# Another Velo-King



## ohdeebee (Apr 5, 2011)

The tricycle came in today. The guy said he had just bought a house and this was in the attic. Looks like a 1930's Velo-King. Truss bars turn into fender braces, original Velo-King saddle and hubcaps. All original paint. I need some little old grips if anyone has some for sale or trade, must be 3/4" inside diameter.


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## Gordon (Apr 5, 2011)

Beautiful trike! I may have your grips - I'll do some digging and let you know.


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## ohdeebee (Apr 5, 2011)

Gordon said:


> Beautiful trike! I may have your grips - I'll do some digging and let you know.




That'd be great! I had some not that long ago but I sold them.


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## bikesnbuses (Apr 5, 2011)

WOW!That things in GREAT shape!!


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## ridingtoy (Apr 6, 2011)

Rare to find one in that great of shape! Usually there's more surface rust, missing pedal crank, missing rear hubcaps, etc. There's a nice one on ebay right now I've been watching, but not bidding: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350452161799&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

I've got two Velo Kings all disassembled - a 16" and 20" model - in hopes of restoring them. I made sketches of the spoke arrangement of each wheel before unlacing them. One of the seats was sent off to Jim Bailey years ago to recover and it came back looking great! The other seat is still in good original condition. Actually, I have a 12" model too, but I bought it sans rear 8" wheels as more of a parts trike. Though if I could find correct 8" wheels I'd restore it also.

From examining the front wheel on these trikes I've found one weakness in the design, which usually leads to a pedal crank missing or slipping if still attached. The hub has a square center opening and the ends of the cranks are squared off to fit snugly in it. After years of use the square ends of the cranks wear and develop some play. Eventually with too much hard use the edges tend to start rounding off to the point of the crank end slipping within the square hub opening. One solution I've thought of would involve inserting sheet metal shims in the hub to make the fit good and tight again. Possibly even filing the crank ends down a bit to restore more of the squareness, and making up the loss of metal with a little thicker shim material.

Dave


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## ohdeebee (Apr 6, 2011)

Dave,
Thanks for the info. I have two other Velo Kings, a 1936 bought form the original owner and a 1911. This is by far the best condition of the three. I was surprised to see both hubcaps intact. Grips should be easy enough to track down and other than that its all there and in really nice original condition. I took the pics right after the seller left my store so it's not even cleaned up yet. The seat still has the "Velo-King" stamp on it. I can try and get you a pic of that if you're interested. I also have a bunch of NOS tires in odd sizes if you're looking for any. Again, thanks for the info and post some pics


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## ridingtoy (Apr 6, 2011)

I'd like to see a pic of the Velo King stamp on the seat. The two I have, besides the recovered seat, either have Troxel embossed in the cover or no name at all. Otherwise, they appear to be identical in design to the seat on this one.

I have several NOS Clipper, Firestone, and even Swan tires in various sizes, but there is one size I've been looking for, needing a pair in that size. I'll have to check which size it was and let you know. Thanks for mentioning it!

Dave


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## Gordon (Apr 6, 2011)

I looked through my trike grips and they are all 5/8 or 1/2 inch inside diameter - sorry.


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## ohdeebee (Apr 6, 2011)

Dang! I'll find something. Thanks for checking though!


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## ridingtoy (Apr 7, 2011)

I was doing a little more research on your Velo King. I notice some of them, including mine, have a more pointy head mast nose with two ribs going around them. Yours has a more rounded nose with one rib. I was looking through the book "Riding Toys", and on page 109 is a picture of a Velo King identical to yours from the 1949 Spiegel catalog. I have a few vintage Velo King photos purchased off ebay, dating from earlier in the '40s, and showing the pointier nosed models. The trikes appeared to already be a few years old judging by the age/size of the riders. Based on that, the slight design change in the head mast most likely occurred somewhere in the 1940s. Thought that might help narrow down the age of this V-K.

I checked on the tire size I was looking for. I'd like to find a pair of 10x1.25 tires for a future Garton tricycle project. I have the NOS 16x1.50 front tire, but still need replacement rear tires. Thanks!

Dave


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## ohdeebee (Apr 7, 2011)

Dave,
I couldn't get a good pic of the seat seal. This is the best one to turn out. I think you're right about the 40's. Seems like the trikes from the 30's had more of a streamlined look to them. The truss rods especially on this one seem later than 1930's. I also noticed the slightly different head. The one on ebay right now has the double bead type front end where as mine is more rounded. I'll check tires for you tomorrow and let you know.


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## ridingtoy (Apr 7, 2011)

That's a pretty good close-up shot! I'll have to examine the seat for mine in that area to see if anything is there. I'm just so used to looking for the round Troxel stamp close to the rear of the seat cover.

Thanks for checking on the tires for me!

Dave


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## hotrodbob (Oct 22, 2011)

nice trike it in good shape


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