# Help to identify about 1895 Racer



## radsonne (Dec 23, 2020)

Is there anyone who would help me to identify the maker.
 The chainring stays ( or chainting arms ? Sorry I don't have a better word, I am from Germany) are extremly thin, they measure 1/8 inch (3mm). The fork crown is like an open half tube. Most parts as the chain are built quite light.  Te wooden Plymouth rims  are marked patent 1893 and 1895. Thank you for your help


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## lgrinnings (Dec 23, 2020)

I know this is a logic stretch, but with that in mind, here goes... If the rims are original to the bike, Plymouth rims were manufactured in Indiana (pic below). I have a Richmond ladies bicycle (Richmond, Indiana) sporting a pair of Plymouth rims. It’s “possible” this bike, too, is from an Indiana manufacturer if Plymouth’s distribution was fairly limited. Indiana was an early hotbed for bicycle racing and the birthplace and home of Major Taylor at the start of his career. Anyhow, I know it’s thin and there are a lot of “if”s and “possibly”s, but Indiana may be a good place to start your search if the features you’ve called out don’t readily lend themselves to a manufacturer.


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## radsonne (Dec 23, 2020)

Ingrinnings Thanks the stamp is the same as on yours 


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## rustyjones (Dec 23, 2020)

Waverley?


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## AA Gappen (Dec 23, 2020)

I have 3 Ladies bikes from Indiana Bicycle Company (Indianapolis) - 2 Waverleys and an Ivanhoe.  There are some similarities to the oldest of the 3.  Head badge holes are vertical on the Waverleys and horizontal on the Ivanhoe.  The fork is completely different, but the other Waverley and the Ivanhoe do have the rounded fork crown.


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## radsonne (Dec 23, 2020)

The bottom bracket axle has on all those I looked at in the net a flatned part where the crank is fixed.  This seems to be typical or a petent.The axle is round at my racer.


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## locomotion (Dec 23, 2020)

I would not call this a "racer" Doesn't have right stance and geometry IMO. Most likely replaced wheels. Original wheels would probably have welded spokes where they cross.


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## Archie Sturmer (Dec 23, 2020)

I have seen a fork like that advertised as a “Spaulding” by Albert Spaulding sporting goods of Chicago (A.S. Chicago fame).
[I remember using a Spaulding glove in little league baseball].
I believe that the term for the thin components of the chain ring sprocket might be called “spokes” (like on a chain wheel), or 5-arms.


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## radsonne (Dec 23, 2020)

locomotion please would you concretize "Doesn't have right stance and geometry IMO"


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## rustyjones (Dec 23, 2020)

Mine has a similar rounded fork Crown but is not hollow on the underside...


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## Blue Streak (Dec 23, 2020)

I cannot tell from the first photo but are the front and rear wheels the same diameter or is the front one larger?

Are there holes in head tube for a name badge?

Saddle post looks like Victor but nothing else on it is similar to a Victor:


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## radsonne (Dec 24, 2020)

Thank you all for your help
archie sturmer do you mean spaulding or spalding
blue streak   there are no holes for a badge
 and indeed the seatpost is identical although this seems to have been a period fashion( for example Columbia where the fixation is slightly different) . Rounded fork crowns are common at the period.
Might be the seatpost was changedlong time ago. The bike was a barn find and not in collectors hand. Only the wheels were unmounted for the transport to Germany.


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## Blue Streak (Dec 24, 2020)

Where was the barn it was found in? It may have been made by a smaller regional manufacturer or by a large company and sold locally under someone else's badge. Location may help narrow down manufacturer.

Can you find a serial number on the frame anywhere?


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## radsonne (Dec 25, 2020)

I bought the bike in the 1990's from a German who stayed every year some months  in the US to buy antiques at barn sales, but I lost the contact. So ther are no informations.


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## slcurts (Feb 18, 2021)

I have an 1894 Waverley Scorcher that has a similar geometry to your frame, and it should have the same chainring on it, but your bottom bracket is different than mine. The Waverley bottom bracket at that time was pretty distinctive - a very thin tube, barely bigger than the crank axle. I agree with the guess that this could be an Indiana bike, but there were a lot of those. Waverleys were built here in Indianapolis and there were six or eight manufacturers here, and many more elsewhere in the state. 

I'd guess that if your seat post is original, then your bike is 1893 or maybe '92, whatever brand it is.


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