When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Looking for any info about my bike

-

bikelady22

On Training Wheels
Hi everyone! I just recently got this bike and have been trying relentlessly to locate the brand or make of the bike so I can start looking for parts to restore it! I've read elsewhere that it most likely is a cheap bike that was made in the 70's. I am looking to see if anyone can help me get any information on it so I can start buying replacement parts! Anything helps, thanks so much!
bike1.jpg
bike5.jpg
bike3.jpg
 
Not sure what parts would be unique to that bike that require replacing. Looks to me like tires/tub, a good service. and a gentle cleaning to be roadworthy. The headset certainly needs some attention--not sure what is going on there. BTW I'd only spend money on this if you plan on keeping and riding it. There is no money to be made if selling. V/r Shawn
 
Welcome to the forum, you have made a friendly and clear post with good photos, so you are on your way! Here's what I can add, I hope this helps you. Shortly after the second world war, West Germany was allowed to make many consumer goods without paying royalties on patents, as a means to help them recover economically. Bicycles, particularly "lightweight" three speed bikes were a popular product. (These bikes were not light, but that's the designation for skinny tires as opposed to balloon tires.) West German three speed hubs that are more or less exact copies of UK's Sturmey Archer brand were made by the thousands. Many have the brand name Sachs, I suspect yours does too, although I may be wrong. The bikes were all intended for entry-level markets. The most complicated part on your bike is the rear hub, and it's more or less an assemblage of cheaply made parts - the wheels, frame, bars, etc that make that item, the three speed hub, marketable. Whomever made this bike, it was probably sold at a second-tier department store on the downward slide from the bicycle's heyday of the 1960s. Think Kresge's or Woolworth, etc., or possibly a bicycle shop that wanted to make a profit by selling volume, not quality. Check the sticker on the seat post tube, it may be the maker or it may be the dealer/importer, for clues but what we are telling you here is that the similarities outweigh the differences on these more or less generic bikes and parts are parts where a bike like this is concerned. Someone bought this to ride to high school or college and then it went into a garage for a few decades. It's a fun color and seems complete. Service it and do what you can to brighten up the chrome and the paint. Buy some 0000 ("four-ought") steel wool and some WD-40 and scrub the chrome and lube up the paint carefully and you will see some of the luster return. It looks pretty rugged for what it is, but all bikes can be made to look good again if you are willing to do the work. Read the restoration tips section of this forum carefully. If you decide it should be repainted, that's probably the point at which you need to seriously reconsider finding a better quality project/product to spend your time on. As mentioned above, it will never be worth the effort to fix it up for resale. It's worth whatever time you put into it, and whatever enjoyment you get out of it. And that could be quite a lot. A bike like this was at least made by workers who earned a living wage. Bicycles from China are sadly a product that is hurting workers everywhere, and I'm glad to say your bike isn't contributing to that trend. Bikes made in Taiwan however have now dominated the market as they are often cheap to produce but of high enough quality that they will last the lifespan of a typical bike user and either function as a good enough product to get by on, or bring the owner into the market for a better quality product. In general it's a tougher call to decide what to think about the flood of bikes from Taiwan. They are getting people out of cars, and that's great. Any bike that gets ridden means one less car trip and I am personally all for that. This group is mostly for old collectors of American made bikes from the heyday of the 20th century and it's a friendly place, we welcome you. But most of us wouldn't give a bike like this a second glance. It's just what the demographic and hobby dictates. You average garage sale bike seller knows nothing about bikes other than they are old and in the way, and we've all been to so many garage sales that we wait to find something cheap to buy that has some better history and quality and collectability to it before investing our time on it. But if you can appreciate the bike for what it is, by all means get it going and ride it to your heart's content. Lots of people would jettison the steel wheels and find some aluminum wheels that are from a Taiwan bike and ride this thing as a single speed, or a three speed after upgrading the brakes and the cranks, too. Everything that rotates on a bike takes effort and so if you can lighten or improve the quality of those parts first, the bike will perform better. That means wheels first, tires and drive train next. The fact that the frame is steel and relatively heavy isn't such a problem once you get the bike moving. I don't know where you live but if there is a community bike shop nearby, check it out and sign up for a clinic on refurbishing a bike, it's easy and you will learn a lot and probably make some new friends, too. Good luck with the bike, I love the color. You would be surprised how little it might take to get this thing to a state where you enjoy it every day.
 
Welcome to the forum, you have made a friendly and clear post with good photos, so you are on your way! Here's what I can add, I hope this helps you. Shortly after the second world war, West Germany was allowed to make many consumer goods without paying royalties on patents, as a means to help them recover economically. Bicycles, particularly "lightweight" three speed bikes were a popular product. (These bikes were not light, but that's the designation for skinny tires as opposed to balloon tires.) West German three speed hubs that are more or less exact copies of UK's Sturmey Archer brand were made by the thousands. Many have the brand name Sachs, I suspect yours does too, although I may be wrong. The bikes were all intended for entry-level markets. The most complicated part on your bike is the rear hub, and it's more or less an assemblage of cheaply made parts - the wheels, frame, bars, etc that make that item, the three speed hub, marketable. Whomever made this bike, it was probably sold at a second-tier department store on the downward slide from the bicycle's heyday of the 1960s. Think Kresge's or Woolworth, etc., or possibly a bicycle shop that wanted to make a profit by selling volume, not quality. Check the sticker on the seat post tube, it may be the maker or it may be the dealer/importer, for clues but what we are telling you here is that the similarities outweigh the differences on these more or less generic bikes and parts are parts where a bike like this is concerned. Someone bought this to ride to high school or college and then it went into a garage for a few decades. It's a fun color and seems complete. Service it and do what you can to brighten up the chrome and the paint. Buy some 0000 ("four-ought") steel wool and some WD-40 and scrub the chrome and lube up the paint carefully and you will see some of the luster return. It looks pretty rugged for what it is, but all bikes can be made to look good again if you are willing to do the work. Read the restoration tips section of this forum carefully. If you decide it should be repainted, that's probably the point at which you need to seriously reconsider finding a better quality project/product to spend your time on. As mentioned above, it will never be worth the effort to fix it up for resale. It's worth whatever time you put into it, and whatever enjoyment you get out of it. And that could be quite a lot. A bike like this was at least made by workers who earned a living wage. Bicycles from China are sadly a product that is hurting workers everywhere, and I'm glad to say your bike isn't contributing to that trend. Bikes made in Taiwan however have now dominated the market as they are often cheap to produce but of high enough quality that they will last the lifespan of a typical bike user and either function as a good enough product to get by on, or bring the owner into the market for a better quality product. In general it's a tougher call to decide what to think about the flood of bikes from Taiwan. They are getting people out of cars, and that's great. Any bike that gets ridden means one less car trip and I am personally all for that. This group is mostly for old collectors of American made bikes from the heyday of the 20th century and it's a friendly place, we welcome you. But most of us wouldn't give a bike like this a second glance. It's just what the demographic and hobby dictates. You average garage sale bike seller knows nothing about bikes other than they are old and in the way, and we've all been to so many garage sales that we wait to find something cheap to buy that has some better history and quality and collectability to it before investing our time on it. But if you can appreciate the bike for what it is, by all means get it going and ride it to your heart's content. Lots of people would jettison the steel wheels and find some aluminum wheels that are from a Taiwan bike and ride this thing as a single speed, or a three speed after upgrading the brakes and the cranks, too. Everything that rotates on a bike takes effort and so if you can lighten or improve the quality of those parts first, the bike will perform better. That means wheels first, tires and drive train next. The fact that the frame is steel and relatively heavy isn't such a problem once you get the bike moving. I don't know where you live but if there is a community bike shop nearby, check it out and sign up for a clinic on refurbishing a bike, it's easy and you will learn a lot and probably make some new friends, too. Good luck with the bike, I love the color. You would be surprised how little it might take to get this thing to a state where you enjoy it every day.
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! I appreciate it so much and yes, very new here but I have always loved bikes and look forward to just fixing this one up for myself! Thank you again!
 
Not sure what parts would be unique to that bike that require replacing. Looks to me like tires/tub, a good service. and a gentle cleaning to be roadworthy. The headset certainly needs some attention--not sure what is going on there. BTW I'd only spend money on this if you plan on keeping and riding it. There is no money to be made if selling. V/r Shawn
Thank you for your help and information! I am very new to this and appreciate you sharing your knowledge!
 
Possibly an 'Adler' considering it has a stylised Adler (Eagle) on the headbadge.
Or possibly a 'Crown' seeing as that also features in the headbadge design.
The 'Made in W. Germany' description technically gives you a date range between 1949 and 1990 for production; but in reality I think you are looking at the 1970's/80's. Probably 1970's though with that style of saddle (if it's original!).
It wouldn't surprise me if the rear hub has a date of production stamped somewhere on the body.
Most of the rust will clean off using @kentercanyon's excellent technique mentioned above of using '0000' wire wool and WD40.
It'll take a little effort but you'll be pleasantly surprised by the results.
Will make a useful little runaround with that rack on the back.
Needs a basic service.
Oh, and welcome to the Cabe!
@juvela?
 
Last edited:
-----

dating -

appears near to 1970 from here

---

frame -

constructed with bits from Agrati of Italy and ESGE of Germany

the bulge-formed head is Agrati pattern "EXPORT"

the lug joining the top tube and seat tube is Agrati pattern "AMERICA" nr. 086.8569

the bottom bracket shell is likely Agrati pattern nr. 000.8507 if threaded. the chainset is either a Thun product or a thun (Thompson) pattern one. in this design the shell's threads are not employed. they would be BSC, if present, although not used. alternately, Agrati made unthreaded shells for use with Thompson type chainsets. they are part of the firm's "EXPORT" series.

seat lug is Agrati item nr. 090.8059

fork blades will exhibit very thick walls. one might say they are "barely tubular." ;)

the frame's plate style chain stay and seat stay bridges are products of ESGE (Germany).

---

as mentioned earlier, it is highly likely that the cycle represents a contract build made for a chain store or distributor

one helpful clue to the actual manufacturer is the seat stay treatment

you could look at some machines on ebay.de to see an assortment...

-----
 
Mind U, others said it's worthless. Light weight bikes, male or female like this, are not collectible or sought out. They don't sell for much even if new tires and tune up. I mean, U be lucky to get cost of tires and tune-up back, Most especially girls bikes.

So, ride, enjoy but, don't spend much if you ain't gonna keep it till it rots.
 
Back
Top