Advice sought - Pierce Racer

[Barnegatbicycles]

Those hubs ! They should be Thor. If so there will have the word Thor engraved on the rear hub opposite of the gear.

 

[Barnegatbicycles]

 

[Leadheavy52]

Those hubs ! They should be Thor. If so there will have the word Thor engraved on the rear hub opposite of the gear.

Excellent spot! They do look just like this, only grubbier. Much grubbier. I will take a closer look at the house this evening and see if I can spot a mark. Thank you for the information!

Austin

 

[Leadheavy52]

"
Questions:
I have seen that Pierce had threaded bottom brackets in later years. The bottom bracket (see photos) was threaded to accept the bearing cups and spindle from a Bianchi (marked). Is it possible that the bottom bracket has been re-tapped to accept this or would it be axle to accept both? I am concerned about standard to mm thread pitch.

I do not believe that your hanger bracket is threaded, it looks as if you have threaded bearing cups. Your cups are similar to the ones on my BR model Amateur Sprint Racer, except that mine are not threaded. One thing I have found about Pierce machines is that they did not typically use conventional sizes on things, for example, my steer tube is 1-1/16" as opposed to the standard 1" steer tubes on most other bicycles.

The brazing where the seat tube and down tube look different where they attach to the BB from others I have seen. Is this reinforced brazing, or signs that the BB has been replaced?
Your brazing looks like it is all factory, as #New Mexico Brant noted, your Carmine red paint all looks like factory paint.
When cleaning, what is the preferred method of rust removal from the frame?
There are many methods out there, OA is one a lot of people use, however as your bike is Carmine red, it isn't recommended as it doesn't do well with reds.
On my Pierce, I used a polishing compound, very lightly abrasive to address the small spots of rust, then many coats of carnauba wax on top of it to protect the paint. (in my opinion my paint looks really good).

Does anyone know anything about the pull-through hubs on the rims? They are matched to each other, but the rims are different.
the bike could have had an accident over the years and a rim replaced, using the original hubs.. just a wild a** guess.

What is the little bracket/hanger for on the stem?
could have been for a light, or to hang a water bottle from, that is another guess.

Lastly, is it possible this bike was set up for road racing? I only ask this because of the frame reinforcements and the frame-mounted pump brackets. Would it still use a fixed hub?

It very well could have been set up for road racing, and the rear hub options were either 'fixed' or 'coaster'. The coaster brake set up was typically about $5 more.

All in all, you have a really nice bicycle, if you chose to clean it up and polish it, it should pop nicely.
This is what mine looks like when it is freshly polished.

in it's show form.
View attachment 1065577
in it's everyday rider form, and I try to ride it everyday.

View attachment 1065578

Also, they are surprisingly light. My frame and fork, weighs 6.5 pounds. The bike set up in everyday riding condition is just under 28 pounds.
View attachment 1065585

Thank you for the great insight, Pierce! You have a drop-dead gorgeous bicycle there! The more I look at this bike, the more it captures my imagination. I only wish it could speak! I will stay away from OA to preserve the paint color, but spot polishing would do more harm than good I believe. In some areas, the paint is very flaky and just looking at it seems to make it worse. I was looking at some other options that may be able to be brushed/dabbed on in small areas. The biggest issue I’m having it getting the old varnish/shellac off the frame. It looks as though it was coated prior to being put away. Or, a can off it fell off a shelf, coving the bike at some point in its history. Like I said, I wish they could talk.

 

[kccomet]

don't touch up the paint.... brushed dabbed.....your bike, my opinion only

 

[Leadheavy52]

don't touch up the paint.... brushed dabbed.....your bike, my opinion only

Not paint, but rust remover. I wasn't clear enough.

 

[piercer_99]

might be linseed oil.

try denatured alcohol sparingly.

 

[Steve Birm]

Hi Austin,

I've been meaning to join here for a while, and this bike finally got me to...

The reinforcements on the frame are something you'd see on a Motorpacing bike, and the clip on the stem would be the upper clip for a stem support rod.
Most also has a seat support, and the wear on the paint right under the front end of the seat looks about right for a clamp that might have been loose for a while.
I've been looking for pics of one like this, which I think I've seen before, but I can't find it.

Pacing bikes are pretty special, and would have almost all been custom built. They got used fairly hard, and after a point, some got converted to being normal bikes either for training or just warmups.
They also got used for a long time, even much more recently.
I have a couple, one from the 20's or 30's And one from the 80's
The older one had a similar conversion, but they'd even removed the racing bars and put on flat bars. It had also been crashed heavily and had the steerer repaired with a solid steel slug and pins where it had cracked.

Here's a before and after pic of it as I bought it, and once I got it mostly fixed up. I don't have a stem support, as the fork isn't tapped for one It's original, so it was probably raced without it.

Steve Birmingham

 

[piercer_99]

Hi Austin,

I've been meaning to join here for a while, and this bike finally got me to...

The reinforcements on the frame are something you'd see on a Motorpacing bike, and the clip on the stem would be the upper clip for a stem support rod.
Most also has a seat support, and the wear on the paint right under the front end of the seat looks about right for a clamp that might have been loose for a while.
I've been looking for pics of one like this, which I think I've seen before, but I can't find it.

Pacing bikes are pretty special, and would have almost all been custom built. They got used fairly hard, and after a point, some got converted to being normal bikes either for training or just warmups.
They also got used for a long time, even much more recently.
I have a couple, one from the 20's or 30's And one from the 80's
The older one had a similar conversion, but they'd even removed the racing bars and put on flat bars. It had also been crashed heavily and had the steerer repaired with a solid steel slug and pins where it had cracked.

Here's a before and after pic of it as I bought it, and once I got it mostly fixed up. I don't have a stem support, as the fork isn't tapped for one It's original, so it was probably raced without it.

Steve Birmingham

View attachment 1137860

View attachment 1137862

Nice Stayer you have there.

Stayers deserve a thread all of there own, although i will hijack this with a few photos.


The guys that rode those were beasts.

here is a 1927 Boogmans Stayer

here is a shot of the insanity.

Image accompanying a Louis Darragon article in La Vie Au Grand Air, November 1907, depicting some of the riders who’d been killed on the track: Louis Mettling, Johnny Nelson, Paul Dangla, Albert Brècy, George Leander, and Harry Elkes. (below)

The good news is, that starting in 2015, Madison Sports Group started up 6 day racing again in Europe and Australia. The modern rules are a bit more lax, no 24 hour racing, just 6pm to 2am each day.

Still using pacers with stayers and still having fun. Although, a tad more safety equipment. If I was 40 years younger, I would probably be crazy enough to give it a shot.

 

[New Mexico Brant]

Stayers deserve a thread all of there own, although i will hijack this with a few photos.

Great images! Here is a good spot to post more Pierce: riders, racing, pacing

 

[Leadheavy52]

Hi Austin,

I've been meaning to join here for a while, and this bike finally got me to...

The reinforcements on the frame are something you'd see on a Motorpacing bike, and the clip on the stem would be the upper clip for a stem support rod.
Most also has a seat support, and the wear on the paint right under the front end of the seat looks about right for a clamp that might have been loose for a while.
I've been looking for pics of one like this, which I think I've seen before, but I can't find it.

Pacing bikes are pretty special, and would have almost all been custom built. They got used fairly hard, and after a point, some got converted to being normal bikes either for training or just warmups.
They also got used for a long time, even much more recently.
I have a couple, one from the 20's or 30's And one from the 80's
The older one had a similar conversion, but they'd even removed the racing bars and put on flat bars. It had also been crashed heavily and had the steerer repaired with a solid steel slug and pins where it had cracked.

Here's a before and after pic of it as I bought it, and once I got it mostly fixed up. I don't have a stem support, as the fork isn't tapped for one It's original, so it was probably raced without it.

Steve Birmingham

View attachment 1137860

View attachment 1137862

Thank you, Steve, for both the comments on my bicycle and for joining the forum as well. I was familiar with motorpace bicycling, but never figured mine was possibly used for that sport as well. Curious about the additional reinforcements and it makes sense to have more support than not when racing in this manner. Those guys must have had balls bigger than their chainrings to get into that sport. Between the accidents and deaths, I imagine riding behind an early century motorcycle was enough to make you pass out.
The fork that came on the bike is not drilled to receive the other end of a handlebar support rod, but I know that's likely not an original fork to the bicycle. At least I don't suspect it is. I am still in the process of getting the Pierce back together and will definitely be turning my research to the stayers of that era. I have been very gently cleaning and will hold off on the reassembly until the spring time. Another post that I posted in put my Pierce to the 1914 manufacture year, shortly before Pierce switched manufacture to Angola. I sure wish this bike could tell stories. It looks like it spent its fair share of time as an amateur racer's bike as well.

Do you have a better photo of how the seat support is attached at the seat on your bicycle? This may also provide clues.

- Austin

 

[olderthandirt]

the pull thru hubs were used on early victor and spaulding bicycles . they can be hard to locate when needed to finish up a restoration ,i looked for a couple of years here on the cabe before i located a nice set of complete wheels with hubs, just luck that a fellow caber sold the bike but the buyer wanted to install more modern wheels ! i thought that these were the main users of this type of hubs but i am no expert ! if pierce used this type of hub someone please speak up ! i am also very interested ! remember the more we share the more we know ! thanks to all who share what they know !

 

[kccomet]

they are Thor hubs

 

[Ricker]

Wow- I hadn't read through this earlier- this is an amazing bike from the racing history of bikes. I totally think Brant is correct thinking that this is a factory fix for a very strong sponsored rider- btw varnish was used as a top coat during this era. If you re-varnish you might be surprised