Firestone Speed Chief questions

[Neil S]

Hello. I recently bought my wife a Firestone Speed Chief bicycle, which was restored by a friend who restores motorcycles. My friend who restored it has little knowledge of old bicycles, and neither do I.

Attached are photos prior to restoration and some photos after restoration. He duplicated the original decals, and otherwise, he believes the bicycle was in its original condition before he sandblasted and powder coated it.

I’m looking for help identifying the maker and approximate year of this bicycle. There’s a serial number stamped on the rear dropout: B186998. I’ve been told the seat stay is a unique shape that may identify the maker. I’m looking for help identifying 1) the manufacturer; 2) the year; and 3) would this bicycle have originally had a tank?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[fordmike65]

Looks like a late 50's-early 60's Snyder built bike. Some may have had a tank, but most did not.

 

[Archie Sturmer]

The yoke style seat stay joint indicates the middleweight frame design. I have seen a 1956 boys middleweight, lightly-stamped with a date-place code “65SN” on the bottom; and with a “C” prefix serial number on the left-side rear fork end. (Some say that the latter started years later).

If there was a date-place code stamped on your nice girls bike....

 

[Neil S]

Looks like a late 50's-early 60's Snyder built bike. Some may have had a tank, but most did not.

Thanks for the input! My friend who restored it said he believed the paint was original, and he saw no marks on it that indicated that a tank had been attached in the past. So your statement that most did not have a tank seems to corroborate his feeling that it didn't originally have one.

 

[Neil S]

The yoke style seat stay joint indicates the middleweight frame design. I have seen a 1956 boys middleweight, lightly-stamped with a date-place code “65SN” on the bottom; and with a “C” prefix serial number on the left-side rear fork end. (Some say that the latter started years later).

If there was a date-place code stamped on your nice girls bike....

Thanks for the response, Archie. There are only 2 markings on the bicycle: the serial number B186998 and a strange symbol that looks like a combination of a "K" and an "I". Both are stamped on the rear dropout. Attached is a photo of the symbol I'm referring to.

 

[Adamtinkerer]

Reverse year codes on Snyder frames were used 1940-58. Serials in '59 started with A, on the rear dropout. So this is a 1960.