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1940 New World with a Bayliss-Wiley rear hub.

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Oilit

Cruisin' on my Bluebird
A couple of weeks ago I bought a 1940 (D8727, but the "8" is hard to read) New World with a derailleur three speed rear hub. The derailleur itself is a Huret Alvit, so no older than the late '50's, but the rear hub is an English Bayliss-Wiley. I found one piece of advertising on the Veteran-Cycle Club library, but there's no date. The hub has 36 spokes and is laced to what looks like the original pre-war rim, so it must have been made for the American market, but does anybody know when Bayliss-Wiley were in operation? The woman I bought this from said her mother bought it from a guy who was getting shipped off to WWII and rode it until she was 70. She also had an uncle who worked on bikes (I'm not sure if she meant he was her mother's uncle or her own) and he was probably the one who installed the three-speed, with whatever he had lying around. It was stiff when I first got it, but I sprayed it down with some penetrating oil and now it feels ready to go! These are the best pictures I've got for now (the first three were from the seller), I'll get some better ones later.

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Bayliss Wiley Freewheel Brochure - 1.JPG


Bayliss Wiley Freewheel Brochure - 2.JPG
 
That derailleur is what I call the second gen Allvit. The first 1958? version was pretty different. That one first showed up on some imported Higgins lightweights and the Schwinn Corvette 5 and Continental in mid 61.

Very interesting hub. Threaded on both ends?
 
That derailleur is what I call the second gen Allvit. The first 1958? version was pretty different. That one first showed up on some imported Higgins lightweights and the Schwinn Corvette 5 and Continental in mid 61.

Very interesting hub. Threaded on both ends?
I've heard of the early bikes having different sprockets on either side so you could change gears, maybe this was something similar? But then why have a three speed freewheel? This is a new one on me.
 
I've heard of the early bikes having different sprockets on either side so you could change gears, maybe this was something similar? But then why have a three speed freewheel? This is a new one on me.
First hub I've seen threaded on both ends. Made for different types of riding maybe, like casual on flat to casual on hilly? Ha!
Cool option for someone that wants something a little different.
 
Bayliss Wiley is an old company that goes back before WWII. Could be a period hub - they were making hubs in the 1930s-40s. It has a flip-flop hub to allow a couple options for gearing. Often a freewheel would be on one side and a fixed gear on the other. The derailleur is newer, as you say. Nice having the reverse color fenders. That was a cool option to have.
 
I'm a fan of that era of British high flange double sided hubsets. No Bayliss yet but I've managed to acquire a couple of BH Airlites and a set each of Powell and Resilion. All have the (apparently) standard period British drilling of 40 / 32 which does make it a little harder to source rims for the darn things.. Have yet to come across any drilled 36 but I'm sure they're out there.
 
Bayliss Wiley is an old company that goes back before WWII. Could be a period hub - they were making hubs in the 1930s-40s. It has a flip-flop hub to allow a couple options for gearing. Often a freewheel would be on one side and a fixed gear on the other. The derailleur is newer, as you say. Nice having the reverse color fenders. That was a cool option to have.
If it's a period hub, I may just have to keep it and find a more appropriate derailleur. The woman said she has some pictures of her mother with the bike when she was younger, if she sends them I'll post them.
 
As sir Mike mentioned, Bayliss Wiley is just Old fashioned English hard parts company. Their biz was a lot of hubs, gears and Bottom brackets among others. Almost half of all standard old English bikes are running Bayliss Bottom Brackets.
The flip flop hub was much more common in England back in the 20s-50s than it is today. The flip flop was a "sporting" hub. Considered a Club upgrade if not stock original.
ALSO,
Considering the bike in question...
The 597 ISO rim/ tire size is the original English standard tire size. Can you tell what kind of rims?
It might be an early swap out set.
 
If it's a period hub, I may just have to keep it and find a more appropriate derailleur. The woman said she has some pictures of her mother with the bike when she was younger, if she sends them I'll post them.
Yes - stick with the rear hub and acquire parts to go with it. Most of the British sporting hubs from that period are excellent - Airlites, BW, Sturmey, etc. pretty much all are good hubs worth keeping.
 
As sir Mike mentioned, Bayliss Wiley is just Old fashioned English hard parts company. Their biz was a lot of hubs, gears and Bottom brackets among others. Almost half of all standard old English bikes are running Bayliss Bottom Brackets.
The flip flop hub was much more common in England back in the 20s-50s than it is today. The flip flop was a "sporting" hub. Considered a Club upgrade if not stock original.
ALSO,
Considering the bike in question...
The 597 ISO rim/ tire size is the original English standard tire size. Can you tell what kind of rims?
It might be an early swap out set.
I haven't found any markings on these rims. I thought they might be Schwinn Superiors, but if they're marked, I can't see it. But the front hub is a Schwinn "phone dial" and since both rims have 36 spokes, I'm guessing they're American. The English bikes from this period usually have 32 spoke front wheels and 40 spoke rears, I was surprised to find an English hub drilled for the American pattern. I tried to get some more pictures, not much luck but here's a couple detail pictures of the "U.S. Royal Touring" tires, I think the "American Hooked Edge Rims" refers to the 599 b.s.d. rims.

SNWD - 12.jpg


SNWD - 13.jpg
 
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