Robin Revealed! Sears Elgin Robin Images prior to repaint discovered.

[Balloonatic]

@bike... yeah, I can barely remember what I had for dinner last night, no less the deets of a transaction 20 years ago! Do you remember where you found it though? Was it from an ad in the paper maybe? Or someone brought it to you, or you spotted it driving by a house? Maybe it was sticking out of a dumpster?

I'm curious too, where you were living at the time? I'm just trying to get an idea of where and how you came across this bike?

Thanks for anything you remember.

 

[bike]

I wish I found it in a dumpster! I was living in Eastern PA and probably bought it from a fellow collector or at a trexlertown (when it was a great meet) -never had much luck finding bikes in the "wild" mostly had to pay for them

 

[Velocipedist Co.]

@bike, thanks for the info! Please tell more about how you got the bike in the first place? Where did it come from? How long did you own it before selling on Ebay?

@cyclingday,
I'm with you on the seat tube too, especially with my lardy ass riding it, but looking closely at it, I see it's double-butted. I have never seen an example that failed, although I'm sure they exist.

Is it possible Westfield changed the Robin frame that last year not because of the weak seat tube, but because they also redesigned the Bluebird that year, giving it a much more conventional frame? If the seat tube was really the problem wouldn't they have changed it much sooner? Looking at 1938 Bluebirds just now, the frames look very much like the '38 Robin frame!

If anyone has a photo of a bare, '38 Bluebird frame, let's compare it to a '38 Robin frame, and we may have our answer. For so many years I've heard the story that the Robin frame was changed the last year because of the weak seat tube, but it never made much sense to me. The more I look into it, the more I'm convinced they may have used the same, redesigned '38 Bluebird frame for the '38 Robin... it makes a lot more sense than the seat tube reasoning.

Read up on the ‘38 BlueRobin er.. Robinbird?

Here is a 38 bluebird with a robin tank mounted.

https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/the-fabled-38-blue-robin-has-been-spotted.80066/

 

[Velocipedist Co.]

 

[Velocipedist Co.]

At one point I owned a bare metal 38 Robin and compared it with my 38 BB. Aside from the badge holes, they were identical frames that I can remember.

 

[Freqman1]

I'm thinking there is a difference in the number/location of zerk fittings. @Nickinator can probably answer this question. V/r Shawn

 

[Nickinator]

Normally there are 2 tell tail signs of a 38bb frame 1 being the drivers side headtube grease zerks are deleted and the headtube has no headbadge holes, however the deluxe models had two very close vertical holes for the screw mount for the light assembly

Nick.

I'm thinking there is a difference in the number/location of zerk fittings. @Nickinator can probably answer this question. V/r Shawn

 

[Balloonatic]

Thanks @Velocipedist Co. & @Nickinator! That bears out my hunch... it totally makes sense that Westfield/Sears Elgin standardized the frame for both bikes in '38, rather than redesign the Robin frame the last year of production because the early frames were weak at the seat tube. I have heard that explanation for so many years, yet never came across a single early Robin whose frame failed at the seat tube. This is a much more plausible explanation; save for some holes, they are the very same frame... I'm certain now it was a cost saving decision, I can't imagine the early Bluebird frame was as cheap to produce as the '38 BB & Robin frame, and they killed two birds with one stone... (sorry, couldn't resist). Sherlock Holmes would be proud, boys. I guess I'm sort of late to the party, you guys seem to have figured this out a while back... but I'm glad to be up to speed.

 

[bikerbluz]

Awesome bike, killer tank.