Classic & Vintage - HELP: I have know idea what bike this is.

I just bought this bike and I absolutely love it! I just don't know what it is... it has a Komet Super Brake hub, Schwinn handle bars, the front label has been sanded off, and the whole thing has been painted. I have done some research and it brought up names like Fichtel & Sachs, Monark, And one that just called the bike a Komet Super. I think It was made around 1955 and thats all I got... I was hoping a challenge to the more knowledgeable Cyclists out there might help solve this mystery :)

221031221032
Please and thank you for your time :)

Hi. First of all, welcome.

Beyond that, this looks like a bike I'd call ride worthy. Fun, especially for short distances. Other than that, beyond my bandwidth to name.

Enjoy it.

Thanks! And I really do love it, I have to replace the seat and the chain is pretty rusted but it rides pretty nice :)

No way to tell, but maybe a JC Higgins?

Were they normally fitted with the komet super coasting break? I can't seem to find any info on that, and it doesn't look to be replaced...

Ride the wheels off!
Looks like a Western Flyer, a 60's middleweight bike marketed by Western Auto.
Probably made by Shelby or Cleveland.
Mine had a Komet brake.

I'm getting a Western Auto vibe from it also. I love mine, still dragging my heels on getting it fixed up.

From what I could tell on the web Western Flyer head badges were oval shaped not rectangular shaped as the OP's...but they may have had other designs I didn't find.

Oh yeah, there were quite a few variations.

Here is one of the rectangular designs:

http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/2359/003ts.jpg


If nobody comes along here with more knowledge a good spot to check into would be The Cabe (http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/forum.php)
They have a specific Middleweights forum for this style bike.

Thanks for all the help! Ok so I'm fairly confidant it was produced by Western auto supply, however I am still baffled by the year and model. Its not the Galaxy which was similar in frame but the chain guard is totally different. I searched for Western bikes and got more that looked like min in the 50's decade rather than the 60's because it seemed that in the later years they got rid of the small connector bar in the frame above the pedals. But for my knowledge its still a toss up.

I going back to my first guess, I think it's a late 50's JC Higgins, and here's why: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=JC+Higgins+biycles&view=detail&id=E172B85A1AFC1A435D8846B4B8693B5F3DAFDE80&first=0&qpvt=JC+Higgins+biycles&FORM=IDFRIR

Take close note of fork detail, frame, rear stay bend, fender and their mounts, chain skirt, the head badge is square. Yours was repainted at some point.

That does look like a match. Nice find!

The dang head badge thing kept bugging me. I remember JC Higgins having rectangle badges, but then you showed the rectangle Western Flyer one which threw me off. And Western Flyer did make a bike in the early 60's called a Galaxy that looks very similar to the OP's...but it had the oval head badge and the chain guard or skirt looked different. Then finally I found the pic of the Higgins and it matches 100%. But it does make you wonder if both bikes came out of the same factory; it also made me think that JC Higgins came out with that design in the late 50's then Western Flyer's name was attached to it in the early 60's with very subtle changes, and both came out of the same factory.

I had written of JC Higgens because I'm more used to their designs with unparallel frame tubes like this one:

http://images.craigslist.org/3nb3kc3p05Z55P05X5b8r6a92b99af16c133b.jpg

I think I once figured that my Western Flyer is about a 1959 and the frame is very similar to the OP's and your JCH example. Same chainring also.

That's the tough part about these things is that they were manufactured by various companies yet had various store name brands on them so they can be tricky to track.

Here's another example, same claimed year as the one you found (1956) with slightly different paint. Pics are too small to show much except nice detail on the chainguard.
http://apelletier.pinkbike.com/album/Vintage-1956s-JC-Higgins-Cruiser-Bike/

Thanks SOOOOO Much for all your Help! I think with all the data you have given me I can Say that my new/old bike is a 1956 J. C. Higgins :D Thanks again and I'll post update pictures as I restore her. Oh yea, does anyone have any tips on removing rust and cracking paint? :)