# WW1 Westfield Columbia Military Model



## Mercian (May 2, 2017)

Hi All,

I've posted this in the Military Bicycle section, but it may be of interest here too.

If you feel like posting replies, please try to put them on that thread to keep them all in one place for future.

Thanks.

My first pre 1933...

http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/wtb-ww1-columbia-military-badge-parts.21639/#post-111622

Best Regards,

Adrian


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## Mercian (May 12, 2017)

Hi All,

I've started the hunt for parts. 

The chainwheel and crank look like the most difficult parts to replace..I have posted a Wanted ad. here:

http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/1917-18-columbia-military-model-crank-and-chainwheel.110374/

but thought I'd talk to the era specialists (yourselves) too. Are this crank and wheel specific to this model?

Does anyone have one that they'd be willing to sell?

I'd like to ride the bicycle, so If I'm unable to get the correct crank and wheel, are others available that would fit whilst I continue the search?

Finally, out of interest, can anyone identify the current chainwheel, below,  which could be French?

Thanks for the help.

Best Regards,

Adrian


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## Mercian (Aug 21, 2017)

Hi All,

As some of you may have seen in the Wanted thread, due to some generous help from a CABE member, I now have a correct crank and chainwheel (and some other parts) in good condition. These have been serviced and fitted to the frame and forks (see below), which are really the only serviceable parts of the original bicycle. The chainwheel is an important step forward, both mechanically and cosmetically as a very noticeable part of the original bike.



 

Dismantling the bike to change the crank showed how badly corroded the ball bearings and races of the crank had been, although the BB is in very good condition.

It also showed that a long time ago both the original crank and chainwheel had been damaged, but someone had gone to a lot of trouble to blacksmith and rivet part of an arm, find a skiptooth chainwheel (not very common in Europe), and modify it to a DD type, and retap the crank for European size pedals.




US Crank, one arm bent, one broken and spliced.



 


Detail of the spliced arm repair



 


Modified Chainwheel. Anyone recognise the original maker? 

And so the search moves on to handlebars and seat, and their respective stems as illustrated on, and Photo Credits to - The Online Bicycle Museum (thank you for publishing this, it's been very helpful to me).

http://www.oldbike.eu/museum/world-war-one/1918-ww1-columbia-military-model/

For the handlebars, I have been offered WW2 G519 military bars in green paint by a CABE member, but these are not appropriate since I would prefer reasonably good nickle plating to try to complement the chainwheel. I think the shape of the WW2 bars is very similar to the WW1 bars, perhaps this was a requirement carried over by the army?  There appears to have been two types of handlebar stems used, I would like the one with a vertical bolt if possible, such as the one illustrated below.



 

The saddle illustrated on the Online Bicycle Museum site is correct and exceptional, being marked USA. I doubt there are any more in existence. I am looking for a similar long spring saddle in rideable condition, and the 7 stem that goes with it.



 



 

There is also the perennial question as to what is the right colour for a military vehicle (Motorbikes, jeeps, tanks, you name it. On military sites it can lead to very heated discussions!). Below is a comparison of original paint found on my bike, illustrating the problem. The vertical tube is the best preserved part of the paint on the exposed frame, and is very mustard. The upper tube is the steer tube from the top of the forks of the same bicycle. This is hidden inside the head tube of the bike and sees no light exposure (The interior of the BB was a similar colour, but difficult to photograph). It can be seen this is a lot darker green, yet painted at the same time as the frame. There is, of course, no guarantee that there has not been a colour change over the last 100 years even so. For comparison, the lower tube is a pair of unissued 1943 handlebars showing WW2 colour. The WW1 steer tube green is surprisingly close to this.





Colour Comparison

Best Regards,

Adrian


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## Mercian (Aug 21, 2017)

For some reason, the colour comparison shot didn't make it into the last post. Here it is again:



 

Best Regards,

Adrian


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## Mercian (Sep 6, 2017)

Hi All,

I'm asking for help again for this project.

I have tried hard, but been unable to identify the correct front hub/axle for this bike. Again, I am relying on (and greatful for) the photos from the Online Bicycle Museum site (posts passim).

http://www.oldbike.eu/museum/world-war-one/1918-ww1-columbia-military-model-u-s-army-issue-usa748/



 

This hub is a 1917/18 Columbia. Most hubs at this point (New Departure etc) seem to have very curved profiles, whilst this is dead straight. 

Some later hubs such as the New Departure SM show this straight profile, but the diameter of the inner tube is notably smaller. This seems quite heavy duty. In many ways it resembles the Morrow Eclipse style hub used on the WW2 G519 Columbias, but I have no idea if these existed in 1917.

Any ideas as to what it is (and where to get one) greatfully received.

Best Regards,

Adrian


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## Jesse McCauley (Aug 18, 2019)

Sending these pics to Adrian as well but I thought I’d get the group 2c as well.

I was looking for smooth wide barrel front hubs to finish this project and found a few, narrowed down to these two that look closest to the image provided.

So I started looking closer and to me it looks like the hub he needs is stepped ever so slightly. I mean to say that as seen in the foreground, the hub shell was turned from a large enough piece of steel that it was turned higher / thicker at the hub race area compared to the center barrel portion.

So does that foreground hub look more appropriate to you folks or the background hub that is the same diam throughout? 




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## Mercian (Aug 19, 2019)

Hi Jesse et al.

Thanks for trying to push this forwards. I agree that the outer diameters for the races look larger than the center part - this is one of the features I've been looking for.

Incidentally, a possibility turned up on the CABE sales over the weekend (sold before I got there).

https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/toc-teens-wood-wheel-hubs.157199/ 

_Detail of Nickinator's photos, with Thanks._








This seems close, and is apparently a Morrow hub. This may be important since the rear hub is a Morrow, and Heavy Duty Eclipse (Morrow) hubs were specified for the WW2 Military G519 bicycles.

I would welcome any further thoughts.

Best Regards,

Adrian


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## Jesse McCauley (Aug 19, 2019)

I dug allll the way to the bottom of the hub bin and found this one, what think ye hive mind? 










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