# Ladies Mead Ranger



## chitown (Jan 3, 2011)

So I bought a bike for the light shell & fender mount I could make out in the ad. The Craigslist pics weren't the best (or from the right side) but I "popped" and bought it for $160 sight unseen or poorly seen at best. 

The seller was kind enough to deliver it for a $20 paypal deposit towards the purchase. Happy to find it was in great shape with lots of grime but under that grime is some nice chrome and paint. Has a great chain guard that should clean up great. Torrington deco stem, New Departure Model D rear, triple step rims with some brand new Chairman Mao special whitewalls. Fenders are pitted but the frame is in good shape. Fork has some nickel left but I'll know more as I clean it.

Now to decide it's fate. I know the light and stem will probably make there way to one of my other project bikes. As for the rest of her,  we'll see how the tear down and cleaning look before I decide.

Craigslist ad: View attachment 15924
View attachment 15920View attachment 15921View attachment 15922View attachment 15923


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## chitown (Jan 3, 2011)

some more pics...View attachment 15929
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## chitown (Jan 3, 2011)

the Full Ad I found in google books search: 

View attachment 15930


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## JOEL (Jan 4, 2011)

Nice score. Looks like it will clean up OK. 

Here's mine.


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## chitown (Jan 4, 2011)

They're twins! Nice Joel, thanks for posting that! Wondering what year model... '36?


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## Adamtinkerer (Jan 5, 2011)

chitown said:


> They're twins! Nice Joel, thanks for posting that! Wondering what year model... '36?




Those are westfield (Columbia) built bikes, I believe they only made Rangers until the mid-late 30s. Actually, they might have standard Westfield serial numbers starting with a letter, can date it from that if that's the case.


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## chitown (Jan 6, 2011)

Two lines:

C-5
A 59141

Thanks,

Chris


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## bricycle (Jan 6, 2011)

Sent a PM to you...


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## JOEL (Jan 7, 2011)

They do have Westfield serial numbers. Mine is a 36.


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## Classicriders (Jan 7, 2011)

Rangers were made by several manufacturers into the mid 1950's.  Now as for which manufacturers made which years is another question.


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## chitown (Jan 8, 2011)

Cleaning is going good. Gotta thank fordsnake for his CLR tip in the restorations tips thread: http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?12538-Rust-removal-on-chrome-parts   Worked great on the fork. Still more detailing then onto the wheels and cranks/sprocket.

View attachment 16060
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The seat cover is not original but cool looking (corduroy and pleather) & well made. I wonder if it was homemade or made by a company? When I took the cover off there was the remanence of the original seat cover cut off between the 2 seat pans.

View attachment 16061


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## fordsnake (Jan 8, 2011)

> Gotta thank fordsnake for his CLR tip



Thanks for the props!


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## OldRider (Jan 8, 2011)

That fork looks super clean, CLR never even crossed my mind in relation to bikes, great tip!


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## chitown (Jan 11, 2011)

OK here's where it gets fun.

Cranks & sprocket removed & cleaned. The sprocket has a patent date of Jan 1 1918 stamped on it.

View attachment 16176

So I do an advanced google patent search under "Mead" for assignee field, narrow the search from 1918-1919 as patent dates, put "bicycle" in the "appears anywhere in text" field and up pops this...

View attachment 16177

http://www.google.com/patents?id=Gj...2#v=onepage&q=bicycle inassignee:mead&f=false

George Lewis designed this before going on to design the 1st Silver Kings. In the early Monark literature it mentions George Lewis was Vice President at Mead Cycles. This patent was filed in 1916! With 1/2 pitch!


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## chitown (Jan 11, 2011)

The fork was patented 1922. By George Lewis again.

View attachment 16181

http://www.google.com/patents?id=8X...1#v=onepage&q=bicycle inassignee:mead&f=false


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## bricycle (Jan 11, 2011)

...Great digging!


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## chitown (Jan 12, 2011)

*turning into a George S Lewis thread*



bricycle said:


> ...Great digging!




More digging has yielded more nuggets. Sifting through the silt (google books searching) and found that George Lewis worked at Mead Cycle and worked up the ranks from salesman to manager. Then in 1905 they incorporated Mead Motors to be separate from Mead Cycle Co. George Lewis as President and James L. Mead treasurer, and Arthur Perrottet secretary (later to become Mayor of Wheaton Illinois, 1915) 

It turns out Mead Motors offered three makes of cars. The Moline and the Gale and an imported car of German manufacture, the Benz! Three models of the Benz car sold; a 12-14 hp two-cylinder, a 18-22 hp four-cylinder one and a 35-40 hp four-cylinder.

This clip is a "minor mention" in a publication called "the Horseless Age" Jan 4-June 28, 1905:
View attachment 16225
These are taken from "The Motor Way" Feb 1905
View attachment 16224View attachment 16226


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## scrubbinrims (Jun 24, 2014)

JOEL said:


> Nice score. Looks like it will clean up OK.
> 
> Here's mine.




One of these days when you get a moment to flip the bike Joel, I'm betting a six pack this is a 1937 model...truss rods are not consistent with '36.
Ughhh, repro red typhoon cord tires...c'mon bro!
Chris


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