# Hi folk  new member. What at do I have here?. Excelsior America



## lowhog (May 29, 2011)

*Hi folks  new member. What at do I have here?. Excelsior America*

I found this Boys bicycle at a flea market yesterday.The Brass neck badge says America Excelsior Mfg Co Michigan City Ind.The bage has a eagle on it.The serial number on the center post is 208108. The leather on the seat is stamped Troxel Elyria,Ohio.It has a skip tooth chain and sprockets.New departure model d rear hub.New departure front hub.26x 2.125 tires marked United States Peerless cord.Does anyone have info on this bike?When it was Made?Value? Pictures added 










Thanks Mike


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## redline1968 (May 29, 2011)

1950's cleveland welding 75.00 - 125.00 my guess.


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## RMS37 (May 29, 2011)

I agree with the general pricing and time period but the frame was made by the H.P. Snyder company, not Cleveland Welding.


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## IJamEcono (May 29, 2011)

I like it a lot. Cool bike.


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## lowhog (May 30, 2011)

reserch shows a excelsior mfg co Michigan City Indana.America model a prewar.


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## RMS37 (May 30, 2011)

Hi Mike,

I should have noted that this bike is an assemblage of parts from a number of sources as opposed to being an original bike.

The frame and fork of this bike were definitely produced by the H.P. Snyder Company and the forward facing dropouts show it to be no older than the late 1940’s. The sprocket with 4 H’s is a girl’s version of the Harris sprocket used on many of the bicycles produced by Snyder for D.P. Harris before WW2 and not usually seen postwar. The fact that it is the girl’s sprocket shows it is not original to the boys frame. The truss rods have been taken from a Schwinn bicycle.  The fenders, braces, and chain guard are all generic replacement parts.

The H.P. Snyder factory was located in Little Falls New York; in an expansion move they purchased the former Excelsior bicycle factory in Michigan City, Indiana in the mid thirties when it became available. Snyder produced bicycles under hundreds of different badges for various retail markets. Many of the badges were designed as tributes to earlier manufacturers whose lines had been absorbed by the company over the years. The badge on this bike is in the simple oval pattern of many of the Snyder badges so this is one possible explanation for its appearance on this bike. Another possible explanation is that, considering the assembled nature of the bike, it is an earlier Excelsior badge that was placed on the bike by the person that assembled it from parts. 

I’d hold to my general market value for the bike in the Hobby because it is assembled and does not contain any particularly rare or valuable parts. It is also typical of this type of bike that parted out strategically the individual parts might bring twice what the bike would bring as a whole. Depending on your location it could also be worth more than it’s “collector value” sold locally as a vintage rider for someone looking for that type of bike.


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## bricycle (May 30, 2011)

Welcome to the CABE! Yea, it's a mixture of parts, but it looks cool. Just lube it up and ride it! If you want to put a more comfortable modern seat on it, you could probably sell yours for $50-$75. Grips are somewhat sought after as may be the tires if their not cracked up too bad.
Have fun, bri.


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## lowhog (May 30, 2011)

thanks guys.I'm going to take it apart,paint the frame the original red thats under the black, shine it up and ride it. Its strill a cool looking bike.The tires have no cracks at all.Regards Mike


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