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Resources for Speedway Special needed

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BrianInPA

Finally riding a big boys bike
Looking for information on my new project. Picked up this Speedway Special today. She's pretty crusty and I'm looking forward to learning more about it. Is Speedway Special the company that made the bike? Are there any resources available to determine the year?Grateful for the help!!

IMG_20220611_191358965.jpg
 
Speedway Special is just the brand (badge). Looks like 28" clad rims that look too large for that bike so maybe a 26" bike? I'm thinking maybe Emblem built-any serial numbers? I'm going with early '30s. Have you done a search here to find any like badged bikes? V/r Shawn
 
Agree with Emblem Angola NY, and searching for Speedway Special, which might also have been sold through Canadian Eaton’s department stores; (or was that Speedwell?).
But the bike has peculiarities, such as the 24-tooth chain ring front sprocket and the 28-spokes wheels, so maybe a juvenile’s size?


Also, the (heavy duty?) truss tube looks fairly large, as compared to other Emblem examples; and I believe that the forged fork crown might have been an earlier style used (maybe 1920’s).
Emblem cranksets used proprietary larger dimensions so be careful with those parts.
 
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Speedway Special is just the brand (badge). Looks like 28" clad rims that look too large for that bike so maybe a 26" bike? I'm thinking maybe Emblem built-any serial numbers? I'm going with early '30s. Have you done a search here to find any like badged bikes? V/r Shawn
Thank you for the reply...I have to dig into it a bit more and start looking for serial numbers. I did a little searching on the forums here, I'm sure I will find something on here, the info here is great!
 
Agree with Emblem Angola NY, and searching for Speedway Special, which might also have been sold through Canadian Eaton’s department stores; (or was that Speedwell?).
But the bike has peculiarities, such as the 24-tooth chain ring front sprocket and the 28-spokes wheels, so maybe a juvenile’s size?


Also, the (heavy duty?) truss tube looks fairly large, as compared to other Emblem examples; and I believe that the forged fork crown might have been an earlier style used (maybe 1920’s).
Emblem cranksets used proprietary larger dimensions so be careful with those parts.
I will definitely research the Eaton store info. Thanks for pointing out some of the details on what to look for too, being new to the hobby that info is a huge help! It's going to be fun learning about it and preserving it!
 
Maybe post a picture of the "Speedway" badge.
Beautiful bike! I just picked up a Speedway Special that is very similar to this. Do you know the year on this one, or possibly have any sources that discuss making out the serial#? Thank you!
Does it look like the Shelby one (link in earlier post above), or a "Speedwell" like the one below. Shelby often had the mounting holes in the vertical orientation, versus Emblem horizontal.
1645474

In its earlier days, a few of Shelby bicycles (for Chicago Cycle) appeared to have sprockets that look a lot like other manufacturers'.
In later years, even A&S may have used a Speedway Special badge.
 
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Maybe post a picture of the "Speedway" badge.

Does it look like the Shelby one (link in earlier post above), or a "Speedwell" like the one below. Shelby often had the mounting holes in the vertical orientation, versus Emblem horizontal.
View attachment 1645474
In its earlier days, a few of Shelby bicycles (for Chicago Cycle) appeared to have sprockets that look a lot like other manufacturers'.
In later years, even A&S may have used a Speedway Special badge.
It is definitely Speedway Special, I need to clean it a pit more to be able to take a picture.
 
So now thinking maybe an early Shelby, with a few Shelby features, and other features not so recognizable; but maybe juvenile frames were built differently, and there are not a whole lot of Shelby examples from the 20’s.
 
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