Official Firestone - Fleetwood Supreme Thread

[cyclingday]

 

[cyclingday]

 

[frampton]

;

 

[kreika]

I was curious about color offerings. I zoomed in on the ad. Seafoam Grey. Is that a typo? It looks more Seafoam Green than Grey.

 

[cyclingday]

I was curious about color offerings. I zoomed in on the ad. Seafoam Grey. Is that a typo? It looks more Seafoam Green than Grey.

That is one of the mysteries that has perplexed everyone who has ever delved into these amazing bikes.
The only original paint bikes I’ve seen, have been opaque black, opalescent red, and opalescent green.
So our best guess is, that “Seafog Gray” is actually the opalescent green that you see here in this thread.
There have been restored bikes done in the silver/gray color, but I think that was just because they saw that catalog color listing and assumed that it must have been gray/silver.

 

[cyclingday]

One thing to note on these Fleetwood Supremes, is the distinct chainguard for these models.
These bikes tend to get pieced together, since complete originals are few and far between, and the pesky little 3 rib Firestone chainguard is one of the hardest parts to find.
The bracket that clamped around the chainstay was just held on to the guard by a spot weld, and once that gave out, the original owners tended to just remove the guard altogether.
So, finding one of these bikes with its original guard intact, is a major stroke of luck.
Since it’s more likely, that you’ll be looking for one of these guards, note the difference between the Firestone Fleetwood Supreme guard and the Firestone Twin Flex Cusioned guard.
The Fleetwood Supreme has a sharp angle to the rear of the chainring cutout, and the Twin Flex type has a rounded corner to the rear of the chainring cut out.

Many restored Fleetwood Supremes ended up getting the Twin Flex type guard as they are a little easier to find.
It’s a subtle detail, that often gets over looked, but just one of the many features that make these Fleetwood Supremes unique.

 

[cyclingday]

Question;

Answer; sort of

In summary, I personally don’t think there is a right or wrong here, as long as the rack has the 9 hole/slat, McCauley Products, book strap slot, flat/non form stamped leg type rack, then you’re good to go.
But, that’s just my opinion.
You’ll have to make your own conclusions on that debate.

 

[cyclingday]

The drop stand and fender clip is another oddball thing about these bikes.
The geometry of these frames owes its lineage back to the original 1936 Huffman/Dayton, Safety Streamline.
That model had a very unique dropstand clip arrangement, that had a looping spring clip that mounted to the rear frame/stay loop instead of the fender, as most, if not all other bikes do.
That gave the distance from the pivot point to the ground/down position, and the rear, up/clipped position, a dissimilar distance.
Odd and inconvenient?
You bet?
It worked well on the 36 Safety Streamline, but when they changed/simplified the design in 1937, for some odd reason, they kept the same pivot point geometry, which put the drop stand way clear of the rear fender in the up/clipped position, which required a very unique drop stand clip, that hangs off of the back fender.
See example

If your bike is missing this unique clip, then you’re in a world of hurt.
But, do not despair!
There have been some quality reproductions made in recent years, so you may get lucky and still be able to find a few of those floating around the hobby.
Good Luck!

 

[cyclingday]

 

[Kickstand3]

This Ride is more beautiful in person!
Thanks for all the Great Information
SERIOUSLY
THO
I JUST NEED A LETTER
R ….. R