# Great Western Bicycles notched out or not bottom bracket shells



## shoe3 (Jun 27, 2018)

I have seen notched out and not notched out Great Western bicycle bottom brackets. Threaded and non threaded cups??? Anyone got a take on this?


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## fordmike65 (Jun 27, 2018)

shoe3 said:


> I have seen notched out and not notched out Great Western bicycle bottom brackets. Threaded and non threaded cups??? Anyone got a take on this?



My '16 Adlake is both notched and threaded.


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## mongeese (Jun 27, 2018)

For Fauber cranks


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## fordmike65 (Jun 27, 2018)

mongeese said:


> For Fauber cranks



True, my Adlake does have a Fauber crankset.


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## pedal4416 (Jun 27, 2018)

My ‘16 Crown is threaded for Fauber.


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## shoe3 (Jun 27, 2018)

pedal4416 said:


> My ‘16 Crown is threaded for Fauber.



From Richard Great Western expert....hey Phil...if there was a Fauber crank with threaded cups, the housing was smaller and it had notches. Some export and contract bikes were press-in cups and non-Fauber stamped. ALL bikes that GW made after 1921 were non-Fauber with no notches,bigger BB housing and press-in cups..... Hope all is well with you


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## Archie Sturmer (Jun 27, 2018)

mongeese said:


> For Fauber cranks



So, did William H. Fauber sell whole bottom brackets to those bicycle makers.
Oh, and any advice on disassembling a threaded and notched BB with 3-slot cups; (I may have to find my propane torch).


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## mongeese (Jun 27, 2018)

One cup threads off first and the other comes off second. No other way around it.


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## mickeyc (Jun 28, 2018)

The Mead I just sold had threaded, notched cups.


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## Archie Sturmer (Jul 6, 2018)

I was directed to *Gendron* bicycles recently, and discovered that some of those bikes had the scooped BB with 3-notch threaded cups.  (Also, I believe I've found an application of my odd truss fork).  So, were bicycle makers who used an external source, such as Fauber, for parts such as bottom brackets and cranks, more likely to go out of business earlier?


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## shoe3 (Jul 7, 2018)

Not sure about the sourcing out of parts by mfgs. caused closings. Iver Johnson made most the parts for the bicycles they sold.They went under right around ww2. After ww1 quite a few bicycle mfgs.closed after making munitions for gov. and great Depression set in.  Shelby,Colson,Columbia,D.P.Harris, and a few others struggled through. Dayton ,Davis went under then came back.


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## hoofhearted (Jul 7, 2018)

*Hope my memory is not failing on this one .....
Fauber right-side cup is a clockwise thread.
Fauber left-side is a counter-clockwise thread.*

*Try this when removing entire crank .....*

*Remove everything from the left-side of bicycle-
crank area first ... including the left cup. *

*Can't remember if the crank waltzes out nicely
from the right side ... or if the right cup needs to
be removed in stages as the crank is being re-
moved.*

*I really like the steel quality and heat treatment
in the Fauber hardware ... but there is definitely 
a pattern of sorts, when removing and reinstalling.*

*Maybe the reader has had better experiences when 
futzing with things Fauber.*

*..... patric*


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## Rambler (Mar 3, 2020)

So from reading the above comments, am I correct to assume that any bicycle with notched frame crank housing and threaded cups is most likely a mid teens "*Great Western"* built bicycle with Fauber crank?






If I am correct to assume these are "*Great Western"* built bicycles. Some other features "*Great Western"* built bicycles seem to have in common are:

Rear wheel dropout with square head adjusting screw threaded into frame.
Seat binder bolt that pinches the seat stays together.
Paint scheme with diamonds on the ends of the frame darts.
Fenders that are sort of flat with a raised rib down center and threaded rods for fender braces.


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## Rambler (Mar 4, 2020)

More "*Great Western"* built bicycles with similar features and paint schemes:









						Two New Hoosier Great Western Bikes | Antique Bicycles Pre-1933
					

This has been a good week! I picked up this 1921-ish Reading Standard from Crown King in Indianapolis last Sunday morning...  and then I got this 1915 or so curly frame Crown locally from Smoopy. I've been after the Crown for 6 or 7 years and it finally came available.    The Reading Standard...




					thecabe.com


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