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Excelsior bicycles

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They moved into manufacturing sometime around 1905-06 and were listed as one of the bicycle manufacturers in a tariff hearing in 1908

Here is the 1st ad of the "Original Design" Twinn-Truss in 1906:

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Does anyone have an example of the Twinn Truss model with the crankset shown in the ad? It looks like the cranks that came in a bike that I am trying to identify.
Thanks,
Chris
 
Things happened pretty fast with Fred Robie running Excelsior and expanding so quickly. They moved from their 223-227 Randolph st address briefly to this spot (400 w Randolph) right on the river with a dock that would transport directly from the factory down the river at the 22nd st slip. The other side had rail access across from Chicago's main train stations. Not sure what happened to this building or the contents inside but it is almost across the street from where the Mead retail/warehouse would be located.

This is taken from a Cycling and Automobile Trade mag June 1910:

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Wow, love the info!!!! thanks for sharing, you rock! Looks like they may have built cycles for Elgin/Sears?
 
I showed these in the Gary Mc thread of the treasure trove of bike links. I had mistakenly referred to them as Schwinn ads (with no objections to the contrary).

So I think these are important ads. The fact that these are not Schwinn is huge! Even more intriguing is the drop-stand on the "Model A" that is so often attributed to the early Chiefs.

1914 ad showing the 1915 line-up:

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This got me thinking... maybe Sears and Mead had a frame builder more local than Dayton, Ohio that they could get moto-bike style frames built quick and cheep by experienced bicycle men. Maybe Sears used the same company for their bicycle frames as they did for their motorcycle frames... Excelsior Cycle Co.
 
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Looks like they may have built cycles for Elgin/Sears?

Only thing I see different is Sears/Elgins show the triple plate fork crown which I attribute to Mead (1910-1920's) and later Westfield (1920's forward)

Mead was know for buying stripped down frames. He was also know for importing English components such as the Sturmey Archer 3 speed hubs and 1/2" pitch chains and sprockets.

Excelsior's original business plan was to build frames for people that wanted to assemble bicycles and motorcycles. Seams like a perfect match.

Now here is where I am going to stretch a little and make some more wild theories. Some based on real events.

Schwinn and Mead form a bank in 1915.
Excelsior Cycle show large jump in stock valuation in 1915 *
Excelsior Cycle Co no longer making motorcycles
Excelsior Cycle Co makes plans to move to Michigan City and just build bicycles, no more motorcycles... (Sounds like Mead and Schwinn bought them out... or bullied them out of town)
1916 Arrow Cycle Co shows up with Mead, Schwinn and Sears Chief features


* June 1915 Chicago Tribune
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http://archive.org/stream/bicyclingworldmo00leag#page/n807/mode/2up

This is a great couple of pages that lists all the parts manufacturers and jobbers etc.

Going back to the unique drop-stands on the '15 Excelsior Cycle Co, they are listed as stand suppliers in 1914:

STANDS
Aera Mfg. Co., 410 Siegel St., Chicago, 111.
Adams & Co., Henrv T., 6823 So. Chicago Ave., Chicago, 111.
Ero Mfg. Co., Chicago, III.
EXCELSIOR CYCLE CO., 166 N. Sangamon St., Chicago. 111.
International Stamping Co., 1852 W. Austin Ave., Chicago. III.
JOHNSON'S ARMS & CYCLE WORKS, IVER, Fitchburg, Mass.
Maiestic Mfg. Co., Worcester. Mass.
Wald Mfg. Co., Sheboygan, Wis.
 
Thanks guys for the compliments. The web of manufacturers, jobbers and retailers is a crazy one in those times. I think it's important to say that Sears bought frames and bikes from many sources over the years. They even bought some from Colonel Pope's American Bicycle Company sometime around 1902-3 (contract was for 20,000 bicycles with an option for 20,000 more). This came out when Pope had his law suits for bottom bracket patent infringement against Schwinn that included Sears, Wards and tons of hardware branded machines. Sears then counter sued Pope for not delivering the additional 20,000 that was optioned in their contract. This must have been embarrassing for Pope as he was so harsh in his criticism of the mail order business, yet was selling to them at the same time. Pope countered back and said they never requested the additional 20,000 so they weren't delivered.

I will be posting on one of the Davis threads to show how it may have been Sears that helped get Davis Sewing Machine back into bike manufacturing after 1909-11 range. They were absent from the Tariff hearings as listed in 1908. Not sure if this was due to their relationship with a mail order house such a Sears or that they weren't a large producer at the time.

Sears had used Minneapolis Motor Co for some of their 1st motorcycles, after that it was Thor and then possibly Greyhound motors too. So Excelsior wasn't an exclusive supplier for Sears as far as motorcycles. I would assume that is true for bicycles as well. I'm more focused on those early motobike Sears models like the Chief and Napoleon. I'm sticking with my theory that Sears used Mead to assemble or at least source for the forks, chains, and other English goodies equipped on the Sears models of the teens.
 
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Turning focus back to pre-buyout and liquidation in Dec 1911

Excelsior's English connections. George Robie was the first person to import the James Safety bicycle and continued to import bicycles from Coventry England (Home to English built Excelsior and Triumph bicycles and later motorcycles until tariffs in early part of 1900's made it less profitable). And to add some crosstown connections with Mead Cycle, James Mead was setting up his connections in England around 1900-1905 and had advertisements for selling Coventry bicycles for below factory cost.

Here are the American built Excelsiors and Triumphs advertised in 1908:

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In July 1907 it became public that they were entering into the Motorcycle market.

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Their first offering was the "Triumph" This is described as a very "foreign looking machine." And it does share some features with it's English cousin. The motor mounting directly to the frame instead of a loop frame that was used by others. The other is the motor (De Dion copy by Thor and the same as Indian first used to build their engines and several other makers used that year). Robie surprised the 1908 New York trade show by debuting the Excelsior with a Motor built in house! Another key feature was the double truss design to house the fuel tanks. This would become the industry standard... as would the low-far-back saddle placement.

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