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Crescent Model 20 just bought, need info

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Thads Skunk Works

Wore out three sets of tires already!
First I want to thank CABE for the site. Just bought this old crutch at the Haysville Ks Swap Meet last Sunday. Never had a bike this old before, gotta lot to learn. Looking for info to restore it. Currently soaking the joints with PB. I need to know about parts needed to complete it, where to get seats & pedals----info like that. Also which parts on it are not original. What were the original colors offered, striping details, which parts were nickel plated, need chain info, on & on. I've had good luck with CABE. Would like to meet the guys who have been so helpful with info. (I probably paid too much for this but it will be a fun project & look to have fun doing the restoration & riding---) Thanks for any info & advice, Thad

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First I want to thank CABE for the site. Just bought this old crutch at the Haysville Ks Swap Meet last Sunday. Never had a bike this old before, gotta lot to learn. Looking for info to restore it. Currently soaking the joints with PB. I need to know about parts needed to complete it, where to get seats & pedals----info like that. Also which parts on it are not original. What were the original colors offered, striping details, which parts were nickel plated, need chain info, on & on. I've had good luck with CABE. Would like to meet the guys who have been so helpful with info. (I probably paid too much for this but it will be a fun project & look to have fun doing the restoration & riding---) Thanks for any info & advice, Thad

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I'm no expert, but I will tell you what I notice about it. I can tell from the lug patterns that this bike was built before 1900, and likely dates from about 1896 to 99, because after 1899 or so it appears Crescent discontinued frames with the type of lugs found on your bike, and may have even started building frames largely without lugs at all. I also notice it appears that perhaps in the 1920s or so, the bike had some parts added or replaced to it. Those parts being the fenders, luggage rack, front handlebar stem, and probably also the largest sprocket on the bike. The smaller sprockets are original. I believe this because those are all circa 20s parts. The rest of the bike appears original 1890s Crescent. A pretty nice bike, with a great deal of potential! Nice find, and thanks for showing us!
 
I also notice that the front fork of this bike appears to have some repairs possibly around the top, and I almost wonder if the fork might have been replaced on this bike, because a lot of other Crescent bicycles built during that time have a different style fork with an ornate brazed fork crown, but I could be wrong being how this is a tandem. As for paint and pinstriping. Most Crescents at that time were painted black, perhaps with gold pinstriping throughout. The Forks were often partially nickel plated. I have attached below some photos from the web showing some pin striping. I would think that striping along the frame could be highly variable, and largely up to your own preference, but as for the head tube of the bike, they almost always are striped in the way as seen in the below photos, from what I have seen on surviving original paint examples. You could really doll this bike up and it would look awesome with a dark red or green paint and gold filigree accents and gold and blue striping and box lines!

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This last picture is not a Crescent, it is a Rambler, but I am including it just to give you some ideas of how you could paint your bike up and bring it to its best potential and beauty. This work could be done by hand and would look awesome, a nice example of an original 1890s paint job.

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I'm no expert, but I will tell you what I notice about it. I can tell from the lug patterns that this bike was built before 1900, and likely dates from about 1896 to 99, because after 1899 or so it appears Crescent discontinued frames with the type of lugs found on your bike, and may have even started building frames largely without lugs at all. I also notice it appears that perhaps in the 1920s or so, the bike had some parts added or replaced to it. Those parts being the fenders, luggage rack, front handlebar stem, and probably also the largest sprocket on the bike. The smaller sprockets are original. I believe this because those are all circa 20s parts. The rest of the bike appears original 1890s Crescent. A pretty nice bike, with a great deal of potential! Nice find, and thanks for showing us!
Thanks for the info. The rear seat post doesn't look original to me. I was told by the guy I bought it from that the front stem was from a Harley or Indian bike. Any idea where I might find parts ?
 
I also notice that the front fork of this bike appears to have some repairs possibly around the top, and I almost wonder if the fork might have been replaced on this bike, because a lot of other Crescent bicycles built during that time have a different style fork with an ornate brazed fork crown, but I could be wrong being how this is a tandem. As for paint and pinstriping. Most Crescents at that time were painted black, perhaps with gold pinstriping throughout. The Forks were often partially nickel plated. I have attached below some photos from the web showing some pin striping. I would think that striping along the frame could be highly variable, and largely up to your own preference, but as for the head tube of the bike, they almost always are striped in the way as seen in the below photos, from what I have seen on surviving original paint examples. You could really doll this bike up and it would look awesome with a dark red or green paint and gold filigree accents and gold and blue striping and box lines!

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This last picture is not a Crescent, it is a Rambler, but I am including it just to give you some ideas of how you could paint your bike up and bring it to its best potential and beauty. This work could be done by hand and would look awesome, a nice example of an original 1890s paint job.

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Pictures are great, this will be a fun project. Thanks, Thad
 
Thanks for the info. The rear seat post doesn't look original to me. I was told by the guy I bought it from that the front stem was from a Harley or Indian bike. Any idea where I might find parts ?
Parts for this are a little tricky given their age. I would reckomend just periodically searching for "TOC Bicycle parts" on ebay and watching for ads on here. I see 1890s seats like this bike would have had, come up for sale probably once every few weeks, needing restoration typically. As for the front stem, if you choose to replace it and sell it, it would probably sell for a pretty penny cause its a deluxe long stem. The second stem on the bike I think is an original, and it looks like the stem on my Crescent mens bike. Those stems are not so common. Really if you choose to keep the parts it has, minus the fenders, it looks pretty good as is with those parts. Depends on how much time you want to invest into it. Wood wheels, or at least rims that you can build into wheels seem pretty abundant. This would have taken the old wooden tubular rims. They're not typically very expensive, but they almost always require some restoration and reconditioning to be made safely usable {safe is a relative term with 120 year old wood :) }. Lots of choices on handlebars, wood ones are the coolest. I have found more recently that when you go to reupholstering a seat, if you do that part yourself which is a good deal of work, you can get the horsehair padding you need out of 1940s and older car seats in junk yards, torn up ones. I am rebuilding some 28 inch wood wheels, and I found suitable spokes on 27 1/2 road bike wheels which cost next to nothing at scrap yards. There are ways to save a dollar here and there on restorations like this. Keep us posted with your progress as you go along in the restoration.!
 
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