Sports COMPAX Traveler...Just Got It

[HARPO]

Hi Fred,

Sorry for the short and late reply, I'm on holiday at the moment (-:

That really is near showroom condition. (-: You started with an excellent example, and made it so much better. I have never seen the pinstriping like that on the chainguard, and it goes with all the otherdetail work that was about to disappear days later.

It really fell on it's feet with your work.

Best Regards,

Adrian

Hope you're enjoying your Holiday!! Soak up every minute of it.

Thank you for the kind words. I'm fortunate to be the caretaker of it, and intend on this being in my permanent collection. Ironically, it's the first I've ever seen, except in photos.

And now I need to get a photo of it with my girls Columbia Tourist (same color), made during WWII in all original condition including tires marked "WAR TIRE". There's a thread on The Cabe I did a few years back on it, but now I need to go back and detail it again even more!

 

[HARPO]

1941 Ad...

 

[SirMike1983]

They're well-made, attractive old bikes that belong in any collection of utility bikes.

They strike me as a design that was ahead of its time in some ways but also flawed. The idea of a folding vacation and commuter bike to go on a train, or stow in a luggage compartment went big in the 1960s with the Moulton and later the Raleigh Twenty. The Compax and BSA folders of the 1940s predicted what would later come, but were hindered by full-sized wheels that limited compactness. Then there was the fact that, in the US at least, most adults were focused on new automobiles in that period rather than buying utility bikes for commuting or vacation.

The issue with the Compax folder is that it does not address the largest part of the bike, which are the wheels. Moulton's breakthrough years later was combining a practical and working suspension with small wheels. It even took Raleigh several years to catch up in the later 1960s with the Twenty (a compromise of a slightly larger wheel but no suspension after the RSW model with its soft, slow-running tires).

 

[HARPO]

I'm on the fence about letting this one go. Doubtful if there's another out there in this condition and all original. If I should I bite the bullet and let it go, what would a decent price be?

 

[HARPO]

No guesses???

 

[bikerbluz]

Wish I could help. I have three, two 1946’s and a 1942. From my experience the prewar are very rare and yours is by far the best example I have seen.

 

[Gully]

I have one of these! Not nearly as nice as yours though. Mine was built early 1942 and finding out it's rather rare having this chainguard. It's untouched so far as I haven't had time to work on it. I did find the correct seat like yours and currently working on finding the correct pedals and a set of tires. Unsure of the value of these but they are pretty cool in my book!

 

[wes holliday]

One of the nicest COMPAX Travelers that I have ever seen !

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[wes holliday]

I have a Compax Paratrooper very simular bike.