I'm kinda surprised it came with fenders. But maybe war workers needed them to get to work relatively dry.
these are actually prewar fenders. the war years bikes only had one fender brace on the back fender instead of 2. bikes with no fenders are a relatively new thing other than "racing bikes"
That reminds me of some of the newer "bagger" custom motorcycles with huge front wheels. Did you change the fork?
I've always loved old bicycles, but after cruising around town on a sixties Schwinn Typhoon during college, I never owned another one. Until this past Wednesday, when I brought this forlorn looking thing home. What was advertised as a ‘Sixties Shwinn’ has actually been determined by a knowledgable Schwinn expert to be one of the very first Corvettes built in December of ‘53. In the process of tearing it down and getting it cleaned up, hope to have it back on the road in the next few weeks.
72 years ago, JW and my Mom Evelyn presented me with this 'used' Cardinal bike--- 'had 24 inch balloon tires, a sheepskin covered seat , plastic tassles from handle grips. Twas' Well-Heeled in my Buster Brown Shoes. Evelyn rolled up my Blue Jeans for me as she dis-liked me getting 'things' greasy. Location was near the corner of Bellewood Drive and Union Rd. (63125). Had many bikes throughout my life __Whizzers, Whizzer kits mounted on various Schwinn bicycles ...*once, I dragged home a Simplex Servicycle with no motor; parents had a fit... 'told me to get rid of it. I did ( eventually) , but not before I bolted a Briggs and Stratton on it. Currently, I've a Cannondale Mtn Bike, ( Fatty Head Shock fork ass'y ) sans the knobby tires, added a pair of 100 psi Kevlar 'slicks'! Keep on Truckin' ___ I meant BIKING !!
Spotted at a yard sale today. I almost asked about it but my wife was standing next to me. I think she was pounding her fist into the opposite palm. AMF Renegade, complete and the paint seemed to be in good shape.
I would take that as "if I buy the bike ...she gets new shoes...a vacation so she has a reason for new shoes and is the vacation going to include me.....no not me ...you... anyway what do I know I have never been married but I have owned many..many..old bicycles and still do..
I have this in my antique shop I’m not familiar with this make. Firestone. Any ideas or background regarding it??
Only tangentially related, but yesterday my friend showed me a B.F. Goodrich bike of the same era that he said was made by Schwinn.
Just picked this little honey up yesterday. It's a 49 Excelsior with a motor conversion. Pedals are wrong and the tank fits like shit but the price was right and it will make nice shop art.
Drug this home the other day and now time to find original parts to get it rideable,not going to restore it and will just clean it up.
Love the old bikes. Here is a couple of mine. The red Western Flyer is actually old, but the black one is just a bunch of random parts. Some old some not. Roscoe
Well, it's not quite finished-- fighting with the three-speed shifter cable-- but it was so nice a few nights ago that I had to wheel her out to take a few glamour shots. Hard to believe it's the same bicycle.
This is a neat thread, I've checked in from time to time and it's how I found out about the C.A.B.E. I was able to locate NOS tires/tubes and hand grips for my late wife's bike that she had since she was a young girl. It's a 1960's era (exact year unknown) Coast King, a private label sold through the Coast-to-Coast hardware store chain. Not a restoration, just a thorough cleanup and refresh that's not even close to being on a par with most of the bikes posted here, but it meant a lot to me. You can read the story here. And another bike that's still hanging around my garage is a low-buck "chopper" style bike my son and I did when he was about 10. Nothing fancy, just a cut up old 26" single speed painted satin black with a seat I found online. The high bars are the originals from the first banana bike I built when I was a kid back in the '60's. I volunteered to keep it around here so I can ride it on occasion. Makes a great "pit bike"! My main bike, however, is a totally O/T Specialized multispeed- and yep, I sure do love those paddle shifters.
If you like those paddle shifters you'll love the electronic models. There are even wireless electronic shifters out now. But I digress...
I had that same { Huffy 5 speed Rail } as a kid too. I always kept it in my bedroom, and never let it get rained on. A photo of me when I was a little older riding it. My teeth weren't bad. I was just eating a candy bar. lol
Used '40s Columbia middleweight my older sister got for her birthday, c. 1953 (?) ... '50s Columbia girl's, all the factory paint & chrome cleaned up nicely. '40s Schwinn drum brake $25 yard sale unit. I was amazed how well they worked, even though it had never had any upkeep. Our Schwinn pit bikes, 2000 Bonneville ...
If anybody collects early bicycle sprockets I'm looking for one of these for my 1918 Rollfast Archbar: Pic of my "wheel" as the old timers used to call them.
My 1949 Rollfast, resto-mod with 5 speed hub and front and rear drum brakes. I've done a bit more to it since this shot.
You may have noticed the name "Fuller" embossed in the body of these custom bikes. They were made by Kent Fuller, of dragster building fame. He builds pretty bikes just like he builds pretty front engined dragsters.
The Jalopy Journal
