# 1892? band brake bicycle



## Aerocycle36 (Jun 14, 2011)

I picked this bicycle up at an estate sale of an antique dealer that I was trying to buy it from over a number of years, What is it???


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## bricycle (Jun 14, 2011)

THANK YOU.... It's been too long since I've seen her last! Ahhh... I needed that. Other than, magnificent, I wish I knew what she was.


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## Andrew Gorman (Jun 14, 2011)

Very neat!  My best guess is some kind of pneumatic tire safety ca. 1892 or so.  Folks at thewheelmen.org  might have some better ideas.  I like the chain, seat and mounting peg- now get it back on the road!


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## Aerocycle36 (Jun 14, 2011)

I think that these are some rather lousy photos, I'm trained as a forensic evidence photographer so it would only be right for me to drag this thing out side and take some much better photos of it, maybe this weekend! Doing some research, this bike has some (few) similarities to the 1892 Columbia Century and to the English Coventry (Singer) bicycles but I'm still at a loss as to who made it and when. All I can say about the originality of this bike is that the front rim was replaced with a wood rim and in order to do that, they cut off the spoke heads and threaded that end so they could use regular nipples. The spokes are threaded on both ends, a rather genius repair that fortunately left the original front hub on the bike (if it was me a hundred years ago, I would of just replaced the whole front wheel and that hub would have been lost forever).


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## Aerocycle36 (Jun 14, 2011)

THANKS!!! The valve stem hole in the rear rim is kind of square and looks like it was punched with a chisel so I don't know if it was originally a solid tire or converted to a pneumatic. I registered with the wheelmen and they still haven't accepted my registration, so I'm posting it here.


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## Andrew Gorman (Jun 14, 2011)

A lot of cushion tire bikes were converted to pneumatics- an original cushion tire rim usually has a flare or bell shape at the edge to keep the rim from cutting into the tire.  It's late now, but I'll try to find a picture.  Google books has some good period references.  RE: the wheelmen, they are a very old fashioned organization, and while the web message board is useful  not many of their members use it and they depend on their paper newsletter for lot of information.  It's well worth the 25.00 or so to join.  If you are in the midwest they have a lot of events, but darn few anywhere else.  The threaded hubs will be a good clue- from what little I know that seems earlier than later.  Is there any evidence of a headbadge or a patent plate anywhere on the bike?  That could be a clue, and how wide are the rims? The fork and headset are pretty distinctive but there were hundreds of bicycle manufacturers in the 1890's.  I have an un-named cushion tire safety that is "next" in the queue, so this is a subject I've been digging into.  You might check on patents for bicycle band brakes, but it seems like a pretty simple set up.  The front rim does look smaller than it should be- is the rear a 30" tire?  Again, it's a neat bike!  Here's an interesting catalog from 1892 that should get you into the mindset of an early safety:
http://books.google.com/ebooks/reader?id=M-qdj_r0jckC&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&pg=GBS.PA1
"Now you have a bicycle.  Ride, practice and prosper"


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## redline1968 (Jun 15, 2011)

i can see why he kept it. great bike i love it..


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## DonChristie (Jun 15, 2011)

WOW! That is old! Are the pedals Torringtons? Pedal style (if orig.) is a clue to dating it. Although, I think your guesstimate of year is about right. Why do you suppose it has pegs on both Front and Rear? Extra passengers? Early Trick/freestyle bike? I have never seen pegs or that sort of braking mechanism before.


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## Andrew Gorman (Jun 15, 2011)

The peg on the rear is for mounting the bike-
http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-rear-peg-mount-fixie-fixed-gear-bicycle-173132/
the ones on the fork give you a place to put your feet when you are rocketing down a hill on your fixie.


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## Aerocycle36 (Jun 16, 2011)

Thanks Andrew, I really appreciate your input and info on this bike. The fork and headtube are both stamped with the same serial number of 9067. I can't believe that there was over 9000 of these things built and yet I can't find a photo of one. Or maybe the first 2 digits are the model number and this is the 67th one built. Who knows... I'm probably overthinking it at this point but after 2 years of finding absolutely zero on this thing I'm kinda grasping at straws.


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## Aerocycle36 (Jun 16, 2011)

*more pics*

Here's a few more photos, mostly of the adjustable crank housing and there is a teaser photo in the bunch!


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## Zephyr (Jun 16, 2011)

It's a beauty. I hope to be able to see one being ridden in the near future. Amazing bicycle. Would it be impolite to ask how much you got it for?


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## Aerocycle36 (Jun 16, 2011)

The bidding stalled at 75 dollars and when I thought that I had it bought, another guy jumped in and started bidding. I kept bouncing up 100 bucks at a time trying to scare him off but he didn't let up until it got up to 750.00 dollars. He balked at that point and just turned walked off down the street and around the corner and was gone. I found out later that he was a bike collector that had his eye on it for a few years also. I've already turned down 1500.00 for it but once I figure out what it is, I'll either sell it or restore it but for now I like it rusty and dusty!


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## Zephyr (Jun 16, 2011)

That's not a too bad of a price considering its age and all the history this bike as. Good for you to get it home with you.


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## Aerocycle36 (Jun 16, 2011)

It belonged to a rather well known politician (Len Small, governor of Illinois in the 1920's) I'm hoping that a photo of him with the bike surfaces someday as some of his family still lives in this area. The craftsmanship of this bike is unbelievable so the price must have been equally as unbelievable too, I can only imagine that a young man that just spent a large chunk of a years pay on a bike would be proud enough of it to get his photo taken with it!


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## bricycle (Jun 17, 2011)

Yea, makes more sense it is # 67....


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## bricycle (Jun 17, 2011)

I love the way everthing is adjustible on that bike.


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## oldspoke (Jun 17, 2011)

Hello
Very nice early pneumatic ! Have you tried to clean the end plates of the pedals for any identifying marks or manufacturers info ? The saddle looks to be of English make. " Harper " style pneumatic tires
are now being made again. The 28 x 1 3/4 smooth tread tires would look good on this bike. Good luck ! Cool machine ! Love the band brake.
G


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## Andrew Gorman (Jun 17, 2011)

The stem hole on the rear rim could be a clue to at least what tires were fitted to it- there were scores of different types developed to dodge everyone else's patents.  With the very long steerer tube and the 30" wheels originally fitted it looks earlier than later to me.  By 1893 or so diamond frame bikes were looking more like a modern bike than the short wheelbase early safeties. The spokes threaded at the hub are a holdover from the ordinaries.  Here's an ad from 1892:
http://books.google.com/books?id=lW...2TQ98p0wEGGotuxLupNTUw&ci=10,9,530,745&edge=0
Obviously not your bike, and a little out of date for the time.  Interestingly enough, that manufacturer  is still in business- making candles.  I've been having fun looking through google books for bicycle and tire information- I haven't had enough time to actually put the information together,  but there is some useful stuff there.  "Outing" magazine had a good rundown on new bicycle models every year.  There were so many that they did not cover them all, and the maker of yours may remain a mystery.  Good luck and good hunting!


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## pelletman (Jun 27, 2011)

1892 to 94 is a good guess, and I'd say 93ish.  The offers  you have are pretty good.  Andrew we have plenty of Wheelmen stuff in the NE.  Where are you?


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## radlmax (Jul 1, 2011)

i know this brake from an early columbia - the one with the elliptic chainwheel. very interesting brake, like the whole bike. the way the gearing is fixed to the frame is similar to my thomas smith and sons safety from ca. 1890. see it here: 




see more of the bike here: http://www.veliciousbicycles.com/2011/06/thomas-smith-and-sons-hard-tire-safety.html


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## Aerocycle36 (Sep 27, 2011)

*Update!!!*

The bike was taken to the Arlington Heights Illinois bike show in August and was looked at by a lot of people, One couple who had an obvious interest in all things British said that it has all the hallmarks of an English made bike. I've been told before that it didn't look "American"... go figure... Hopefully that bit of info will make tracking down the manufacturer a lot easier. I know that this is the wrong section on this forum, but I'm clearing out a bunch of my bikes and this one doesn't really fall into my field of interest so I think it needs a new home.


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## pelletman (Sep 27, 2011)

I would guess English too.


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## charliechaindrive (Oct 1, 2011)

*neat!*

Wow that thing is awesom! How much did you pay for it?


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## Aerocycle36 (Oct 1, 2011)

This is from one of my earlier posts in this thread... "The bidding stalled at 75 dollars and when I thought that I had it bought, another guy jumped in and started bidding. I kept bouncing up 100 bucks at a time trying to scare him off but he didn't let up until it got up to 750.00 dollars. He balked at that point and just turned walked off down the street and around the corner and was gone. I found out later that he was a bike collector that had his eye on it for a few years also. I've already turned down 1500.00 for it but once I figure out what it is, I'll either sell it or restore it but for now I like it rusty and dusty!" UPDATE... I had a few offers for it now at 1600 dollars and probably should of taken one of those people up on their offer. I'm not needing the money, I'm just so buried in antique car and bike stuff that I'm beginning to worry about the mess that my family will have to deal with if something were to happen to me. Over the next couple of months, I'm gonna sell off or part out about a dozen Cycletrucks, some balloon tire Schwinn stuff and a bunch of other bikes and frames and parts and.......you get the point.


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