Who sold this Peerless Shelby built bicycle?

[Freqman1]

Lastly the bike is a ‘37!

 

[THE STIG]

Oh My….

 

[OSCAR...]

I LOVE ALMOST EVERY TOPIC(S) ABOUT,

ALL BIKES CAUSE I LEARN BUT.(J/N/C.)

 

[Freqman1]

What you guys fail to realize about shelby cycle company as well as most other smaller bicycle companies.... they used what they had. They weren't a huge seller like schwinn so frames were left over and they used what they had sitting there. You're telling me the person stamping serial numbers stamped one bike per order? No, he did as many as he could in a days shift. As fast as he could.

So how do you possibly date a bike by its serial number yet the parts on the bike weren't even produced yet or even have a patent applied for yet? It's like saying you had a 1936 Shelby with a Shock ease fork that wasn't produced until 1940/41. Understand? Look at the patents. Simple as that.

Artist renditions in ads are no better than a police sketch of a suspect. You can describe to the artist what you want, it doesn't mean that's exactly what you're getting. It may be similar but not exact.

Lastly catalogs and ads are not the final word. Anything could have been ordered back then if the parts were available. No different than wanting a car with leather vs. cloth. They'll build what you want if you pay for it. Paint, options, you name it.

What I have a hard time understanding is how ads from 1937 show parts you say weren't available until '39? I claim to be an expert on nothing but based on what I'm seeing both in the ads and with this bike it seems to me these parts/configuration were used earlier than you think. It isn't like we have learned all there is to know and the book is closed. Be open to other possibilities.

 

[slick]

What I have a hard time understanding is how ads from 1937 show parts you say weren't available until '39? I claim to be an expert on nothing but based on what I'm seeing both in the ads and with this bike it seems to me these parts/configuration were used earlier than you think. It isn't like we have learned all there is to know and the book is closed. Be open to other possibilities.

Ok, let's dip further. Why are the truss rods painted instead of plated? Why is the aluminum hornight painted instead of polished? Why does it have painted hoops instead of plated? And yes, they did make steel painted torpedo hornlights but this isn't one of them considering it's not rusty at all and you can clearly see the aluminum under it. What era did other bikes start painting more parts than plating? This is a deluxe bike but why not polish and plateit all?

 

[SKPC]

Good points, all. The painted or plated parts could have been changed or added we know that. People like to paint things and change things but maybe not. Why would a frame from mid-1937 have 38/9 parts on it when most all Shelby bikes were ordered then quickly built? Makes no sense that the frame itself would just sit around in the factory being a number in the middle of "P" prefix serial numbers. P serial numbers were somewhat odd with a wide variety of frames and maybe some mis-stamps. Probably not an "R" serial being 549K. That 1938 May advertising was interesting that saladshooter posted with the wide variety of frame's for 1938, including a pinched seat stay twin bar bike and a straight bar, both called "competitive" or "standard" with a different, rounder twin bar "streamline", then an "airflow"-Y frame. You can't know why the parts are slightly different one bike to another, seems to be Shelby thing? The "P" serials are interesting, around when the western location was established I think. The Peerless badge was probably sold by one retailer.
Edit: Interesting in that same 1938 ad the straightbars they rever to as "streamline" bikes. These straightbars I have seen usually have "R" or "T" serial numbers thought to be 38 & 39

 

[saladshooter]

The ND "Model D" script brake arm points to 1937 also.

 

[GTs58]

What I would like to know is why the chain guard matches the 37 image but not the 1940 image?

 

[slick]

The ND "Model D" script brake arm points to 1937 also.
View attachment 2055949

Look in the before photos.... prior to clean up,.... I don't see a brake arm or strap at all? So was it missing and added?

 

[saladshooter]

Look in the before photos.... prior to clean up,.... I don't see a brake arm or strap at all? So was it missing and added?