# Sooo either I have a custom JC Higgins or Im becoming lame on my web searching skills



## adamfixit (Sep 13, 2010)

An older woman passed away and when the kids were tossing things out I grabbed two bikes. One was a 1971 3-speed schwinn racer..... the other a mystery. I want to clean it up for my girlfriend but I would like to know exactly what it is first.

Here is what I know about it.
The front hub is stamped made in england.
I believe it has JC Higgins painted on the chain gaurd and on the seat post.
It is a single speed.
It has 40 spoke rims
The left rear drop-out has a code 15046ky.

So it is a english made JC Higgins? The only thing I cant figure out is an aproximate year... Im not looking for exact just an educated guess...like 1995 to 2000

This guy on ebay has an identicle frame but no year.
http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-FRAME-J...142?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aa491bfc6

Can any of the bike buffs figure this out?

I have some pic to help out.

Thanks!


----------



## Strings-n-Spokes (Sep 14, 2010)

Hmm
Sears sold European made bikes with the Higgins badge. The lugged frame construction and 3 piece crank are euro bike features for that time period.
Cleaning and close inspection should tell you if the chainguard is original to the frame.  I think that the fenders and identical to Raleigh fenders from the late 60's and early 70's.  I am not sure if Raleigh made their fenders, or if they were made by another company and could have ended up on different English and European brands and makes.  Much like different makers of American bikes putting Wald or McCaulley fenders on their bikes.

If you determine that the chainguard is original and that it is a JC Higgins I would start trying to find Sears catalogues starting around 1965 and start looking for your bike.  The formation of the top bars is very specific so that alone will at the very least help identify the manufacturer.
Hope this helps


----------



## Adamtinkerer (Sep 14, 2010)

These bikes were generally made by Puch or Steyr, and I think Styria made the 3 speed hubs. They started using a chainring with the JC Higgins name in it around 1955. Actually, the 55 catalog says "Imported from France, England, Austria", so it could be Raliegh related. Not a lot of info about these exists, but they're neat anyway!


----------

