Faux TOC's

[NikeAjax]

OK folks, I'm thinkin' hopefully this fall I can start on a faux-TOC-bike. Firstly, I think it would be fun! Secondly, I can paint it any color I want, as well as creating my own graphics: I've seen some bikes that use decals instead of head-badges. Lastly, it will be a fun learning experience and I won't have some purist screaming down my throat that I have destroyed history, and I won't have to baby the bike out of fear of ruining hard to find antique parts.

My thought is to use something like a Columbia Tourist bike, as well as the rims: perhaps an old ten-speed?

I see that there is a fairly decent leather saddle that can be had on eBait.

I want a coaster-brake, so I will need to find something that will work: sorry I have zero idea how many spokes the rims have, as I am just thinking out loud trying to get ideas

It might be fun to have a spoon-brake too, have any of y'all made one? I know a lot of TOC-bikes used just a front brake, but stopping with just a front wheel can get you thrown!

I'm also thinking of customizing the frame: recreating and then welding on a rear wheel bracket, with the adjusting screws and rear-insertion, so that it looks correct.

Share your thoughts and or ideas, but...

PLEASE BE NICE ABOUT IT!

Jaybird

 

[The Spokemaster]

36 SPOKES ON ADULT-SIZED BICYCLE WHEELS .... ( say 26 inch )

Remember ....RIMS are not WHEELS ....and, WHEELS are not RIMS

WHEELS are WHEELS ....and, RIMS are RIMS

Have fun with this, and be sure to exhale every now and then

 

[The Carolina Rambler]

That does sound like it could be fun, to make a modern version of a 1900s bike. One other option though, what if you bought a rusty 1890s-1900s frame?, a real one. One with no remaining original paint just rust, no other real parts, maybe just a frame, no badge even. There are probably hundreds of those floating around, that no one hardly buys, so you might can pick one up for like $100. And then, so long as you are not cutting and splicing (modifying that original metal), and so long as there is no remaining original paint, I would think you could customize it and paint it ever how you want, without scorn. Because by doing it like that, any customization you do is fully reversible, and you are not therefore "destroying history". An early 1900s bike is modern enough that most newer parts available now can be made to fit and work on that frame. And, you can still have bragging rights, that your bike truely is 120 years old, and not just some replica, but a customized machine. That would be an option to look into, and could be equally or more fun, and wouldn't cost more. You could get modern metal rims, with coaster brake, and paint them to look like wood, and you would be getting an old bike that would otherwise be a wall hanger, back on the road.

 

[bloo]

You'll be building wheels. Probably you want 700c aka 29" rims, which don't exist in sufficient numbers on old random tenspeeds. Some woodgrained Velocity Blunt might do. Most old tenspeeds use the old 26" English 3-speed size, or 27" (not 27.5). Neither would be great choices. I think you will want tires that are not black. Carbon black as a strengthening agent and UV protection for rubber was a later development. There could have been black tires in that era, I don't know, but I doubt there were many. Single tube tires are usually a 1.5" cross section, so shoot for something close.

Look at a bunch of real antiques of the style you want. This is REALLY outside my area, and I imagine you will get better advice about this as the thread progresses, but two things that stand out to me are that many TOC bikes have very slack angles on the seattube and headtube, and the frames tend to be extremely tall. In a tenspeed (or other lightweight) frame, you should be looking for something with an extremely tall headtube. I don't think most of the tall tenspeeds I have seen are slack enough to look like TOC. It wouldn't surprise me if an appropriate frame winds up saying "Raleigh" on it, but I have no idea exactly which. Some Northroad-style handlebars turned upside down might do for handlebars. You'd have to try it and see if it looks all right. English 3 speeds use that style, as do a bunch of upright model Schwinns, so they are everywhere. I believe repro TOC grips exist.

Do you need gears? Hiding the stuff associated with internally geared hubs (or worse yet, derailleurs would be close to impossible and might kill the look. You don't want too much chrome, that too could kill the effect. Real TOC would have nickel, and not that much of it.

Good luck.

 

[NikeAjax]

Thank you for the very thoughtful replies!

My thought is to use steel rims, that I would paint the same scheme as the rest of the bike, including the fenders. At the moment I'm liking deep violet and forest green, and light blue pinstripes if I can do them well enough: there's some really beautiful German camouflage from WW-I that I have always loved.

Yes, I have been studying the old bikes, getting ideas: it doesn't have to be spot-on, just close enough to where it might fool the casual observer, or even cause the real bike collector to do a double-take trying to figure things out--just get people to talk, ya know?

Jaybird

 

[dnc1]

One could also explore the options that are available off the shelf, brand new, such as the retro styled 'Guv'nor' model from "Pashley' over here in the UK, much loved by the 'Tweed Run' set, although that's styled a little later than a TOC design.
For real quality, if you wanted something new, look at the hand-built, artisan crafted range from "Cattelan Cycles" of Italy, possibly the finest faux veteran cycles available:

Cattelan Cycles | Biciclette Artigianali Old Style

Bicicletta uguale viaggio, questa è l’essenza di Cattelan Cycles! Biciclette artigianali realizzate con attenzione ai particolari.

www.cattelancycles.com

...here's an image of one of their beautifully made machines.....

...though at the prices they ask, while undoubtedly stylish, I think I would prefer the real thing.

 

[Iverider]

I wouldn't worry about "Destroying history". There are plenty of framesets out there with no original parts, or paint that's far beyond saveable. You'll still probably be into the frame for $100+ if you go that route.

That said, something like a Schwinn Varsity would be a cheap easy way to build a TOC Tribute. Their electroforged "jointery" also looks a bit like the smooth internal joints of some of the TOC bikes out there and they'll fit a 27" wheel (which is larger diameter than a TOC 28" wheel (as far as the actual rim diameter is concerned). They also use American bottom bracket shells so you won't have to figure out what cottered crank to use and you can then adapt an inch pitch chainring to the bike. In addition, no one will cry about you modding a Varsity for this purpose and if you have a community bike project organization you can probably find one for really cheap. The dropouts will face the wrong way, but probably most frames that you come across for consideration would have the same issue. Another option would be a cheap steel fixed gear bike from the 2000s when the fixie craze happened which would probably have rear facing dropouts (track ends).

Spoke count is also not that big of a deal though most coaster brakes you find will be 36 hole. If someone is sitting around counting your spokes and not paying attention to other details that may not be quite line up with a genuine machine then you know you've achieved your goal. Another detail to be aware of is that chrome was not used on TOC machines. Nickle plating was used for brightwork at that time, which doesn't have a blue cast to it like Chrome. In the teens Iver Johnson offered a Blackout version of their machine where all of the brightwork was enameled black instead of the traditional nickel plating. I assume this was to reduce polishing and corrosion so you could go that route.

For your wheelset I would use stainless or black spokes. For tires, selecting a tread pattern is the key. With gravel tires being plentiful lately, this has become a bit easier. Something simple is the key. Small knobs, a simple chevron pattern or something smooth even. At the end of the day, anyone with TOC experience will be able to tell it apart from an actual bike upon viewing up close, but if you can fool them from 20 feet into taking that closer look, I'd be happy.

 

[Andrew Gorman]

Frame geometry is going to be the hardest to match- either extremely tall frames, or really slack angles and long top tubes. long stems weren't really reliable then, so use a zero reach stem. Old diamond frames don't get a lot of love from bike collectors, so keep your eyes peeled and ask around. There could be some good candidates in someone's junk pile. Finding period looking cranks is also going to be harder than you might think. Have fun with the project!

 

[NikeAjax]

Again, thank you for the replies

Right now I'm just on a fact finding mission, picking your brains as it were!

So, I shouldn't have any problems matching up a coaster brake to a set of rims then eh? Good to know.

I thought I'd look for junky old bikes for cheap, with a diamond frame. As for the crank, yeah, I'm hip daddy-o; I've been thinkin' 'bout that too hmmm? The challenge is what makes it fun though, right?

"They also use American bottom bracket shells so you won't have to figure out what cottered crank to use and you can then adapt an inch pitch chainring to the bike."

Sorry, I don't know what that means, please educate me

And again, thank you!

JB

 

[Iverider]

American bottom bracket shell is a descriptor for the type of bottom bracket shell (which is the part of the frame that holds the bottom bracket bearing cups/bearings and ultimately the crank) It is used primarily on the 1 piece type cranks (Like an old style BMX bike) TOC bikes had lots of different crank setups and bottom bracket shell setups you'll find, but I think if you want to go for something 1" pitch, you'll have an easier time finding a chainring that you could use that would look the part. That said, 1" pitch chains are more expensive. There were execeptions to the inch-pitch chainrings of course. I know Mead and Racycle had 1/2" pitch options, though Racycle rings are huge and would be quite expensive on their own.