Dayton Vintage Speed
Look Ma, No Hands!
I've been doing some research for information about my Davis made Peerless bicycles. I knew they were sold by Sears & Roebuck so naturally early TOC Sears catalogs is where I started. I only found a couple teens catalogs, and two TOC catalogs that I could view online. I quickly found that the Peerless name was not used until around 1908. When it was debuted the Peerless was one of their top models. I also found that there were commonly two versions of the Peerless. The Roadster and the Coaster models. With the Roadster model being a fixed gear and the Coaster obviously having a coaster hub, or so I'm assuming. (Please correct me if I'm wrong on any of this.)
I've found no photos or catalogs from 1908-09 showing the first 2 years of the model run. I have found one from 1910 which shows the typical set up of the Davis number 2 skip tooth chain ring and Davis number 20 front forks. These seem to be the standard for the Peerless badged bikes but I'm assuming they could have been ordered with any option from the Davis line. I've attached photos from this catalog.
My two Peerless bikes have distinctively different head badges. My early Peerless , again this is an assumption, has a very ornate badge that has the Peerless name within a flag in the center surrounded by a wreath and banner that reads The Roadster. Or if looking at it and reading like a normal human, again I'm making an assumption here, reads "The Peerless Roadster". A photo is attached of this badge. I'm assuming this bike is an early 1908-1909 version simply because of this headbadge. Photos of the 1910- 1914- 1918 models all show the typical Davis made Peerless badge with the Proprietary P in the center that is most commonly found on the teens models. A photo of my later model is attached as well. So with those somewhat known variances out of the way let's move onto the unknown variances.
My early model has the smooth Davis crank. See photos. And the Davis number 6 chain ring. My later model has the more common diamond shaped Davis crank as well as the Davis common Peerless number 2 chain ring. Does anyone have any reference photos of early Peerless bikes or 1908-09 Sears catalogs? I would love to see and know if these parts on my early Roadster are on other bikes. Were the crank and chain ring added to my early Peerless later at a later date maybe? Were they or even could they have been ordered that way when the bike was bought new? Also! What other variations occurred on these Sears bikes while Davis was making them for them? Any help to clarify this ponderings would be greatly appreciated.
I've found no photos or catalogs from 1908-09 showing the first 2 years of the model run. I have found one from 1910 which shows the typical set up of the Davis number 2 skip tooth chain ring and Davis number 20 front forks. These seem to be the standard for the Peerless badged bikes but I'm assuming they could have been ordered with any option from the Davis line. I've attached photos from this catalog.
My two Peerless bikes have distinctively different head badges. My early Peerless , again this is an assumption, has a very ornate badge that has the Peerless name within a flag in the center surrounded by a wreath and banner that reads The Roadster. Or if looking at it and reading like a normal human, again I'm making an assumption here, reads "The Peerless Roadster". A photo is attached of this badge. I'm assuming this bike is an early 1908-1909 version simply because of this headbadge. Photos of the 1910- 1914- 1918 models all show the typical Davis made Peerless badge with the Proprietary P in the center that is most commonly found on the teens models. A photo of my later model is attached as well. So with those somewhat known variances out of the way let's move onto the unknown variances.
My early model has the smooth Davis crank. See photos. And the Davis number 6 chain ring. My later model has the more common diamond shaped Davis crank as well as the Davis common Peerless number 2 chain ring. Does anyone have any reference photos of early Peerless bikes or 1908-09 Sears catalogs? I would love to see and know if these parts on my early Roadster are on other bikes. Were the crank and chain ring added to my early Peerless later at a later date maybe? Were they or even could they have been ordered that way when the bike was bought new? Also! What other variations occurred on these Sears bikes while Davis was making them for them? Any help to clarify this ponderings would be greatly appreciated.
