horse, hence the badge), and the search term Westfalia Farrad brings up bicycle shops in the area.

In conclusion they could be rebadged from other makes, european bike design is more conservative in the 1930's to 1970's than US bike design, so I wouldn't trust any claims for a bike of that marque to be wartime without some solid proof from the seller. 

Some hope of dating is that many German bikes have 'Fichtel & Sachs' rear hubs, and these are easily dateable, assuming it still has the original hub:

http://www.torpedo-coasterbrake.com/ 

For what it's worth, the bike at the beginning of this thread looks early 1960's to me with the badge and decals.

I hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Adrian


----------



## 3-speeder (May 21, 2019)

Thank you sir.  My searches turned up similar results.  I appreciate the links.  When I go to look at the bike I'll try to date it by the hub.  It does have rear forks, not drop outs, and from the looks of it could be prewar. Very similar decals and headbadge as bike pictured above.  If I can get it for a decent price I'll post up a new thread with pictures.


----------



## Andrew Gorman (May 21, 2019)

Best German bike board I have found is at:
https://www.altesrad.net
The thing with German one speed bikes is that they were virtually unchanged from the 1930's through the 1980's, with a little more bling postwar.  A search for "truppenfahrad" will show you what military bikes looked like.  Ignore the Swiss bikes, just look at the German.


----------



## 3-speeder (May 21, 2019)

Well in my searching I did find this cool ad. This gal is bad-ass!


----------



## 3-speeder (May 25, 2019)

The guy finally gave me a price on the Westfalen. Had to pass.  Guess I wasn't that interested $$$$.


----------



## Mercian (May 27, 2019)

Thanks for the follow up, it's always interesting to know what happened next.

As I said above, if it was a 1940's German bike you were after, then I think you dodged a bullet on this one. It might be, but probably isn't.

Best Regard,

Adrian


----------



## oldbikejoe (Nov 28, 2021)

jel3 said:


> the only info is wesfalen??i will put some pics,,i cant find any thing on westfalen



Sometimes the hub gives a date or a clue about time frame of bike. What brand and any model name on it? Like English bikes, so many models of various makers, buying out other brands and rebadging them. The label is definitely post war, could be late 40's to mid 60's. If the tires are very old and worn, they may be original and help date the bike. My guess is mid 50's to early 60's.


----------

