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First and Last Ballooners?

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Ok, this is very relevant to a bike I just took possession of and am attempting to clean up.
WHEN did the 26" balloon clincher 1st come out? I say this because of this Nov, 1933 Colson Motorbike score. As found below...not all orig.
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This 26" wheelset was original to this bike, and it sports the "new" lobdell clincher style for tube/tire combo. Lobdel made it available in 1933 for both size wheels I believe. Below are the original hub shells and rims cleaned up and awaiting repair.
View attachment 763074

IMG_1949.JPG


IMG_1935.JPG
 
Another couple pics of the bike/rims. Colson also made this exact bike in a 28" version as well. These 26er lobdel clinchers are 3/16th taller than a modern 559 rim..

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28-er
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26-er
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IMG_1954.JPG


IMG_1952.JPG


Most interesting to me is how and why the "evolution" of 28/29ers went towards 26" PLUS! Perhaps the low pressure plus revolution started in late 32 or 33. Today, all the experts say this new plus game is the way to go. What you say cabers? I thing that the wide 26" plus low-pressure in 32/33 was the 1st "fat"....
 
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Thank you. That is nice to know. I would like to see your "1st" if possible?
 
Elgin and Iver were some of the last too.... 36/37 you could still get 28" wheels. Elgin used "spacers" to lower the 26" fenders closer to the tires on 28" frames for a while.
 
Here is a link to an article discussing the first "balloon" tired bikes and Schwinns' involvement in the transformation to the MOTOBIKE frame designs....
https://thecabe.com/forum/pages/the_first_american_balloon_tire_bicycle/

This well-researched article infers that "balloon" bikes made in 1932 meant they had 28" wheels with some wider tires on the rims, and were not a 26" clincher rim with a separate tube inside. What years are the Elgins shown above?
 
Hawthorne

Is it just me or did everybody just ignore the 1932 Hawthorne ad featuring a bike with balloon tires on it? I always thought it was Schwinn B line bikes too but I guess that's not exactly true - or somebody has an older Schwinn ad featuring 26x2.125s?

It clearly says on the ad both above the picture and to the right of it that it's the first bike to have such tires. However I can't find a year written on it albeit captioned on nostalgic as being a 1932 ad page. I think it's worth confirming that to be a 1932 page. It wouldn't suprise me if people think it was Schwinn (who 'inventec balloon tires on bikes) regardless because they are the king kong market and ad/business/sales experts. I think they might have taken the idea and ran with it, claiming to own it perhaps. That is how business works in the real world afterall. Often the original idea comes from a quieter entity.

Just incase you really didn't notice eazywind's post here is the ad again:

View attachment 541930

I never knew that - you learn something new every day I guess :)

....and the reference page: http://www.nostalgic.net/bicycle721
here's the catalog the bike is offered in.

dscn1470.jpg
 
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