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1920's-Pre-1933 Shelby Bicycle Thread
- Thread starter New Mexico Brant
- Start date
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brwstrmgmt
Finally riding a big boys bike
oldmtrcyc
I live for the CABE
The chain ring looks very similar to my 1925 Shelby motobike, IMO. Subtle difference, but very close with the snowcones, and 5 vs. 6
rebirthbikes
I live for the CABE
Jim, that’s a beautiful shelby!
SKPC
Riding a '38 Autocycle Deluxe
Thank you @brwstrmgmt. Interesting number, looking at it with some software/can't see much of it but no worries. The rolled tube bridge has no support tabs later bikes have. Do NOT know when the design changed or when the tabs were 1st used. Yours below.
Early 30's below. #K192130
@oldmtrcyc - Very different ring. Can we see the rest of the bike? Show us the rings' drive pin if you could as well..
Early 30's below. #K192130
@oldmtrcyc - Very different ring. Can we see the rest of the bike? Show us the rings' drive pin if you could as well..
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rebirthbikes
I live for the CABE
Alright gentlemen, I believe I have one to add here. Pete has been helping me understand who may have manufactured this machine. At first glance of the badge, the fork crown, and serial numbers I thought Schwinn and ruled out Davis and Shelby, (all manufacturers for the Rex Cycle Works) but now, I’m thinking it’s an early Shelby Frame Builder bike created soon after the take over of the Davis plant.
The chainring was a mystery to us, but I noticed how well the crank was machined and upon inspection I found a “D” on the crank arm. On a whim, I pulled the chainring on my ‘18 Chief, knowing that non-Davis built bayonet cranks will not fit Davis chainrings I was curious… and the crank from this bicycle fits the chainring of the Sears Chief perfectly. I tried this bicycles chainring with other bayonet cranks from the era… I tried a pre-‘18 Mead bayonet crank, a ‘24 Schwinn bayonet crank, and a ‘11-‘14ish Pope bayonet crank and none of the bayonet cranks fit this chainring except the Davis built crank… I believe the crank and chainring are Davis built.
This discovery lead me back to the Davis Built thread; specifically, to page 30 where Patric shared an image of HD Roadster. Now, I do NOT believe this is a HD bicycle, but I share it because of the fork crown. This late production HD lightweight shares some of the same features of the fork crown of the REX bicycle I’m sharing, but the serial number on the REX doesn’t match Davis number placement and the REX lacks the lugs we typically see on Davis built machines. The blue overspray on the neck of the fork matches the paint on the bottom bracket of the REX. Which makes me believe the fork is original to the frame. The fork crown resembles Schwinn construction, but Pete pointed out the fork crown on the bicycle above this post shares the same crown shape as this fork.
(HD fork crown below - photo from @hoofhearted)
I also checked the serial number font on this REX vs a couple ‘24 Schwinn motorbikes I have and the fonts are different. The schwinn’s have a thinner font with serifs whereas the REX is strikingly similar to the SFB fonts. The 5 from the REX seems to match the 5 from the bicycle in the post right before this one.
Serial number here: 9538
With that said, this bicycle only has 4 digits in the serial number and the upper fender bridge and lower bridge do not exhibit the same welds we’ve been accustomed to seeing on SFB bicycles post 1925.
Here is my question: is it possible that this bicycle is from the first year SFB’s purchased Davis?
If that is so, it would help explain the oddities of everything listed.
I found this bicycle in Kansas City and the former owner told me his dad bought it at a farm auction in Kansas 20-30 years ago. That’s the provenance I have on this machine. I understand the front fork is bent and it may not seem valuable to some but I genuinely want to diagnose the manufacturer of this bicycle.
Any help any of you could offer would be greatly appreciated.
Extra photos to help with identification here. AND, if this isn’t a Shelby Frame Builder bike, please accept my apologies and I’ll ask the mods to remove this post from this thread.
The chainring was a mystery to us, but I noticed how well the crank was machined and upon inspection I found a “D” on the crank arm. On a whim, I pulled the chainring on my ‘18 Chief, knowing that non-Davis built bayonet cranks will not fit Davis chainrings I was curious… and the crank from this bicycle fits the chainring of the Sears Chief perfectly. I tried this bicycles chainring with other bayonet cranks from the era… I tried a pre-‘18 Mead bayonet crank, a ‘24 Schwinn bayonet crank, and a ‘11-‘14ish Pope bayonet crank and none of the bayonet cranks fit this chainring except the Davis built crank… I believe the crank and chainring are Davis built.
This discovery lead me back to the Davis Built thread; specifically, to page 30 where Patric shared an image of HD Roadster. Now, I do NOT believe this is a HD bicycle, but I share it because of the fork crown. This late production HD lightweight shares some of the same features of the fork crown of the REX bicycle I’m sharing, but the serial number on the REX doesn’t match Davis number placement and the REX lacks the lugs we typically see on Davis built machines. The blue overspray on the neck of the fork matches the paint on the bottom bracket of the REX. Which makes me believe the fork is original to the frame. The fork crown resembles Schwinn construction, but Pete pointed out the fork crown on the bicycle above this post shares the same crown shape as this fork.
(HD fork crown below - photo from @hoofhearted)
I also checked the serial number font on this REX vs a couple ‘24 Schwinn motorbikes I have and the fonts are different. The schwinn’s have a thinner font with serifs whereas the REX is strikingly similar to the SFB fonts. The 5 from the REX seems to match the 5 from the bicycle in the post right before this one.
Serial number here: 9538
With that said, this bicycle only has 4 digits in the serial number and the upper fender bridge and lower bridge do not exhibit the same welds we’ve been accustomed to seeing on SFB bicycles post 1925.
Here is my question: is it possible that this bicycle is from the first year SFB’s purchased Davis?
If that is so, it would help explain the oddities of everything listed.
I found this bicycle in Kansas City and the former owner told me his dad bought it at a farm auction in Kansas 20-30 years ago. That’s the provenance I have on this machine. I understand the front fork is bent and it may not seem valuable to some but I genuinely want to diagnose the manufacturer of this bicycle.
Any help any of you could offer would be greatly appreciated.
Extra photos to help with identification here. AND, if this isn’t a Shelby Frame Builder bike, please accept my apologies and I’ll ask the mods to remove this post from this thread.
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Archie Sturmer
Riding a '38 Autocycle Deluxe
Does the Davis fork crown appear to have a lip over the fork arms (legs)?
Does the unknown diamond frame have the same feature.
Is there another San Francisco Bike (SFB) to compare to.
Does the unknown diamond frame have the same feature.
Is there another San Francisco Bike (SFB) to compare to.
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rebirthbikes
I live for the CABE
It doesn’t have a lip like that… that was why I wasn’t sure if it would be a Davis built fork.
SKPC
Riding a '38 Autocycle Deluxe
Consolodated sold the bike rights to Davis in 1916-18, but continued to produce forgings for many bike companies it seems, and quite a few I am beginning to believe. What raw inventory did Davis purchase from them? Then Shelby cycle Frame Builders in mid-23 got the Davis machinery, but no mention of the stock of raw materials and forgings there either. SFB must have been using up the inventory from Davis and maybe purchasing even more forgings from Consolodated as they grew? I posted the Marty quote above from the Davis thread asking the question what role Shelby Frame Builders played after they took over the Davis machinery and existing stock of frames, tubes, forks, forgings, etc. None of these early Shelby's in the Davis thread showed any serial numbers, bummer. .
Page 43 Davis thread pic of Shelby-made crown and another design below it same thread...
So it seems that early Shelby cycle Frame Builders was using a myriad of fork crowns? @hoofhearted image below from Davis thread..
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