When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Three Crown Questions - Year, Badge, And Hubs?

-

Brian R.

Wore out three sets of tires already!
I bought this bike with no head badge. The best guess is that it is a Crown by Great Western Mfg, due to the cutouts in the bottom bracket and Fauber crank set. I've been researching Crowns on this site and discovered that GWM made the Fauber crank set, so that makes sense. I also found photos of a Crown that seems to have the same frame construction and headset. If you think it's not a Crown but something else, please reply! Ignore the seat and front fender, as I believe they are not original to this bike.

1. What year or year range was this bike made by Great Western?

2. Which design of Crown badge was mostly likely on this bike originally? There is one tiny screw near the top front of the head tube, and I cannot find any other screw holes (but a second one might be hidden under rust). A photo would be great if you have one!

3. What make of hub brake and front hub were on this bike when new? Mine has a Hercules hub brake made by Canada Cycle and Motor (CCM), which is clearly not the correct one.

If you have parts for this bike that you are willing to sell, like a head badge, hub brake, front hub, handlebar stem, and handlebars, please contact me.

DoubleBar1.jpeg

DoubleBar2.jpeg
DoubleBar4.jpeg
DoubleBar5.jpeg
Doublebar7.jpeg
DoubleBar6.jpeg
DoubleBar3.jpeg
 
I found this photo of a Cyrus by Great Western. The fork crown, just visible, is the same as mine, and other photos of that bike show the same frame construction. When I look at the photo of the bare head tube on my bike, either it's my imagination or I can almost see the outline of a letter C like the one on that badge. But C stands for Crown too.
CyrusHeadBadge.jpg
 
Do you know the year of your bike? I found your post with that bike, thanks. I saw those photos earlier and saved the photo of the head badge, but noted the fork crown was different. I hope to figure out if the difference in the fork crown is explained by either a different year or different model.
 
Last edited:
before moving forward Brian, I would suggest you clean the headtube and try to find the second headbadge hole
and take measurements
it will be a better starting point than going all over the place with this, IMO
Great Western had all kinds of different headbadges during that period maybe there are differences in the distance between the holes!!!
 
Glad you found the thread on my Crown, Brian.

You want to try sending a private message to member CrownKing. I don't think he's on here much, but he did respond to me right away and was able to give me some good info on my bike.

Here's a little blurb from some of the info he sent me, which you might find interesting:

This is a very nice original untouched example, as many have mentioned already. Congrats on the find! It is always exciting to me as the historian for this factory to see such a fine early example, especially one that is relatively unmolested. This would date from 1900-1905+. Not much visual documentation exists from this early period. This company was originally called the Crown Cycle Company, so after the merger took place(1898/99) to Great Western, Crown was their flagship model. Cyrus was a name that was used in the early days of the factory and the Cyrus badge shares this same design. There were 7 different Crown badge designs over the span of the company's 30-year production. This bike sports one of the first 2.

Good luck with yours, it's a nice one.
 
Hi Boardhoarder - while you were typing your reply I was taking sandpaper to the head tube in search of that second badge screw hole, as per Locomotion's advice. I found it, a broken off screw that had blended in with the other rust. It's exactly 3 inches from the top screw. Can you measure your big letter C badge please and tell me the distance between the screws? I did PM CrownKing a few days ago, but no reply as of yet. It is a nice bike. The focus of my collection is Canadian-made bikes, but I've made 3 exceptions, a Flo-Cycle, a '57 Columbia original paint, and this one. It's hard to explain why, but it's a beautiful bike. I plan to restore it to its former glory - but I need parts!
 
3" i will also check Brian on mine
I also tried reaching the CrownKing, but didn't get a reply
and the info on the brand is hard to find, not much online
 
Brian, I went to measure my head badge hole spacing and just noticed for the first time that the holes are side-by-side, rather than vertical. Clearly, I'm not very observant. Ha.

Anyway, that's a difference that I hadn't noticed between my badge and the Cyrus badge...I'd originally thought were exactly the same. See the thread on my Crown for photos of the badge.

Oh, and in case anyone is interested, hole spacing is 2 3/16"
 
Back
Top