1950s Columbia 3 Star Deluxe

[SirMike1983]

Old thread, but I did a re-build on the front end of the bike in this thread. I used a Preval unit and matching paint with the help of a homemade photoshop stencil to do the fork. The fender was a straight clean up job since it already matched. The wheels are period but not original, though the paint matches nicely. The bike is a 1949-50 model. New Departure Model D rear hub. The seat is a recover with quite a bit of wear on it now.

 

[serg]

Mike, Nice to look at this bike. Enjoy the ride

Serg

 

[Gary Mc]

Thanks- more good responses here.
I've found Columbia historical data much harder to find online than Schwinn.

Mike,

Mr. Columbia has a wealth of historical information on Westfield built bikes & Columbia's on his website. It is a great resource and provides a great history of Pope/Westfield & the Columbia brand. Mr. Columbia is Kenneth Kowal & he frequents the CABE regularly. He is very helpful & has been a great resource of my 2 current Westfield built bikes I am restoring. His website is at:

http://www.vintagecolumbiabikes.com

My personal builds so far includes 3 pre-33' Westfield built bikes and the quality is great. I think probably the major difference in the 40's/50's Columbia's to Schwinn's might be in the chrome work. Schwinn's chrome bright parts just seem to weather age better than most any other brands from my observations. The paint on Schwinn's also always seemed to be more brilliant & stayed that way longer by the 50's & 60's than many other brands. I suspect frame construction is comparable to Schwinn. To me pre-33' Westfield built bikes including Columbia were "the" brand as the first American bicycles at that time in history. Westfield also built the vast majority of Elgins in the teens to forties which obviously were mass marketed by Sears and are very popular today with the Bluebirds, Robins, etc. Probably with the advent of the Aerocycle and the Schwinn cantilever frames of the 30's that dynamic shifted to Schwinn and obviously has been that way ever since. I think Schwinn became more focused on design in the forties and fifties than did Columbia and thus became much more popular. They found great design formulas & rode them for a long time. I also think the fact the Westfield plant built so many different brands that it took away from their focus on their own brand, Columbia. Schwinn built for others such as LaSalle but the focus was the Schwinn brand.

It's funny but where I grew up the rich kids rode Schwinn's bought in the big city, we couldn't afford them thus rode Huffy's, Murray's, Sears, or Firestone/Goodyear branded products (sometimes handed down) which were a little cheaper and more readily available in many small towns across the South. I think this also lends to a lot of baby boomers wanting Schwinn's now because they couldn't/didn't have them as kids. It's funny but with old bikes people on the street always tend to ask, "is that a Schwinn?". That translates to the point to me as to why there are more Schwinn guys by far than the rest of us.

Long winded but that's my 2 cents on Columbia & Westfields as a relatively new collector who only has Westfield built bikes (except one Huffy).

UPDATE: I now see this is a very old thread & you probably know everything I just said by now. For some reason I only saw page one when I began this post, weird. It might help someone else out though so I'll leave it. Your 3-star is a GREAT bike by the way, very nice. - Gary

 

[Zackdadee]

Similar

Some progress, but still lots of work to do

upgrades made so far are:

-new grips; referenced to 1948 Columbia catalog
-new bullet chrome lamp; fits the streamlined style
-new pedals; metal and rubber rounded block type
-new stem; Schwinn chrome razorback stem
-bottom bracket overhaul and replacement with original Columbia stock cranks (still running on the original Torrington bearings)
-new chain
-cleaned off white house paint, revealing original creme paint underneath
-removed rear reflective sticky tape
-new rear reflector
-general rust clean up
-new spring saddle with crash rail
-new seatpost (old one was badly bent)
-new fender braces and riv-nuts all around
-re-grease all bearings and brake (not visible)
-straighten and align truss rods and rod bracket
-other general clean up, including rust removal fill with enamel paint matched to color


shots:

I have a similar bike that turns out to be a 1949 mine has holes for a fender light but unfortunately did not come with the light just wondering if You've ever seen one

 

[Zackdadee]

Similar

I have a very similar bike, mine is a 1949 and it came with 2 holes for a fender light. Unfortunately it did not come with the light just wondering if anyone has ever seen one

 

[Intense One]

1950's Columbia 3 Star Deluxe

Here's a picture of my 50's 3 Star Deluxe bicycle showing the front fender light.

 

[Intense One]

1950's Columbia 3 Star Deluxe

Looking to replace my rusty front rim with a shinier chromed one to match the rear one. If you hear of any up for sale, let me know.

 

[SirMike1983]

I have added a Banjo Brothers Minnehaha Bag to this bike. I was initially uneasy with adding such a "new" item, but it seems to capture the classic "motorcycle look" these bikes mimic. It's a canvas cloth material and not a modern "plastic" or vinyl, which captures the vintage look without being too modern. At the same time, it's new, inexpensive, and practical. The leather trim and straps are nice and supple.

http://bikeshedva.blogspot.com/2013/09/bike-gear-talk-banjo-brothers-minnehaha.html

 

[amicomasonry]

1950's Columbia Three Star Deluxe

I'm not well-read on Columbia bicycles. I ran across one that was blue and white and called a 3 Star Deluxe recently. Does anyone have any information or pictures of these 3 Star bicycles?

Thanks for any help.

I came across one myself. Just had some work done. NOS wheels, Tires with white walls,new sprocket and chain, rebuilt steering column(new bearings and such),new grips. Cant get kickstand operational. Any advise appreciated.Tony.

 

[Skatelab]

I have a 3 star deluxe but it looks a lot more deluxe than this one...

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