# Western Flyer Reproduction ?



## Dale Alan (Apr 29, 2016)

These are the only pics I have right now .A friend of mine picked this up in a package deal and had thoughts of parting it out to offset his costs .I am not sure what he has there,is this a reproduction or a mutt ? I told him not to get his hopes up,it did not look right to me.


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## CrazyDave (Apr 29, 2016)

I htink repro, pair of em at AA, nice lookin rides.  Think he wanted $1100 for the pair there, they were either cleaner or I didn't look at em too well...Then again I could be stupid and wrong


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## Freqman1 (Apr 29, 2016)

Not even really a repo but more of a tribute bike. My personal opinion is they are POS but others may really like them. I'd rather spend my $$ on the real deal. V/r Shawn


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## Evans200 (Apr 29, 2016)

Walmart quality.  Generic style. Western Flyer never even made a bike like this.


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## cds2323 (Apr 29, 2016)

Evans200 said:


> Walmart quality.  Generic style. Western Flyer never even made a bike like this.




These aren't really Walmart quality. It's a circa 1990 bike made by Aerofast. They used a lot of former Snyder/Rollfast tooling. Made in USA. Also used many Wald parts (also USA). Was more of a tribute bike as previously mentioned, not a reproduction of any particular model. Believe these also used a decent Shimano coaster brake.

No idea on value tho.

Edit: As far as parting, not much on it needed for other bikes. The Wald parts are mostly aftermarket. The tank is probably specific to this frame as well.


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## Dale Alan (Apr 29, 2016)

Thanks everyone . I had no knowledge of the Aerofast bikes . So much for parting it out,maybe he can regain a few bucks selling it whole. Their website states USA made w/ Wald parts so maybe that will be a selling point to someone that is not concerned w/ authenticity.


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## bairdco (Apr 30, 2016)

They're actually pretty good quality bikes. Aerofast/Emory made repo western flyers and columbias in the 80's and 90's, american made in florida, with Wald parts. 

The welds are high quality, 12g spokes on Sun metal products rims made in texas (I think, before it became sun-ringle.)

They retailed kinda high at $500, but are waaaay better than any walmart piece of crap.

I had an Emory industrial bike that was bomb-proof, rode beautifully, and I loved it.

Resale value, though, is crap. Collectors don't want them, and owner's that paid full retail can't recoup their money. 

Realistically, $250 should be a reasonable price, compared to the current junk cruisers out there, but they're such an oddball bike that no one takes them seriously.  Which is kinda sad, because they are american made, built to last, family owned, and, in my opinion, made better than any cruiser currently in production.


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## Evans200 (Apr 30, 2016)

cds2323 said:


> These aren't really Walmart quality. It's a circa 1990 bike made by Aerofast. They used a lot of former Snyder/Rollfast tooling. Made in USA. Also used many Wald parts (also USA). Was more of a tribute bike as previously mentioned, not a reproduction of any particular model. Believe these also used a decent Shimano coaster brake.
> 
> No idea on value tho.
> 
> Edit: As far as parting, not much on it needed for other bikes. The Wald parts are mostly aftermarket. The tank is probably specific to this frame as well.



You are correct. I was thinking of another repop brand made overseas. Thanks for pointing out my error!


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## 2jakes (Apr 30, 2016)

Dale Alan said:


> These are the only pics I have right now .A friend of mine picked this up in a package deal and had thoughts of parting it out to offset his costs .I am not sure what he has there,is this a reproduction or a mutt ? I told him not to get his hopes up,it did not look right to me.
> 
> View attachment 310784 View attachment 310785 View attachment 310786 View attachment 310787 View attachment 310788 View attachment 310789 View attachment 310790




It’s a reproduction “Western Flyer” that I remember from the ‘80s.
I have the ad somewhere. They were selling for about $400.
Here’s a sample in another color scheme.





I bought a reproduction “Western Flyer" like the one below at a used bike shop.



I developed a craze for “old bikes” & this was all I could find at the time. The ride was “clunky” but
it satisfied until I found an original.

This is an ad for a 1951 Western Flyer.
I believe this is what the “repo” was attempting to simulate, but didn’t quite get it right! 




Later I found an original Western Flyer  model X-53 which I had as a kid.
The color scheme on my X-53 had a “metallic” red. This was popular at the time.
I have seen Red Phantoms with a similar “fluorescent" red.
I believe the earlier Red Phantoms had a solid red color paint.
This is only my observation, others may have a different opinion.


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## vincev (Apr 30, 2016)

Asian junk,hope he finds a buyer.


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## CrazyDave (Apr 30, 2016)

Asian junk made in FL, I hate that!!!!!


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## bairdco (May 1, 2016)

The Emory side of the aerofast company has made industrial bikes since the early 70's.

My brother had one with the double straight bars that came out of Camp Pendleton, and I had a unisex model that came from the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. They make bombs and weird nuclear stuff.

They both had 11g spokes, Bendix coasters, and were not only nuke proof, but my brother's had "weapons division" stenciled on the top tube.

Emory sold huge amounts of bikes to Boeing, military bases, Lawrence Livermore, and a friend of mine who worked at disneyland said there were some old ones floating around there, too.

The same friend had the western flyer repop that he motorized. 

I'd rank them higher than Worksman cycles for their strength and rideability. 

They even made Webco bmx repops.

If you go to their website, you can read how they were authorized to make the columbia repop in the late 80's. 

I sold mine a few years back, and totally regret it. Definitely NOT asian junk. 

As I said, the repops are scorned by collectors, but they're built a 100 times better than the repop Taiwan schwinn phantoms from the 90's.

I think a lot of the negativity about them is due to the non-collector who doesn't know what they have and misrepresents it as "original" and puts it up for sale at a crazy price.

No matter what your opinion is, if you want a bar-hopper that can smash up and down curbs on your drunken way home, this is the bike you need.


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## burrolalb (May 7, 2016)

This is mine i think its a repop to but heak this bike got me in the game i love it 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk


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## bairdco (May 7, 2016)

Yours, well most of it, looks original. All aerofast/emory bikes have the serial number on the headtube.

Yours looks like it has drop center rims, the correct sprocket,  and the frame is different. 

Easiest way to tell a repop is by the parts. Shimano coasters, Wald everything. And the tank hardware is stainless phillips heads.


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