1898-1903 Pierce Special

[Hollyfeld]

Hello all,

Yesterday I was given a Pierce Special from my half-brother. He said it belonged to his Grandfather and it originally had wood wheels. He gave me the bike to hold onto because I am the cyclist in the family and will treat it with respect. I have always wanted a skip tooth bike since I first heard of their existence so I'm all smiles right now.

Below are some photos I just took. From what I found so far on this wonderful site is a possible age based on the badge. It appears to have been painted red at some point. The serial number might be XX566? Looks like aftermarket handlebars, seat, wheels and kickstand. I don't know if those black spring like things on the fork belong there, somewhere else or nowhere at all, but they were there when i picked it up.

I'd like to clean it up (tips on how without damaging it would be appreciated), put some new tires on it and take it for a spin. Thoughts on value? Is refinishing it a bad idea or acceptable?

I thought my 1971 Schwinn Suburban was going to be oldest bike I ever owned, but this one takes the cake.

Thanks so much!

 

[Iverider]

Cool bike! The spring things on the fork are pant clips to keep your cuffs out of the chain.
Incorrect parts are the wheelset (as you stated) Kickstand, handlebars and seat. I'd value the rest at $500-700 but I'm not a Pierce expert. It could be more, but it wouldn't be less. It's nice that you have decent era correct pedals on it. Those are worthy of a good cleaning and regreasing.

If it were my bike, I'd clean all of the bearings and lube them up and spray the bike down with some gun oil and wipe it clean with cotton rags making sure not to abrade anything too much. I can't really tell the condition of the paint. Is it repainted red over original black? A lot of people have carefully stripped repaints off to reveal original paint which is a painstaking procedure. I'm going to attempt this on one of my bikes soon, but I don't look forward to it. You can build a nice wheelset up using some Velocity p35 rims to have a bit of a better looking rim profile that is near spot on to the wood rims of the day.

 

[catfish]

Nice!

 

[dfa242]

You may have already found this informative thread (http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/pierce-bicycle-serial-numbers.71746/) but if not, post #2 indicates that badge to have been used from about 1895-98. You might also find useful information within it regarding correct parts, paint schemes, etc. Good luck and have fun with it.

 

[Hollyfeld]

You may have already found this informative thread (http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/pierce-bicycle-serial-numbers.71746/) but if not, post #2 indicates that badge to have been used from about 1895-98. You might also find useful information within it regarding correct parts, paint schemes, etc. Good luck and have fun with it.

Thank you! That was the thread that popped up on Google when I was searching for information about the bike. Unless I'm mistaken, the badge is Type 3 which dates from 1989-1907.

 

[Freqman1]

You may have already found this informative thread (http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/pierce-bicycle-serial-numbers.71746/) but if not, post #2 indicates that badge to have been used from about 1895-98. You might also find useful information within it regarding correct parts, paint schemes, etc. Good luck and have fun with it.

Actually I believe that is a Type 3 badge and would have been used from about 1898-1907 according to the post cited. V/r Shawn

 

[dfa242]

Actually I believe that is a Type 3 badge and would have been used from about 1898-1907 according to the post cited. V/r Shawn

You are absolutely right Shawn - my bad. That'll teach me not to try and do two things at once.

 

[dfa242]

Thank you! That was the thread that popped up on Google when I was searching for information about the bike. Unless I'm mistaken, the badge is Type 3 which dates from 1989-1907.

Absolutely right - my apologies!

 

[Hollyfeld]

Cool bike! The spring things on the fork are pant clips to keep your cuffs out of the chain.
Incorrect parts are the wheelset (as you stated) Kickstand, handlebars and seat. I'd value the rest at $500-700 but I'm not a Pierce expert. It could be more, but it wouldn't be less. It's nice that you have decent era correct pedals on it. Those are worthy of a good cleaning and regreasing.

If it were my bike, I'd clean all of the bearings and lube them up and spray the bike down with some gun oil and wipe it clean with cotton rags making sure not to abrade anything too much. I can't really tell the condition of the paint. Is it repainted red over original black? A lot of people have carefully stripped repaints off to reveal original paint which is a painstaking procedure. I'm going to attempt this on one of my bikes soon, but I don't look forward to it. You can build a nice wheelset up using some Velocity p35 rims to have a bit of a better looking rim profile that is near spot on to the wood rims of the day.

It sure does look like it was painted red over black. It's really dirty, grimy and sticky in places. I have no problem spraying my modern bikes with various degreasers and soap to remove the dirt, but this bike is special; I wouldn't want to mess it up. You see it on antiques roadshow when the appraiser informs them that someone used a cleaner they shouldn't have. What is gun oil? I'm not satisfied with the results that google gives (I'm assuming you're not talking about the personal lubricant) and I would like to know more about it. Good luck on your paint stripping!

 

[corbettclassics]

From the 1899 catalogue: I probably have more info but need time to look..

The "SPECIAL" on the right.