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The 28" mystery bike (*Little advice please*)

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tacochris

Cruisin' on my Bluebird
So, even though its not correct in a handful of ways, this is still a bit of a dream bike for me because as many prewar balloon era bikes as Ive had, Ive never had and always dreamed of one day having a 28" wood-wheel bike. In walks this beauty on a misspelled random listing, for sale cheaper than you can buy braced handlebars and a seat for so a made the magic happen as quick as I could and landed it and got it home.
I knew looking at it that it was generally correct but I could tell some things were "off" so here is what Ive noticed so far:
Grips are Columbia script but do appear to be real
Tank is very fake, like hollow...Lol!
"Delta battery can" is super fake along with the brackets I believe
Chain ring (sprocket) is from the wrong era
Head-badge also appears to be wrong considering Lacks Hardware came out much later than the bike

One thing I can say is the tubular tires do not appear to be repop BUT I could be wrong because Im no expert in that area. They just don't have the makers mark that the known repops did. Wheels are 28" for sure because theyre much larger than a 26" wheel, but Ive read you could stretch a 26" tubular over a 28" wood wheel.

I need help seeing if we can determine anything about the bike, maybe a year range, maker (possibly Westfield), what tank it should have etc:
Its original paint and the serial number is B4735 (I thought the B was an R because its struck very shallow but it has to be a B because the lower leg curves inward.

Enough yacking, here are the pics of this beauty!

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Doesnt look like anyone is gonna respond so maybe just let me know how to delete this thread.
 
Interesting Moto Tacoman. :D Be patient, there will be many lookers.
My take it is a pieced together rider. Hmmmmmm....let me look closer...

Edit: Snyder made frame with the obvious Bottom Bracket seat/down tube connection. Fork might be original as are stem and bars..maybe rack. But, Snyder-built forks are not like that one. BUT, Snyder bought out Great Western and Excelsior in the 20's, and that fork could be from the old inventory or slapped on cause it matched the color...so maybe Snyder/DP Harris bones....... Wheels, crank, fenders, batt box, seat etc. most likely not original to this bike. Fork looks like a 28-er and frame looks like a 26-er. Need: Pics of serial number. Pics of rear axle fork. Pics with tank removed... Nice badge man.....
 
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So, even though its not correct in a handful of ways, this is still a bit of a dream bike for me because as many prewar balloon era bikes as Ive had, Ive never had and always dreamed of one day having a 28" wood-wheel bike. In walks this beauty on a misspelled random listing, for sale cheaper than you can buy braced handlebars and a seat for so a made the magic happen as quick as I could and landed it and got it home.
I knew looking at it that it was generally correct but I could tell some things were "off" so here is what Ive noticed so far:
Grips are Columbia script but do appear to be real
Tank is very fake, like hollow...Lol!
"Delta battery can" is super fake along with the brackets I believe
Chain ring (sprocket) is from the wrong era
Head-badge also appears to be wrong considering Lacks Hardware came out much later than the bike

One thing I can say is the tubular tires do not appear to be repop BUT I could be wrong because Im no expert in that area. They just don't have the makers mark that the known repops did. Wheels are 28" for sure because theyre much larger than a 26" wheel, but Ive read you could stretch a 26" tubular over a 28" wood wheel.

I need help seeing if we can determine anything about the bike, maybe a year range, maker (possibly Westfield), what tank it should have etc:
Its original paint and the serial number is B4735 (I thought the B was an R because its struck very shallow but it has to be a B because the lower leg curves inward.

Enough yacking, here are the pics of this beauty!

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View attachment 1259670

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View attachment 1259672
Lacks Auto started in business in 1935. That must be one of the first bikes they sold. They sold several different brands of bikes including a Road Master I have that's made by the Cleveland Welding Company. Barry
 
Looks like the wheels may be "balloon single tube" and not "Super Balloon" tubed that followed.
I believe they were transition wheels. Would need diameter of outside of rim measurement.
 
Interesting Moto Tacoman. :D Be patient, there will be many lookers.
My take it is a pieced together rider. Hmmmmmm....let me look closer...

Edit: Snyder made frame with the obvious Bottom Bracket seat/down tube connection. Fork might be original as are stem and bars..maybe rack. But, Snyder-built forks are not like that one. BUT, Snyder bought out Great Western and Excelsior in the 20's, and that fork could be from the old inventory or slapped on cause it matched the color...so maybe Snyder/DP Harris bones....... Wheels, crank, fenders, batt box, seat etc. most likely not original to this bike. Fork looks like a 28-er and frame looks like a 26-er. Need: Pics of serial number. Pics of rear axle fork. Pics with tank removed... Nice badge man.....
Ok SKPC let me see if i can answer some questions and add some more pics to help:
First its definitely a full 28” bike frame and fork because ive added 28” wood wheels to a transition frame balloon bike and it was so tight it would barely fit the tire much less a full fender. This rim is 25 inches across when my 26” rims are all 22.5 inches across so pretty clear on that.
Ive added a pic of the serial number below as well which is super hard to photograph but its B4735. The rear hub per the pic is Morrow script, the front fork is the early style mounting setup and if you can see in the pic, the original white spears are style kinda there per the front neck photograph.
I can tell ya the tank, sprocket, battery can and grips are definitely not original. Hope this helps some...

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