Brian R.
Wore out three sets of tires already!
I just bought this Alex Kay "The OK" track bike, or wanna-be track bike. Alex Kay Cycle Company was located in a tiny building at 320 Queen Street East in Toronto, Canada from 1899 to 1947. The building is now a pizzeria. I would call it mostly a bike shop, but in the Toronto City Directory it was always listed in the manufacturer category, not retail, so presumably they made their own frames. I like to think this frame was welded together by Alex Kay in his little workshop and assembled with British parts, but who knows. A search for "Alex Kay" on the Cabe brought up zero hits, so it must be a rare bike. A fellow collector has a chainring with the letter K A Y on it (see bottom of post).
I say track bike because it has a fixie hub, racing bars and saddle, and Major Taylor stem. I added "or wanna-be track bike" because of three things, the fender mounts, the frame angle, and the weight. The seller was himself a frame builder from 1969 until present. His comment on the fender mount was that it means nothing because guys would take their fenders off on the track and maybe put them back on for training on the open road. He said the frame angle of the down tube and head tube is not steep like a racer, but more relaxed like a regular bike, and finally of the weight he said "it's not particularly light." He thinks it was probably made in the 1930s.
Any information or insight anyone can offer on this bike is welcome. My questions include: What do you make of the forward drop-outs? The seat stays are white for safety on the road, when did they start doing that? Does anyone recognize the chainring - British origin? Do any features of the frame or the components give an indication of year or decade?
Thanks in advance,
Brian R.
P.S. I learned that Alexnader Kay and Thomas Lewis Southam patented a Bicycle Frame in 1896, patent number 54023, which lends weight to the idea that they did build frames in their shop.
Here is a very cool early photo of the Southam and Kay shop, later Alexander Kay Cycle Co..:
And a chainring: