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1901 Cleveland A1

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ron swanson

On Training Wheels
Picked this up on a whim. I dont know much about bikes this old and google has not been much help.
How much of this is original?
The pedals are marked John Bull.
Saddle is a skinny Brooks.
This should have had wood rims originally?
Are the handlebars upside down?
What are unrestored bikes of this vintage worth?
Thanks




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Paint is salvageable

Close up near seat mast, it doesn't look as though there was prep work done underneath before the White was put on. Might be worth investigation.
The drivetrain and pedals looks like it may be original to the bike.
Late 90's early 1900 bike.
 
The frame appears to be quite pitted under that white slop, so I'm not thinking there will be paint underneath to save, unfortunately. The wheels appear to be from a WWII era lightweight, judging by the short-lived tire size and rim profile. Rims would have been wood originally. It seems somebody replaced them to get it on the road again years later. Same with the seat. It's possible the original rear hub was laced into the updated wheel. So frameset, crank, pedals, bars, maybe the rear hub look original.

Pedals with toe clips alone are a couple bills but the rest is pretty rough. Badge is nice. Cool find!
 
Close up near seat mast, it doesn't look as though there was prep work done underneath before the White was put on. Might be worth investigation.
The drivetrain and pedals looks like it may be original to the bike.
Late 90's early 1900 bike.

Looks like no prep was done when they painted a coat of lead house paint on it. I am going to dab a few spots of paint stripper on it later to see whats underneath. It way not be as rusty as it looks under the paint since I dont think they cleaned the dirt off before they painted it.
 
The front hub is marked
New Departure-WL
Made in the USA

What time period is that from? 1940's?

Yeah, the rims and front hub are definitely mid-40s. The blackout finish was for wartime production. Most of these turn up on '45-46 bicycles since civilian bicycle production was nearly halted for the war. I'm guessing somebody gave this a second life in the 50s or 60s, borrowing skinny steel wheels from another bike laying around to replace the cracking wood or dry tires. They replaced the seat due to dry leather, I'd assume, as well. Everything has a story, and this is the story I'm imagining for this bike.
 
I blew up the tires today and noticed they are marked "war" on them so that makes sense. I imagine it got its sweet paint job the same time. It had a license plate on it that is not dated but I bet its from the 40's.
 
Because of the "squarish" shape of the badge, and having no insert behind it...it leads me to believe this bike to be a Westfield - Canada Cycle & Motor Co.,build?
 
The inserts fit very tightly- the Canadian badge I have says H>.A.Lozier co, Toronto, Ontario in the lower cut out. Model 35 in upper, for what that's worth.
 
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