# Who is the biggest "MEAD" freak?....simple response requested...



## bricycle (Nov 16, 2012)

OK,
On a scale of 1-10 (10 being extreme, 1 being could care less), where do you feel you fall as a Mead enthusiast?

I'll start: 3


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## Rust_Trader (Nov 16, 2012)

Bri

Should of posted this thread at night time, that's when the Freaks come out!


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## bricycle (Nov 16, 2012)

Greens07 said:


> Bri
> 
> Should of posted this thread at night time, that's when the Freaks come out!




...don't kid yourself...We're always out...


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## Balloontyre (Nov 16, 2012)

*Mead  = Mut*

Mead, like Elgin gives a person an opportunity to appreciate all kinds of different manufactureers, all wrapped up an labeled into one headbadge.


Mead = 3
 Great Western, Schwinn, Columbia,Manton&Smith, and likely many more ...


Elgin... 10
they didn't try to imply they actually made bikes.


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## vintage2wheel (Nov 16, 2012)

*mead*

I have one all OG 1936 and its one of the best riding bikes I have.

I have a lead on a OG black one now=4 when i get the black next month=8


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## bricycle (Nov 16, 2012)

...that is "Snazzy"....


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## Nick-theCut (Nov 16, 2012)

10!!!!!
That's all I collect/read up on/research/drool over.



I bleed Ranger brown, haha.
I dig the British influences coming out of Liverpool with their Brampton chainrings , chains and pedals.  I think my favorite band was from Liverpool as well.
"All you MEAD is love"!!!

3 seems low Ivo.  Now I now your selling me that rack.  How much do you want your PayPal account to go up?

Josehuerta, Chitown where you at??

Mead bitches!


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## sm2501 (Nov 16, 2012)

Balloontyre said:


> Elgin... 10
> they didn't try to imply they actually made bikes.




Wow...where's the flames on this one???


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## scrubbinrims (Nov 16, 2012)

Let's no be to harsh on the original Frankenbike fellas... 
Chris


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## Hermanator3 (Nov 16, 2012)

*Dad's Mead*

Don't know where this ranks me, but I wanted a Mead Ranger more than any other old bike because it was the bike my Dad had in the early 20's.  This summer I bought Nickanator's  1924 (not 1921) Ranger.  Will post pictures when the refurbishing is complete.


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## chitown (Nov 16, 2012)

*uuummmm, did someone say Mead?*



bricycle said:


> where do you feel you fall as a Mead enthusiast?




I feel I fall into the freaky side of this equation for I believe that Mead built bikes for Harley and Sears in the teens... freaky enough for ya?

And by built, I mean assembled, and by assembled I mean assembled as a modern manufacturing plant that BUILT frames and added components from various smaller parts manufacturers. Assembled in a way that was the blueprint for all the major bike builders that followed, including Schwinn. The days where a bike "manufacturer" had a forge dept, a tubing dept, a wheel dept... etc are helped to their demise because of Meads advances in manufacturing efficiencies.


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## josehuerta (Nov 16, 2012)

For me and I suspect many others if you say antique bicycle one of the first images that might pop in your head is that of a brown Mead Ranger. It is I believe an iconic symbol of vintage bikes. Not necessarily the best, certainly not the rarest, but the bike that first drew my attention to this hobby. I will stay with Meads if for no other reason than I can't afford a Racycle or chainless Columbia and I quickly learned the more brands of bike you have the more expensive it gets. So I guess I'm about an 8. I like Meads though I surely covet others.


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## bricycle (Nov 16, 2012)

chitown said:


> I feel I fall into the freaky side of this equation for I believe that Mead built bikes for Harley and Sears in the teens... freaky enough for ya?
> 
> And by built, I mean assembled, and by assembled I mean assembled as a modern manufacturing plant that BUILT frames and added components from various smaller parts manufacturers. Assembled in a way that was the blueprint for all the major bike builders that followed, including Schwinn. The days where a bike "manufacturer" had a forge dept, a tubing dept, a wheel dept... etc are helped to their demise because of Meads advances in manufacturing efficiencies.




...so wher do you fall then? ...a 9, a 10?


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## kccomet (Nov 16, 2012)

all you mead is love, i like that its catchy. im a 7


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## jacdan98 (Nov 16, 2012)

View attachment 73854I'm about a 9 when all the colorful bike are next to mine the Ranger is the one that sticks out plus it's a double diamond! My Aerocycle is a "10"


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## bikeboy1340 (Nov 16, 2012)

*Mead=7-8*

I am in agreement with josehuerta.  Mead may not be the rarest or most sought after bicycle out there, but has always been in the top 5 of my "most wanted list".  Hoping to acquire one someday.


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## OldRider (Nov 16, 2012)

Even us Canadians were getting in on the Meade craze......In the 30s Hudson Bay Company was selling a line of  CCM built Ranger bicycles. The badge on my 1936 Ranger looks eerily similar to the Meade Ranger badge.


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## ccmerz (Nov 16, 2012)

*Mead*

I was an 8 now I'm a 3. When it leaves for Moscow (not on the Hudson), I will be back to an 8


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## cyclingday (Nov 16, 2012)

I love the brown and ivory paint scheme. I love the chrome fork blades. I love the name Ranger.
But, what kills it for me, is the headbadge.
I know it sounds crazy to discount an entire brand because you don't like their headbadge. But, that's the way it is for me.
That badge always looked like some 1970s replica badge.
I'm sorry Mead fans, but I'm a cool 4 when it comes to Mead bicycles. I don't own one. Never have, and probably never will.


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## slick (Nov 16, 2012)

Us Shelby guys need not apply so i'll just move onto the next thread. HAHA!! Meads are great looking bikes but i just don't own any.


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## chitown (Nov 16, 2012)

bricycle said:


> ...so where do you fall then? ...a 9, a 10?




I'm off the charts! No number's gonna define me!

Just kidding. But seriously, I'm not such a huge fan of the brand in comparison to others. I'm more a Mead history enthusiast than a Mead enthusiast. Besides, after 1925 when James L Mead sold off all his manufacturing equipment, Mead bikes were just badged Mead or Ranger or Crusader, but now built by Schwinn, Westfield, Manton etc... James E Mead took over the Mead brand after his father sold off the factory and patents. I think James E Mead's business in the cycling industry consisted of signing off on contracts with the builders who were badging and painting them Mead Brown. Cashing in on the Ranger brand his father developed and built.

So if I were a Mead freak, it would be date specific to their golden years from the early 1900's to the late teens and early twenties. After that, my interests drift as I know I'm looking at a Schwinn or a Westfield bike painted brown and badged Mead. The mid twenties also signifies the breaking up of Mead as Meiselbach moved on to Shelby and George Lewis went on to design the Speed-O-Byke and 1st Silver Kings.


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## chitown (Nov 16, 2012)

slick said:


> Us Shelby guys need not apply so i'll just move onto the next thread. HAHA!! Meads are great looking bikes but i just don't own any.




1920's Shelby Cycle Co has it's roots in Mead with August Meiselbach, so don't ignore your roots.


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## Larmo63 (Nov 16, 2012)

*I like mine....*

I might be a 7 or an 8. I just like old bikes, especially motorbikes.


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## Balloontyre (Nov 17, 2012)

*Rack*



Nick-theCut said:


> 3 seems low Ivo.  Now I now your selling me that rack.  How much do you want your PayPal account to go up?




N-T-C, you know me, I'm a 3.3

Mead's colors and marketing flash are very cool, I'm more in line with Chitown on the history aspect, and studying the different makers versions of the bike. 
I do enjoy riding a Crusader of mine, great fit and performance.

Rack??? If I were to part out this Ranger, you are first for the rack. Should I part it out?


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## Nick-theCut (Nov 17, 2012)

Rack??? If I were to part out this Ranger, you are first for the rack. Should I part it out?[/QUOTE]

Only if you want to Ivo.  What takes from one, only completes another.  I see no crime in that.


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## Larmo63 (Nov 19, 2012)

I would take the seat........?

The small framed Rangers like mine and Ivo's 
seem to be the most uncommon.


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## jacdan98 (Nov 19, 2012)

I would take the bars and the seat post?


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## Balloontyre (Nov 19, 2012)

Larmo63 said:


> I might be a 7 or an 8. I just like old bikes, especially motorbikes.




That is one nice bicycle, and a great picture.


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## old hotrod (Jan 13, 2015)

Now you are acting like a spammer...


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## fordmike65 (Jan 13, 2015)

old hotrod said:


> Now you are acting like a spammer...




Was just thinking the same thing. WTH??


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## Hobo Bill (Jan 13, 2015)

Greens07 said:


> Bri
> 
> Should of posted this thread at night time, that's when the Freaks come out!




freaks freak freely in the forest.......


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## the tinker (Jan 14, 2015)

THREE   two brown and cream and one black,  35 36 37 .


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