C1900 track racer, fresh find

[ccmerz]

Bought this bike on June 27 at the 9th annual Canadian Vintage Bicycle Show.

Here are the specs:

Wheel base 44.5"

frame size 23.5

Rim Dia. 27" which takes 30 X 1 1/2" tires which I will never find

crank 9 1/4", 30 tooth

What make is this machine? It suffers from identity theft, looking for head badge.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32338802@N05/4766597644/

 

[yewhi]

NO clue on the make, but Great Bike! That is one monster sized Chain Ring.

I love it.

 

[Andrew Gorman]

With 30" rims it may be more like 1890s than 1900s. I have heard of people stretching Harper Machine tires on to 30" rims, so you could be riding it yet! The crank and chainring look like a Fauber Star- I don't know when they came into production, but they are in a 1900 Canadian catalog at:
http://www.archive.org/details/bicycleaccess00riceuoft
Manufacturers used a lot of off-the-shelf parts in various combinations, so it can be very hard to find the maker. Various idiosyncrasies in seat post clamps, head badge screw spacing, etc could help but there is no way to look that information up. Just look at a lot of bikes! With the flip-flop hub it's probably a road bike, and one for someone who liked big gears. Maybe the 30" wheels were a way to squeeze out a little more top end? It looks like the basic shape of the missing headbadge is outlined on the headtube, so keep your eyes open. I've seen similar floral designs on a gorgeous Reading Standard from the 1890's- one I'm still kicking myself for not buying a few years ago-
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g72/gormanao/readingstandard.jpg
Good luck and good hunting in getting this bike put back together