# Help With Another Badgeless Toc Bike?



## Brian R. (May 24, 2016)

This bike came out of a farm auction in southern Ontario, Canada, about 50 years ago. It looks to be an 1890s bike and could be Canadian-made, British-made, or American-made. The rear hub has no coaster brake or freewheel, so it probably originally had a spoon brake on the front wheel. I don't know anything more than this and what can be seen in the photos. I hope someone on The CABE will recognize some part of it and can tell me what it is - who made it and when. Thanks.


----------



## corbettclassics (May 24, 2016)

Not saying it's a Gendron but close maybe!


----------



## Brian R. (May 27, 2016)

Gendron also made bikes under the name Reliance. Here is a similar picture from an 1896 catalogue:


----------



## Brian R. (May 27, 2016)

If it's a Gendron / Reliance it could be from the Toronto Gendron factory that opened in 1895, since the bike has been in Canada for at least the past 50 years. That might explain the small differences in the rear fender and chain guard, if it wasn't because of a difference in year or model. I will attached some images of the factory then and now. If anyone has more information that this a Gendron or any other bike, please post. Thanks.


----------



## Brian R. (May 31, 2016)

More information: Both wheels are the same size, even though the front wheel looks smaller in the photo. The tire on the rear wheel is 26". The badge holes for the missing badge are one above the other and 2.5" apart. The owner (the bike is for sale) remarked that the screw holding the seat post is unusual so I asked him for a photo which I will attach here. It's a square head screw and holds the seat post from the rear. If anyone  recognizes the seat post arrangement please reply. If anyone has a Gendron badge from the era, could you measure the distance between the holes and let me know?


----------



## rustNspokes (Jun 7, 2016)

I don't think it's a Gendron. They liked to use sheet metal for the lugs, rather than castings and the seat stays are removable.


----------



## Brian R. (Apr 6, 2020)

Here is an update on this old post. The bike was made by Hartford (Pope's discount brand) probably in 1894 or '95. It appears in the 1896 Eaton's department store catalogue, and since it came from a farm in rural Ontario my bet is it was ordered through their catalogue. This was a popular way for rural Canadians to buy things in those days. So I've put an Eaton'a badge on it.

It has new clincher wood rims from Italy, Duro tires, new spokes, new cork grips, replated bar and seat post, a Sager saddle made by Dave Brown (on the CABE), and a new laced skirt guard. I used a coat hanger hook for the skirt guard mount. The paint is untouched.

-B


----------



## Brian R. (Apr 6, 2020)

p.s. The rusty chain cleaned up nicely, and that's the original 125 year old nickel on the hubs, preserved beautifully for a century under a thick layer of greasy dirt.


----------



## Wildeman (Apr 7, 2020)

Very well done! Can you tell me where you found the cork grips. I need some for a project.


----------



## Brian R. (Apr 8, 2020)

I bought them on Ebay in Nov. 2018 from a guy in Germany. They are very well made. I've tried to find more from him but no luck so far.


----------



## manuel rivera (Apr 8, 2020)

Congratulations! Beautiful job.


----------



## Kombicol (Apr 17, 2020)

Beautiful build
What model Duro tires are they?
They sure look good from the side.
Hard to find a 700C tire with period tread pattern


----------



## Brian R. (Apr 18, 2020)

Thanks. The tires are not 700C. It's a girl's bike with 26 x 1 3/8" tires. The pic in post #1 shows a black tire on the rear rim. It was a 26" modern tire on a tubular type rim so obviously a non-starter for riding. But it gave me the idea of buying a pair of white 26" tires to let sit on the rim like that for display purposes. It took a while to find a white pair online but I found these Duros - no words on the sidewall other than "Duro - Nylon". They came from Florida and with the shipping and taxes and duty and exchange rate, they cost me an arm and a leg.

Then this project really took off when I was poking around on the Cerchio Ghisallo website and discovered that they can make wood clincher rims for 26 x 1 3/8" tires in whatever spoke count I needed (They cost me my other arm and leg).

When I need white/cream 700C tires for my 28" wood rim bikes, I order Electra Amsterdam 700 x 40C 622 cream tires. They fit right on the clincher wood rims used by CCM a hundred years ago.


----------

