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The chainring in the last picture looks very similar to the one on my 1897 Featherstone Duke. The style is similar, but mine has one more spoke.

Some of the older patch repairs that held very well were most likely done with hot vulcanizing patches. These were made by companies like Camel and Victor. The patch was pressed down against the tube with a special hot patch clamp and the flammable material in the tray of the patch was ignited...

I found this JC Higgins in the rafters of a garage. In addition to the rust, it also has a hole in the seat tube. I replaced a fender brace and the pedals to get it into rideable condition.

Here is an early 50's Hawthorne.

That seat post badge appears to be a troll riding a bicycle. Does this have Sturmey archer hubs? Here is a photo of a 1959 Jonas Oglaend DBS bicycle that has similar hubs. These were made in Sandness, Norway.

This is the fender ornament on my Norwegian Jonas Oglaend DBS bicycle.

This badge is on a late 1890's Jay Eye See bicycle.

Old Rider I'm not sure about the age of this Fendt bicycle, but I believe it was made some time in the 1980's. Fendt is a well known name in farm areas for their tractors. Drew K

I bought a German made Fendt bicycle on ebay. It has shaft drive, a rear suspension and a Sachs Torpedo 3 speed hub.

These pedals were on this bicycle when I found it. I think this Firestone is about a 1953 model. There may be other people on this forum who know more about Firestone bicycles than I do. My best guess is that they were used in the early fifties and possibly the late forties

I have pedals like that on my Firestone Super Cruiser which was made by Monark.

I bought this tire setting tool on ebay and made a tire spreader with the help of a milling machine. These tools were used to replace the tire on my 1887 Columbia 53 inch Light Roadster.

I use this 1949 Chevrolet to haul my bicycles.

I found a Monark 5-bar bicycle in a farmer's scrap iron pile. I offered him $10 for it but he said $5 was enough. It's in rough shape, but restorable.

I bought a nickel and copper plating kit from Caswell for about $400 two years ago. It had a capacity of 3 gallons of plating solution which worked ok for small parts. I decided not to buy the chrome plating kit because it requires a large current capacity power supply which could be very...

I rode my 52 inch RBR Superior.

To disassemble a Stewart Warner hub you start by removing the end plates. There is one screw holding each plate. Clamp the lock nut on one side in a bench vise and use a ford wrench or a large crescent wrench to remove the other nut. The correct size wrench for the flats of the lock...

If you cut the head from a bolt to make a nut you should check the marking on the head of the bolt first. There can be anything from no markings for a low strength bolt to 6 dashes on the head for a grade 8 bolt. The bolt with an unmarked head would be the easiest to drill and thread with a tap...

It's not uncommon to find non standard hardware on older bicycles. You can cut the head from a 5/16 inch bolt and make the nut. The best way to center drill the nut would be to chuck it into a lathe with the bit in the tail stock. If you have a machinist's handbook, you can find the drill sizes...

I lived in South San Francisco from 1989 to 2003. California's Gold was my favorite tv program. It was fun to take weekend trips to visit some of the sites covered by this show.

I made this tool to pinstripe bicycle wheels. It is also used for finishing wood rims.

If you check with an antique tool dealer you may find cone wrenches in American sizes, but the odds are not very good. All of the new cone wrenches that I have seen are metric. A 15mm wrench will fit the bearing nuts on most older American bicycle wheels. It is slightly larger than 9/16", but...

Park cone wrench set Park crank tap set tweezers with square ends for ball bearings axle vise with lead jaws spoke threading tool

You can get the chain size by measuring the width of the front and rear sprockets. The chain should be wide enough to fit over the thicker sprocket. The chain widths are in 1/16 inch fractional size increments starting with 3/16 up to about 3/8 inch. For an 1890's bicycle I assume it must be a...

Some of the symptoms you describe can be caused by a broken transfer spring. A new spring is shown in the center of this photo. It is installed on the brake clutch shown on the left. The tab of the spring should fit into the slot of the clutch sleeve on the right.

John, Is your Hudson the smaller Terraplane model or the full sized Hudson? The side mount spare gives it a classy look. Drew

I bought this Columbia Model 59 chainless bicycle. It's chainless except for the tread on the tires.

They must have found that one when they were dredging the river or perhaps it was snagged on their fishing line.

I wanted to go to the Minneapolis meet but a busy work schedule and the weather would not allow it. I was planning to bring along a Minneapolis made bicycle that might be of local interest. Maybe someone will know something about the company that made it. Perhaps I can bring it to the next...

Good price on the roadster. Should make a nice rider. Are you posting on www.thewheelmen.org ? Giovanni, I have signed up for the wheelmen forum but haven't participated yet. I have been a Wheelmen member since 2010 and have communicated with some of the members buying parts advertised in...

I bought this bicycle last November at an auction in Aurora, Nebraska. It was part of an estate that included 13 antique cars. My brother bought a 1932 V12 Cadillac for $12,000 at the same auction. I paid $2,600 for the bicycle. All of these items had been in the local museum for about 35...

I borrowed my brother's pipe bending machine to reshape the backbone on this 1887 53 inch Columbia light roadster. I had to fabricate pressing blocks on a milling machine to fit the 1 3/8 inch tubing to make the bend. Here is a before and after picture. The next projects will be finding or...

Ranger Dan Although I have never had this particular problem with a New Departure hub, I did work on a hub where the clutch sleeve was so badly worn that it would slip in the hub shell when you pedaled the bicycle. The grooves were completely worn from the end of the sleeve. After the clutch...

When I was in Norway in 2007, I visited the Numedal valley southwest of Oslo which had an abandoned rail line. In the town of Vegli, you could rent one of these rail cycles for a ride down the line.

Most horns have an adjustment to set the pressure on the diaphragm. If it is too far in one direction, the points will not make contact. If it is too far in the opposite direction, it takes too much force to open the points when energized. Try adjusting it with power applied. You might get it...

This might be the result of wear in the contact area between the clutch sleeve and the hub shell. When you pedal hard, the clutch sleeve gets wedged in the shell. Perhaps you could try replacing the clutch sleeve.

I have been a bottom feeder when it come to cars. In the last 40 years, I have owned many different brands and never paid more than $1,500.00. Most would have qualified for one of these stickers because they were poorly maintained by previous owners. With a little TLC most of these cars were...

Here are some frame pictures of my early 60's JC Higgins 10 speed. This was made by Puch in Austria. It has the same style frame lugs

I use a tool like this for stubborn screws. It's called a screw buster or screw knocker. These are used by aircraft mechanics for removing inspection panel screws. I bought mine years ago from JC Whitney but this one is similar. These work best with an aircraft 3x rivet gun but an air hammer...

Ranger Dan, that is a good price for spokes. I could save a lot of money on a wheel rebuild with spokes purchased there. Thanks for the information. Drew

Thanks Ranger Dan and Filmonger for the information. It doesn't matter if they are a slightly different style as long as they work the same. I'll check out that website.

Does anyone know of a source for the washers used on wood rims? I haven't seen these for sale on ebay or anywhere else. My only source has been saving washers from warped rims that are beyond repair.

Here is a picture of a 1934 Hawthorne Flyer that was taken shortly after it was retrieved from the loft of a barn.

I took my Norwegian DBS bicycle out for a ride around town. All I managed to do to my bicycle was get mud all over it.

I think a panic stop would be rather unpleasant in a mode of transportation like that.

Hawthorne made a girl's bicycle in the early 50's with a spring fork, tank, carrier and a skirt guard.

In 1988, my brother and I stopped at the local welding shop to pick up some acetylene. I looked in one of the scrap iron barrels and found a dismantled spring fork bicycle. My brother looked at me and said " I think you need that bike." I asked the shop owner and he told me to throw it in the...

Acid works well for me. It removes the rust without damaging the plating.

My Firestone Super Cruiser has a fender ornament like that.

I have a wheel like that. It had a Sturmey Archer Tricoaster hub on it.