# Original 1942 WWII Columbia VG 295 , in OD Paint



## Frank Rizzo (Nov 1, 2015)

I thought I would post this Columbia Victory bike / VG 295 used by the US Army during the war.
I have a mens 1941 pre black out, and a Woman's 1943 , this one is cool as it has light OD paint over the factory maroon color, and the typical darker late war OD on top.
The ser. # is G82699 , 1942 , it is a 22" frame , and a 7" head tube, way bigger than my other mens VG

This is the way I received it , although it had a B&D chain on it , but I need that for a MG project I am doing.
I don't think these bikes came with B&D chains , so it might have been add at the Army base.

If any one has any new info please share.  I have never seen one in the OD paint
I am going to sell this one / frame and fork- and crank set , if any one is interested , shoot me a email , bergerwerke@gmail.com


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## Bozman (Nov 19, 2015)

I'm now the proud owner of this frame. I have rims, hubs, spokes and pedals to finish this off. I'm on the hunt for fenders, seat post, seat and handlebars for this bike. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


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## johan willaert (Nov 19, 2015)

Last summer I found an all original Vg296 Women's model... Let me know if I can be of help with detailed pictures of the common parts...
You have my email...

Cheers,

Johan


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## Bozman (Nov 20, 2015)

Thanks Johan! I have a complete woman's Vg 296 that I am restoring for a friend of mine so I think I have all the correct parts I'll need to hunt down. I'm currently up to my neck in restoration projects! Which is a good thing. All the Best!


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## HUFFMANBILL (Nov 26, 2015)

*Vg 295*



Bozman said:


> Thanks Johan! I have a complete woman's Vg 296 that I am restoring for a friend of mine so I think I have all the correct parts I'll need to hunt down. I'm currently up to my neck in restoration projects! Which is a good thing. All the Best!




Hey Boz,

Here are a couple of pics of my 1942 Vg 295 ( has the Sport's Tourist decal on the frame neck to lower bracket tube ) I set it up to look like a newsboy bike .  Even has a circa 1941 flashlight and Columbia script grips.

Regards, Bill


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## johan willaert (Nov 26, 2015)

Great bike, Bill

What tires are you running on your Vg295?


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## HUFFMANBILL (Nov 26, 2015)

johan willaert said:


> Great bike, Bill
> 
> What tires are you running on your Vg295?




Hi Johan,

The bike came with two war tires.  One was a Fisk Air-Flyte and the other a Good Year.  I removed the war tires and installed a pair of period Good Year tires that I had (not war tires ).  So now both tires are Good Year with the ribbed style treads. Also, both are 26x1.375 tires.

Regards,  Bill


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## Bozman (Nov 26, 2015)

I've been using the Schwinn S6 tires on my 26x1.375 rims with great success when I can't find good 26x1.375 tires.  Most of my riders use the Schwinn S6 tires.   

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## Bozman (Nov 26, 2015)

HUFFMANBILL said:


> Hey Boz,
> 
> Here are a couple of pics of my 1942 Vg 295 ( has the Sport's Tourist decal on the frame neck to lower bracket tube ) I set it up to look like a newsboy bike .  Even has a circa 1941 flashlight and Columbia script grips.
> 
> Regards, BillView attachment 253269View attachment 253270



That's a great bike Bill. Here is my daily rider a 1942 Road Master Victory Model built by Cleveland Welding Company.  I just picked up a second one for restoration a few weeks ago.  They were only produced in January and February of 1942.  



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## HUFFMANBILL (Nov 27, 2015)

Bozman said:


> I've been using the Schwinn S6 tires on my 26x1.375 rims with great success when I can't find good 26x1.375 tires.  Most of my riders use the Schwinn S6 tires.
> 
> Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk




Hi Boz,

The S-6 tires are nice.  Kenda makes a nice tire for S-6 rims and they are a similar match for the Schwinn Whirl-Wind light weight war tires that came on my matching men's and women's 1942 Schwinn New World Victory bikes.

Regards, Bill


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## HUFFMANBILL (Nov 27, 2015)

Bozman said:


> That's a great bike Bill. Here is my daily rider a 1942 Road Master Victory Model built by Cleveland Welding Company.  I just picked up a second one for restoration a few weeks ago.  They were only produced in January and February of 1942.
> 
> 
> 
> ...





Nice bike Boz.  Here are a couple pics of the Kenda S-6 tires on my 1942 Schwinn made Chicago Bicycle Supply Co. ''LaSalle'' Victory lightweight at the Ripkin MV show a couple years ago.


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## Bozman (Nov 27, 2015)

Totally agree with you Bill. The Kenda S-6 tires are the way to go until some reproduces the 26x1.375s.  Occasionally I find a set that are not dry rotted. I now have quite a few war tires in the 26x1.375 size in my collection now.  Great looking bike by the way.  

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## Bozman (Dec 3, 2015)

Just finished restoring a 1942 Firestone Featherweight with the Kenda S6 tires on them.


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## HUFFMANBILL (Dec 4, 2015)

Very nice Boz.  I like your paint-work!

Bill


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## yoerg4 (Jan 29, 2016)

I like that the OD paint looked to be applied with a brush-very WWII GI. I am working on exactly the same bike, serial G85949. I wonder how many of these bikes ended up in use by the military?


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## Bozman (Jan 29, 2016)

I have an original Vg295 that was spray painted with the WW2 OD then later sprayed with the post war darker OD. No need to brush paint it. 









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## yoerg4 (Jan 29, 2016)

Has anyone seen an original in Navy Gray?


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## Bozman (Jan 29, 2016)

yoerg4 said:


> Has anyone seen an original in Navy Gray?



I have not seen one in haze gray but Columbia had advertising with a sailor on black one.  

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## pkleppert (Jan 29, 2016)

Recently acquired a Sports Tourist model with serial # G36869 and a 6" head tube with Schwinn Breeze Tourist tires. Are these the same model as your Vg 295? 

 

 

 

 also just recently purchased a matching front fender.


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## Bozman (Jan 29, 2016)

Great find! You can replace the tires with Kenda Schwinn S6 . The handle bars would be painted black. I use Krylon black gloss and it matches the originals in my collection perfectly.  If I were you I'd just clean it up and not paint it OD.  Your call.  It looks great as is. I don't have enough research to say if the main chain sprocket is correct for a Columbia. The ones I've seen have the cutout in them. Great bike. 

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## Mercian (Jul 8, 2022)

Hi All,

Recently coming across these advertisments, I thought I'd put them here for reference. Apparently from 1943.











Best Regards,

Adrian


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## TequilaMockingbird (Oct 31, 2022)

Mercian said:


> Hi All,
> 
> Recently coming across these advertisments, I thought I'd put them here for reference. Apparently from 1943.
> 
> ...



Wow!  Thanks Adrian.  I note the "...we'll help you determine if you're eligible for..."  and the "sold with certificate" verbiage on the ads.  I remember my dad saying that he used what he called a "transportation ration coupon" as authorization to buy his Columbia VG295 Sports Tourist in May of '42.  I also find interesting the prices: $33.50 and $27.95.  I guess marketing folks have been running the 95 and 99 cent scam for quite a while.  Also, I think we forget in our current world of vast overproduction how much things used to cost.  I know my father was earning $35/week during The War and he said that was considered "good money."  Imagine a base model bicycle costing a professional's weekly wage today.  We wouldn't expect to buy a cheap bike at Wal Mart for more than, say $200.  So it's safe to say that bikes cost during The War about 10 times what they do today.


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