♦️Prewar Rollfast …I believe !!!♦️

[Junkman Bob]

Ok so I’m hoping I can gain some info on this cool Rollfast so I can properly post for sale …

It looks like wrong rack and looks like everything else is legit …

Cool grey /Red OG paint

I would like to put proper tires on it so does anyone know what tires would have been on this one originally ?

I will get SN hopefully tomorrow

Any info on this one is appreciated
Thanks all

 

[Junkman Bob]

@NBHAA

 

[easyrider]

it's a rollfast

 

[Junkman Bob]

it's a rollfast

I got that far ….

What I was hoping is possible year by looking at it (I will post SN when I get back in town ) and info on what missing parts look like ,… is color combo common etc …, Would Rollfast guys consider this bike somewhat desirable …. Any info in appreciated … Lmk if your interested in the bike as well .
Thanks everyone

 

[Adamtinkerer]

Rollfast's parent co., Snyder, started stamping a reverse year and factory code on the bottom bracket (BB), starting during 1940, and continuing through 1958. Usually, that chain ring is only seen on Hawthorne badge bikes, many which were also built by Snyder. Pic is a '47, made in the Indiana factory (EH).

 

[Archie Sturmer]

Looks pre-war with the 5/8" seat post, (and tapered chain stays).

Looks like a 24-tooth sprocket, (sometimes used with multiple speed hubs?).

 

[Junkman Bob]

Rollfast's parent co., Snyder, started stamping a reverse year and factory code on the bottom bracket (BB), starting during 1940, and continuing through 1958. Usually, that chain ring is only seen on Hawthorne badge bikes, many which were also built by Snyder. Pic is a '47, made in the Indiana factory (EH).

View attachment 2199172

Thank you for the great info !!!
I hope to be home tommorow and will check SN

 

[Junkman Bob]

Looks pre-war with the 5/8" seat tube, (and tapered chain stays).

Thanks for the great info … it’s a cool look bicycle imo

 

[NBHAA]

Rollfast's parent co., Snyder, started stamping a reverse year and factory code on the bottom bracket (BB), starting during 1940, and continuing through 1958. Usually, that chain ring is only seen on Hawthorne badge bikes, many which were also built by Snyder. Pic is a '47, made in the Indiana factory (EH).

View attachment 2199172

Please. No idea where this stuff comes from. The hobby should know better after all these years and "books" claiming to tell the "histories."

H.P. Snyder was NOT Rollfast brand's "parent company." Rollfast was the main brand of the D.P. Harris company, not H.P. Snyder. D.P. Harris marketed several different brand names under the same methods that people in this hobby mistakenly believe only Arnold, Schwinn & Co. did. Since it is apparently unknown, other companies also manufactured bicycles for D.P. Harris that were also sold under the "Rollfast" brand name.

D.P. Harris was not H.P. Snyder... nor vice-versa.

H.P. Snyder was the main company contracted to manufacture Rollfast bicycles. But Snyder had their own brands. They also manufactured private labels (such as some Montgomery Ward "Hawthorne") and others.

Yours truly knew and interviewed members of the Harris family many years ago. National Bicycle History Archive of America has a very large file of information and original photos from the D.P. Harris company and family. Look below for a year's bound volume of American Bicyclist & Motorcyclist magazine (courtesy of NBHAA) that originally belonged to D.P. Harris in the 1940s.

Leon Dixon
National Bicycle History Archive of America
(NBHAA.com)