markk900

Looking for some CCM expertise.....I believe this is a 1938 Road Racer, or could be a Flyer, and would appreciate some help in determining exactly what it is.

The 1938 comes from the serial number xBxxxx, and the straight top tube, the dropouts and the fork crown lead me to believe it is either a Flyer or a Road Racer.

The back story is that my wife's father was a bit of a scorcher in his day. He had what was certainly an earlier Flyer (fixed gear, no fenders, etc) that he rode everywhere including for his paper route. He passed the bike on to his brother, in whose house this bike was kept. At some point (likely 40s) there was some kind of incident with the bike and the frame was replaced by the one shown in these pictures, by Brown's cycle in Toronto.

So aside from the obvious modern parts, it is my belief that whatever period parts are there are from the original Flyer. So components may or may not be 1938.

The wheels were replaced in the 70s, the seat and bars and fenders at the same time. The bike did have fenders on it in the 40s.

@T-Mar, @clubman - any thoughts?

1938 Ccm Story by Mark Kaczmarczyk (markk900) | Photobucket

St33lWh33ls

Take a look at this video at about 6:30 in...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B-JszUPl894

clubman 

Road Racer. The stamped fork ends and cottered crankset are the main giveaways. The width of the RR stays are also different, the Flyer had 'pencil' stays with a slightly smaller diameter. T-Mar?

Unusual colour, probably a repaint. It also has the threadless Bayliss-Wiley bottom bracket unit and if you repack, don't replace or mix up the cups and lockring, they have special flanges that 'lock' the unit in position when tightened.

T-Mar

Agreed, it appears to be a Road Racer for all the reasons stated by Clubman, plus the small diameter of the seat post. The latter is the best way to distinguish a Road Racer from a Flyer (or Custom Built Professional Race). Since the Road Racer uses plain carbon steel, it has thick tubes and uses the the standard 7/8" diameter seat post, which the OP's bicycle appears to have. The Flyers used stronger chromium-molybdenum tubing which allowed for thinner walls and used a larger, 1-1/16" diameter, seat post.

Regarding the colour, it may be a repaint, but I've had lengthy discussion on this with an owner who has one in the same colour. During this era CCM would do special orders with custom paint and there were four distinct greens available based on their touch-up paint lists. Unfortunately, I've never been able to determine the exact tone of these various greens, outside of the Boy Scout Green. Consequently, there is a possibility that this is custom, OEM paint.

clubman 

You're right about the paint @T-Mar. The decals look all original and the pinstripes on the head tube. Browns Cycle (Swansea?) is still around if it's the same shop.
The discoloration above the brake bridge was probably some tape to protect the frame from the Phillips/Philco rear brake clamp specced on the Road Racers. Calling them brakes is giving them too much credit.
Here's the '40 catalogue, they really didn't change much in that era

markk900

Thanks for all the comments and data...very helpful! Any comments if the stem is original - it appears to be from the pictures I have seen...

SteelIsRealHevy

Nice patina. Don't be one of those idiots that has to repaint it.

clubman 

Absolutely, that rectangular bolt is unique. They are quite the heavy stem.

edit. For that matter, I'd like to see the bars oriented properly. Maybe original too?

markk900

Re: bar orientation - agree - bike is not with me though. As i look at how nicely the stem and bar merge I also suspect original bars with weird orientation and newish tape.

When I next get a chance to look at the bike I will be looking for other details - hubs look older than I was told for example. And I am thinking those red tires are also pretty unusual for the age I was told the wheels were, especially since catalog pages indicate red tires were an option in the 30s.