# Musselman Armless Coaster Brake



## Jesse McCauley

Looking for any info I can gather on this Musselman Armless Coaster - 

No luck looking up the patent info, any insights? 

Also, what is the function of the elongated "nut" on one side of the hub axle? 
I have seen it before, generally on a 3 speed internal hub, but what is the function with a coaster single?


----------



## pedal4416

The long axle nut is for "hopping up on" the bike easier. The armless musselman hub was used late teens to early 20's on Miami built bikes and other makes. Someone else will chime in with more accurate info


----------



## pedal4416

I should add, dont try and hop from coaster peg to saddle. Youll crush Your Axle nuts.


----------



## Larmo63

Miami owned Musselman originally and most of, if not all of the Racycles built

had these hubs, front and rear. The rear step on this hub is rare and cool, keep 

them together. These were a throwback to "Ordinary" bicycles and "safety" bikes 

were mounted from behind as in the old fashion. This went out of style when it was 

more convenient to just throw a leg over.


----------



## Wcben

Comeon now, lets see the rest of your Racycle....we see see the edge of the chainwheel in one shot!


----------



## sam

Larmo63 said:


> were mounted from behind as in the old fashion. This went out of style when it was
> 
> more convenient to just throw a leg over.



But you can still buy them today in most bicycle shops because the BMX kids love them!

Also they were popular in pairs for giving rides so you did sometimes see them used on 20s tur 50s bikes.


----------



## rustyspoke66

I believe it's this bike.
http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?38861-Help-Identifying-this-ol-Safety-Bike


----------



## Gary Mc

OK, Musselman & that chainring, very early Racycle?????? Interesting to say the least.


----------



## Coaster Brake

Just don't count on that armless brake to stop you in any sort of hurry...


----------



## Jesse McCauley

*Patent info?*

I'd love any further frame-study indicators about how to identify an early Racycle, not something I'm very well versed in but I'm learning steadily. 

Does anybody have any information about the Musselman patent info? Any ideas why I'm having little to no luck w/ the number stamped on the hub?


----------



## bike

*A good excercise as you can see the pat no*

try google search us patent ... and see what you find!


----------



## Gary Mc

Jesse, I'll try to find the patent tomorrow. I'm pretty adept at sleuthing the US Patent site.


----------



## GiovanniLiCalsi

*Musselman Coaster Brake*

Gary,
I have the same Musselman coaster brake on my Iver Johnson Truss Bridge.
I'm beginning to believe that the IJTB was manufactured around 1902.
The IJ serial numbers are #136554.


----------



## fatbike

I have one of theses hubs too attached to 26" wheels on a girls bicycle that had an Indian crank on it. Of course it did to have the long axle nut. That is cool yours does. Cannot for the life of read the fine stamping. Just Pat. and numerous numbers that I can vaguely make out. That is an early rear hub. I assumed it was a little later. What would a Mussleman front hub look from the same era? Any know? Not trying to highjack this thread . found it interesting. Thx



I found an ad for the hub and neat site.

http://racycle.blogspot.com/2009/08/majors-story-racycle-odyssey-100-years.html


----------



## Larmo63

The front Musselman hub is unstamped and quite average.

I have one going on my Racycle build.


----------



## fatbike

Thank you. That is what the front one looks like on my front wheel.


----------



## Minkey

What's the patent number?  Alvin Musselman sometimes used his Cleveland mechanic/test shop assistant's name in the patent.


----------



## chitown

*1911 American Motor Cycle Co*

American Motor Cycle Co 1911 catalog:


----------



## Larmo63

I have both the old style rear Musselman armless and the later one. The old one has 1907-08

patents and the newer one says model 1931? It's older than 1931 I believe. I'll post pics of my

front hub and rears......


----------



## Larmo63

*Older version...*


----------



## Larmo63

*Newer version....*


----------



## Larmo63

*Three front hubs....*

The rear one is possibly a Pierce, and the middle one is a Musselman. The MM has a slight 

flare to the outside shoulders.... front is a later ND spool w/sliding oiler.....


----------



## Larmo63

*Here's one on eBay right now....*

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-WOO...847?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35c884bc4f


----------



## OldRider

In the basement of our local museum is a really old bike that has an armless coaster brake. I don't think its a Morrow so others were doing this style too I guess. Was my first time seeing something like this, I was pretty wowed.


----------



## Larmo63

Btw, I don't think Jesse's bike is a Racycle.....I'm not familiar with those

rear dropouts.....


----------



## GiovanniLiCalsi

Minkey said:


> What's the patent number?  Alvin Musselman sometimes used his Cleveland mechanic/test shop assistant's name in the patent.




Patent date is 1907.


----------



## Andrew Gorman

Patent number  860234 for a look at the innards.


----------



## GiovanniLiCalsi

http://books.google.com/books?id=Gn...860234 musselman coaster brake patent&f=false


----------



## Andrew Gorman

Or the whole enchilada at:
https://www.google.com/patents/US86...BA&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=860234&f=false
With google patent search you can search by name, date, patent number or key word.  It's grand.


----------



## fordsnake

I found this article interesting, note the date: June 1, 1907




This is more legible if you're visually challenged like myself?





This is the patent referenced in the above article, again note the date of the patent, July 16, 1907. That's 45 days after it was publicly announced, surly someone was greasing someone's palm?  




How do you prevent infringement...you call them out!


----------



## bricycle

kool post Carlton...


----------



## GiovanniLiCalsi

Has anyone ever seen an Atherton armless coaster brake?


----------



## bricycle

GiovanniLiCalsi said:


> Has anyone ever seen an Atherton armless coaster brake?




if there are any, they'll be on the bay for $4000.....


----------



## GiovanniLiCalsi

Oh no!
Lets hope one shows up.


----------



## chitown

Another interesting side note is Peter O'Horo was the President of Excelsior Cycle Co that branched off when Excelsior Supply was liquidated in 1911. He was the one who moved Excelsior from Chicago to Michigan City in 1916.


----------



## bricycle

chitown said:


> Another interesting side note is Peter O'Horo was the President of Excelsior Cycle Co that branched off when Excelsior Supply was liquidated in 1911. He was the one who moved Excelsior from Chicago to Michigan City in 1916.




thanks Chi.


----------



## ejlwheels

*Atherton armless coaster*

I've never seen one in the flesh...


----------



## GiovanniLiCalsi

Wow!
Nice ad!


----------



## fordsnake

Here's another armless brakes.


----------



## ejlwheels

I just detectivized this to be an Eclipse Armless hub (pat. Feb. 9, 1909)



Does anybody else have one? 


I'm looking for the "lock washer" with the loaf of bread on it (see ad above) that would fit into the end.





Also, kind of cool is it is the only sprocket driver I have seen that is female as opposed to male.





The hub shell is nearly identical to this later (20's-30's) "Morrow V" shell



(if anyone has guts to it, I am interested)


----------



## kirk thomas

This armless says patents pending, it is a model 1931 can you tell me the year.


----------



## kirk thomas

I see here it's before 1931.


----------



## Barfbucket

kirk thomas said:


> This armless says patents pending, it is a model 1931 can you tell me the year.View attachment 780509 View attachment 780511 View attachment 780512



Looks kind of like 193L. Mine also looks the same, like it might be an L rather than a 1. I thought mine was 1931 with a bad 1 stamping, but after looking at yours I’m not sure. Your stamping is exactly like mine. Maybe they just had a bad stamp? It might be machining marks from stamping and rolling.


----------

