# That $50 1939 Girls Colson from Craigslist...



## HARPO (Jan 15, 2011)

A few months back I purchased this bike from a gentleman in Southampton, LI for $50 that was listed on Craigslist by him for originally $100. Though a lot rougher than I had hoped for, I'm still happy to have it. I might do a resto on it...I might just clean up what I can to prevent further rusting. I'll see. Anyway, attached are some photos I had taken when I got her home. I still think it was worth the money paid. It'll be in good company with my other bikes 

fred


----------



## npence (Jan 15, 2011)

The rear drop stand is worth the $50 so the rest of the bike was free. it is one girls bike I wouldnt mind having one day. good buy


----------



## militarymonark (Jan 15, 2011)

Do u want to make more money I'll be willing to buy the fenders and chain guard


----------



## HARPO (Jan 15, 2011)

My thoughts exactly about the rear stand. I figured that the finned chain guard was worth at least that also, so it was worth the drive to go and get it (about 50 miles from my house). I brought my wife with me to get it as there's a Tanger Outlet I promised to take her shopping to after we picked it up, and she's use to me bringing home some questionable condition bikes. But when she saw this, she said this was at the top of the "I can't believe you're actually buying that" list. Others she's had doubts on cleaned up beautifully, but she knew that this was a basket case that would take a lot more than just elbow grease.


----------



## HARPO (Jan 15, 2011)

Hi Patrick

Sorry, but 'll keep her intact as I might be doing a resto on her in the near future. I appreciate the offer anyway!

Fred


----------



## HARPO (Jan 15, 2011)

Here are a few more shots. Remember, this is exactly as I found her.....


----------



## Luckykat32 (Jan 17, 2011)

I'd pay $50 for the stand.


----------



## bairdco (Jan 17, 2011)

i know you said you're keeping it, i just wanna say you made a good buy. besides everyone wanting the stand, i sold a rear rack just like that for almost 200 bucks.


----------



## militarymonark (Jan 17, 2011)

i have the same bike but mine is missing the rack although Its in a 7 or 8 condition in this picture the tank is off of it for the moment


----------



## HARPO (Jan 18, 2011)

bairdco said:


> i know you said you're keeping it, i just wanna say you made a good buy. besides everyone wanting the stand, i sold a rear rack just like that for almost 200 bucks.




And to think I almost passed it up........


----------



## HARPO (Jan 18, 2011)

militarymonark said:


> i have the same bike but mine is missing the rack although Its in a 7 or 8 condition in this picture the tank is off of it for the moment




I wish that mine looked HALF as good as yours. BTW...do you have this and a few other shots on the Nostalgic website?

fred


----------



## bairdco (Jan 18, 2011)

here's my '38:


----------



## HARPO (Jan 19, 2011)

bairdco said:


> here's my '38:




Nice shape! You have that on the Nostalgic website, correct, with the before shot? Yours came from upstate NY, and mine from out on the east end of Long Island. Mine is missing the headlight, so it'll be the last piece of the puzzle before I begin to clean it up.

fred


----------



## militarymonark (Jan 19, 2011)

I think I might have uploaded them on there


----------



## bairdco (Jan 19, 2011)

yup, i put it up on Nostalgic when i got it all cleaned up.

i still have the frame and fork, but i found a man's imperial frame and fork and swapped all the parts.

i've got a bunch of colsons, and i almost have enough parts to put the old Vogue back to original. 

if i had a wife or a girlfriend, i'd probably build it up for her.

(side note... if i had a girlfriend, i let her _ride_ it, not give it to her. i'm still PO'd at my buddy for giving his now-ex his silverking wingbar. she hates the bike, but won't give it back out of spite...)


----------



## militarymonark (Jan 19, 2011)

thats why I wanted your parts so I could put them on my mens prewar colson and paint it the same and have a matching set but those parts are so hard to come by. I do have a set of fenders but I really need the chainguard.


----------



## kenji (Jan 20, 2011)

how cum nether of you guys offered to buy my men's colson? swap the frame paint it blue and who's to know you don't have a OG bike? i'd swap for a 1890's early teens frame


----------



## bairdco (Jan 21, 2011)

kenji, from all your posts it looked like you were having too much fun with yours and wouldn't give it up...

pm me with your price.


----------



## militarymonark (Jan 21, 2011)

i've had two of those and dont like the way it rides, the frame is too small for me


----------



## kenji (Jan 21, 2011)

militarymonark said:


> i've had two of those and dont like the way it rides, the frame is too small for me



 so a diffrent colson frame would be better for you?


----------



## HARPO (Jan 22, 2011)

I just noticed on the chain guard that there are two holes drilled in the top of it (if you look closely at militarymonark's blue bike you can see them also). Any idea as to what was supposed to be there if anything?????


----------



## militarymonark (Jan 22, 2011)

I think they were made to mount different frames so as to have different mounting spots im sure if we look in the colson catalogs we'll find our answer


----------



## HARPO (Jan 23, 2011)

This has nothing to do with mounting to the frame. It's on the top of the guard. Perhaps some sort of additional chrome/stainless steel strip was added on upscale models (though I haven't found any yet).


----------



## bairdco (Jan 23, 2011)

it's adjustable for different frames and different sprockets.

my Colson Vogue has them too, and i have a men's imperial with the same one and it uses different holes to line it up.

those same chainguards were used on many of their bikes, from tandems to heavy duty's, and also on the men's looptail style with the curved downtubes, and the diamond frame style with the straight downtube. 

it'd be a lot easier to drill a coupla holes in a chainguard to fit multiple bikes, then it would to design all your frames to fit one chainguard...


----------



## HARPO (Jan 24, 2011)

Thanks for the update. Sounds like you have a couple of beauties in your herd!


----------



## fatbike (Jan 24, 2011)

All Colson chain-guards you have described all have the same holes. Different size frames. Boys and girls frames have a different style ( straight boy's and girls curved) downtube In the 30's but use the same chain-guard.


----------



## kenji (Jan 29, 2011)

militarymonark said:


> i've had two of those and dont like the way it rides, the frame is too small for me




how big of a bike do you need?
i measured it and it's a little bigger than a middle weight cantalever schwinn...
this bke---
http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?12698-schwinn-rack&p=63311#post63311


----------



## HARPO (Dec 12, 2013)

Wow. I started this post quite a while ago...and still haven't gotten to the Colson. Anyone else have projects sitting this long???


----------



## THEGOLDENGREEK (Dec 12, 2013)

You did good on this colson...Great buy!!


----------



## videoranger (Dec 13, 2013)

"Sorry, but 'll keep her intact as I might be doing a resto on her in the near future. I appreciate the offer anyway!"
That's what I like to hear. I think it's a cute girls bike that would be a great restoration bike (worth the money to restore paint and chrome). Congrats on the nice find and getting her half the asking price! I have some projects that have been side-lined for long time too, but they're stored in a good enviorment.


----------



## HARPO (Dec 13, 2013)

videoranger said:


> "Sorry, but 'll keep her intact as I might be doing a resto on her in the near future. I appreciate the offer anyway!"
> That's what I like to hear. I think it's a cute girls bike that would be a great restoration bike (worth the money to restore paint and chrome). Congrats on the nice find and getting her half the asking price! I have some projects that have been side-lined for long time too, but they're stored in a good enviorment.




The seller actually lowered the price the following week to $50. Couldn't pass it up for that.
All of my projects are kept indoors, safe and sound. With the condition this one is in, it has to be, lol!!


----------



## charnleybob (Dec 14, 2013)

I have 2 Colson drop stands for sale, if interested.


----------



## HARPO (Jul 2, 2015)

And for those that haven't seen it, here's a 1939 Firestone I picked up a couple of weeks ago. I now have two "sister" bikes...


----------

