Classic & Vintage - American Bike Spotters Guide.

I thought it'd be cool if we put something like this together, to help us with our bike spotting. A guide to the construction details of various American manufacturers to help you identify the manufacture of that old bike which is a store brand/missing headbadge/in an old photo.
While things like fenders and chainguards are characteristically different from maker to maker - not all bikes have them, so I'm disregarding them in favor of things which all bikes generally have.
Starting with the frame joining method, most bikes are welded, here's what a welded frame joint looks like:
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q287/berangberang/photos/P1010538.jpg
Welded bikes include Huffy, AMF, Iverson, Murray, and others.
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Columbias up until some time in the 70s were brazed together, a frame joint in a brazed columbia looks like this:
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q287/berangberang/photos/P1010534.jpg
You'll note that the join is much sharper than that of a weld. Only Columbia bikes were made this way to my knowledge (edit: Murrays were "hydrogen brazed" up until sometime int he 70s - older Rollfasts are also brazed). You will see Columbias sometimes branded as Vistas and Western Flyers.
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Schwinn electro-forged joints:
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q287/berangberang/P1010517.jpg
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The Ross frame building proccess probably rivals that of Schwinn's for it's uniqueness by the way. If somebody could provide us pictures of Ross and Schwinn joints, that'd be excellent.
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Most American bikes use a fork crown which is fabricated from three pieces of metal. Columbia and Murray commonly use a crown made like this:
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q287/berangberang/photos/P1010535.jpg
Columbias also came with forged forks like those on Schwinns.
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AMF, and occaisionally Huffy used a crown like this:
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q287/berangberang/photos/P1010532.jpg
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Huffy commonly used this crown, it is also usually capped with a piece of chromed metal (which is not here, because this Huffy was sold by Sears):
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q287/berangberang/photos/P1010537.jpg
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One type of Schwinn fork crown looks like this:
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q287/berangberang/P1010519.jpg
Sometimes there is a chrome cap on these. The forged forks have a different crown.
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Rollfast/iverson use a different style of crown.
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Lastly, Dropouts - they're all different from maker to maker and are a sure way to tell one manufacturer from another - they have however changed from time to time, but generally, 60's 70's vintage ("lightweight") bikes will have these types:
AMF:
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q287/berangberang/photos/P1010540.jpg
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Huffy:
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q287/berangberang/photos/P1010539.jpg
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Columbia:
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q287/berangberang/photos/P1010536.jpg
Columbia changed to a different style sometime in the mid 70s.
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Murray, Ross, Iverson, etc all have their own types too so if anybody can supply photos, that'd be great.
Also, Murray used frame tubing which was tapered, and I think was unique to Murrays - anybody got a good photo of it?

Hope this can be usefull to somebody.

Cool stuff............ always good to learn more

In the Classic/Vintage Rides thread, Funrover posted this photo of a distinctive-looking frame with no decals:

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c353/Funrover/currentproject.jpg

I have a frame of the same make, and the fork I got with it, in my basement, where I am slowly, slowly (over years), sanding it down for a repaint. It had already been repainted when I got it. No decals, no original paint, no headbadge (though two steel rivets remain in the head tube). I been trying to identify it for quite a while, with no luck.

Note the rear dropouts with their multi-position fender/rack mount holes. The frame is neatly brazed, like the Columbias in the photo Mos posted.

The fork--I'm not saying they were original mates--meanwhile, looks like the AMF/Huffy fork with the three parallel plates in the crown.

What the heck is the main frame? And does the fork really go with it? I'd love to do a restore.

Eric

I forgot to mention the, er, rats, what's it called? Oh, yeah. The "Y"-style seat stays as well.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c353/Funrover/currentproject.jpg

Thanks for putting it together, But can you put a line between the photos and descriptions?
It's hard to figure out which description goes with which photo.

Example:
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description #1
[photo #1]

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description #2
[photo#2]

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And so on.

I think the black frame is a Rollfast. I initially thought Columbia, but the dropouts look like rollfast, and the chainstays are different than those of a Columbia.
not the best picture:
http://oldroads.com/pqdb_img.asp?p=fdbdown.asp?376&mod=Deluxe&mak=Rollfast
but you can try and compare.

I think the black frame is a Rollfast. I initially thought Columbia, but the dropouts look like rollfast, and the chainstays are different than those of a Columbia.
not the best picture:
http://oldroads.com/pqdb_img.asp?p=fdbdown.asp?376&mod=Deluxe&mak=Rollfast
but you can try and compare.
The frame has a lot of potential, I like the double top-tube.

Mos, thanks for the add of the lines.

I guess you're only allowed ten photos per post, so I have to put this here instead of in the original post:
Schwinn dropout:
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q287/berangberang/P1010518.jpg

Nice start.

What about Trek, Serotta, Raleigh USA, etc?

I was going to limit it to 60s and 70s lightweights. But it would be cool if we started another thread for mountain bikes, and balloon tired bikes too.

Bump, if anybody has stuff to add, it would be cool.

I think 'cuda's on that!

East Hill