Military?

[Euphman06]

Does the extra bracket in the rear triangle make this a military model?

1942 COLUMBIA WESTFIELD COMPAX SPORTS TRAVELER BICYCLE | eBay

<p>1942 COLUMBIA WESTFIELD COMPAX SPORTS TRAVELER BICYCLE. Rare bike. All original.</p>

rover.ebay.com

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[catfish]

The extra rear brace is Military, but having the decal on the down tube means it was sold as a rider. Most likely after the war as left over surplus.

 

[MrColumbia]

There is something fishy with this bike and seller. He has listed it, taken the auction down after offers were made, then relisted the bike. Last time I looked he had the bike listed in multiple auctions under different seller ID's but it was no doubt the same bike with the same stone wall backdrop.

It certainly does not cost $400 to ship a Compax anywhere in the US. The first two times it was listed it had free shipping.

 

[Euphman06]

Cool, thanks for the knowledge guys. So with the extra brace is only military used if it has the olive drab paint. Still on the hunt for a bonafide military bike that I can afford lol.

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[MrColumbia]

There was never a blanket military contract for these "Military Model" Compax bikes. To my knowledge there was never any of these model Compax's that left the factory in O.D. paint either. They were however sometimes purchased by individual military bases. All the ones I have seen came in civilian blackout finish. A balloon tire model I had was gloss black and a lightweight version I still own was in red. That bike was originally owned by the Navel Air Base in Lakehurst New Jersey. It is possible that some bases would do an O.D. paint job once they got the bike but I have not seen one myself yet.

The only way to conclusively identify a "Military Model" Compax as true "Military" bike is to know it's history having a record of which base it served at. Even then it's a matter of opinion wether to call it a military bike or a civilian bike owned by the military.

 

[MrColumbia]

To be clear on the original post, there is no question that the bike on eBay is an original Military Model Compax and it does look all original with the correct military grips and wood pedal blocks. I took exception though to the sellers actions of listing and removing the listing multiple times and listing the same bike under multiple user names at the same time. I also detest price gouging on shipping.

 

[Mercian]

Hi All,

I've been away, so missed this conversation so far.

I should add that G14122A L2 is a February 1944 frame, not a 1942 as claimed (though it's an understandable mistake, the frame numbers a little tricky here).

Also, as a coincidence, the sister of this bike (G14144A) turned up in July ( @Sarg1969 )

https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/westfield-frame-numbers-1933-1945.100743/page-4 Post 77

Best Regards,

Adrian