Found one of these...

[Gully]

Righty O!

...then thar be the small matter of the maintenance of peace & tranquilitude with that person whom the barrister Rumpole referred to as SWMBO


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LOL!! This is in the garage so all is good other than too many bicycles lol!

 

[Mercian]

Hi @Gully

Because I am interested in the wartime models of this bike, I am compiling a list of them. I currently have about 75 listed from 1940 to 1947.

I have only seen one other with the 'Lima Bean' chain wheel so far, and that too has the same chainguard. Of course, it could be the same bike!

Westfield compax | Military Bicycles

I am tying to find the year for this bike. Serial number is G33437. @MrColumbia can you help?

thecabe.com

I said in my reply that I didn't think the chainguard was correct, but, if yours is a different bike, I'm going to have to revise that. (-:

The one in the link is G33437 / J2. If you are willing to share the details, I'd be interested to know if it's the same bike, or a close relative.

Thanks in anticipation.

Best Regards,

Adrian

 

[MrColumbia]

This is a fairly rare prewar Compax. Even though the chaingaurd is not the catalog version it is year correct for a Columbia and the color and patina strongly suggest it is factory origanal. It was very common for the factory to substitute parts, maybe as a result of shortages or possibly a customer request.

 

[Gully]

Hi @Gully

Because I am interested in the wartime models of this bike, I am compiling a list of them. I currently have about 75 listed from 1940 to 1947.

I have only seen one other with the 'Lima Bean' chain wheel so far, and that too has the same chainguard. Of course, it could be the same bike!

Westfield compax | Military Bicycles

I am tying to find the year for this bike. Serial number is G33437. @MrColumbia can you help?

thecabe.com

I said in my reply that I didn't think the chainguard was correct, but, if yours is a different bike, I'm going to have to revise that. (-:

The one in the link is G33437 / J2. If you are willing to share the details, I'd be interested to know if it's the same bike, or a close relative.

Thanks in anticipation.

Best Regards,

Adrian

@Mercian Here is the serial #. Looks pretty close! The guy I got it from said he bought it from a hoarder about 20 years ago and it's set in his shed ever since. The chain guard has the same patina as the rest of the bike so I'm assuming it's OG through comments here.

 

[Mercian]

Hi @Gully

Thank you for sharing that, it is very much appreciated. (-:

Especially as it a nice, unusual variation, very much of the time.

Your Compax G33942 / J2 is a February 1942 produced frame, and so is a close survivor to G33437 / J2, likely produced ithin a couple of days of each other.

Yes, I'm sure that the chainwheel and guard is correct, this is right at the beginning of wartime production, and the first few months of 1942, as production moved onto a wartime footing, it seems like Westfield cleared the shelves of slightly older parts, and used them on their bikes. Could you tell me the rear hub brake type (New Departure type D likely).

G33083 / J2 also exists, but just as a frame.

PREWAR COLUMBIA FOLDING BICYCLE,PARATROOPER BIKE,VINTAGE COLUMBIA FRAME | #372698060

UP FOR AUCTION IS A VERY NICE OLD COLUMBIA FOLDING FRAME. THE HEADBADGE SAYS COMPAX ACCROSS THE TOP AND SPORTS TRAVELER ALONG THE BOTTOM WITH COLUMBIA WESTFIELD MFG/COLUMBIA WESTFIELD MASS...... SOLD

www.worthpoint.com

Here is the beginning of my overall list for Westfields for 1942. You can see how the Hollow Lima Bean type chainwheel was used early, after this, not at all.

 

[New Mexico Brant]

Congrats on your Compax find. These actually are pretty nice bike to ride. I had one I used as my "townie" bike for a while.

 

[Gully]

Hi @Gully

Thank you for sharing that, it is very much appreciated. (-:

Especially as it a nice, unusual variation, very much of the time.

Your Compax G33942 / J2 is a February 1942 produced frame, and so is a close survivor to G33437 / J2, likely produced ithin a couple of days of each other.

Yes, I'm sure that the chainwheel and guard is correct, this is right at the beginning of wartime production, and the first few months of 1942, as production moved onto a wartime footing, it seems like Westfield cleared the shelves of slightly older parts, and used them on their bikes. Could you tell me the rear hub brake type (New Departure type D likely).

G33083 / J2 also exists, but just as a frame.

PREWAR COLUMBIA FOLDING BICYCLE,PARATROOPER BIKE,VINTAGE COLUMBIA FRAME | #372698060

UP FOR AUCTION IS A VERY NICE OLD COLUMBIA FOLDING FRAME. THE HEADBADGE SAYS COMPAX ACCROSS THE TOP AND SPORTS TRAVELER ALONG THE BOTTOM WITH COLUMBIA WESTFIELD MFG/COLUMBIA WESTFIELD MASS...... SOLD

www.worthpoint.com

Here is the beginning of my overall list for Westfields for 1942. You can see how the Hollow Lime Bean tpe chainwheel was used early, after this, not at all.

View attachment 1865625

VERY interesting! I'll take a better look at the hub tonight.

 

[vincev]

Worth saving if you got it at the right price !!

 

[Gully]

VERY interesting! I'll take a better look at the hub tonight.

Hi @Mercian , Here you go..

 

[ricobike]

It should be easy to tell if this chainguard came on the bike from the factory as the mounting brackets for the Compax are specially designed to mount to the seat mast rather than the downtube as on pretty much every other bike Columbia produced. If the rivets look original on the chainguard to bracket itself, I'd say it's definitely original to the bike.