# Want to know year/model of my J.C. Higgins



## ratina (Dec 21, 2009)

I just bought this J.C. Higgins, from what I've been told its a 1958. I know the fork is a Cleveland Welding Shockmaster and I was told the crank/sprocket are prewar Rollfast. 

Under the BB is:

MOS-P 
MOD 502       275
15452

I know that means its Murray built, I was told the "P" was 1958.
502 was for sears which would have been Higgins. 

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Ben


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## Adamtinkerer (Dec 23, 2009)

Welcome Ben, I saw this over on RRB the other day. As far as the Elgin/JC Higgins?Hawthorne books show, this style frame was a base model bike in 54-57. 58 and up pages only show canti frames, including some Westfield/Columbia built. Usually, the # between MOD 502 and the serial# is a catalog #, but around those years they were 4000 series #'s. So, a tricky one! I have a near identical frame, but it's Monark built, with typical wishbone rear stays. The cat pics show the Murray version like yours. The 54-5 versions werre skip tooth, no pics in 56, and the 57 was a middleweight version, not sure if the frame was changed. (probably not)


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## ratina (Dec 23, 2009)

Thanks for the response. 

That is interesting, so your not sure if the "P" dates it to 58? From the sounds of it, it should be earlier than that.


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## Adamtinkerer (Dec 24, 2009)

..."so your not sure if the "P" dates it to 58? From the sounds of it, it should be earlier than that."      Yes, this is a head scratcher! If it was a Murray badged bike, I'd more likely go with 58, but they did seem to do things differently on store badged bikes.


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## ratina (Dec 27, 2009)

Also, the few pictures I could find of Higgins frames like this had a straight second bar except for the curve in front, mine is completely curved. Is this a different model then a Colorflow then? Anyone have a picture of an original bike like mine?


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## Adamtinkerer (Dec 28, 2009)

"Also, the few pictures I could find of Higgins frames like this had a straight second bar except for the curve in front, mine is completely curved. Is this a different model then a Colorflow then?"                                                                                                                Yes, as far as I know, the CF's all had the straight 2nd bar. This style bike was listed as a basic bike, with painted rims, and no tank or rack. It had the same description and illustration in the 54 and 55 spring/summer catalogs. The 56s were unusual due to what was likely a strike at Murray, so many 56s were actually made by Stelber, with 3 piece cranksets. I've also seen several that were made by Chain Bike Co. (Ross). The 57 line included a new "Speed Flite" middleweight bikes which look like the same frame. Its hard to tell for sure, these pages are photocopies of the originals in the 'Elgin/JC Higgins/Hawthorne book'. If my scanner still worked, I'd scan them for you.


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## JLarkin (Dec 28, 2009)

I think it's a mutt.  Good parts, worthy of being on the proper bikes, but mismatched here.


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