ericbaker

This one has some really cool features that I havent really seen on other bikes from this period so hopefully that will make it easier to identify.

Really interesting fork features, Probably forged crown? Any info on this style fork?

Dropouts are foreward semi-horizontal rather than rearward horizontal, the chainstays and seatstays are capped at the end instead of pinched or left open.

Seat post binder bolt is threaded directly into the rear end of the pierced top tube and will need a square wrench to loosen it... about 3/8"

The house paint is thiick, but underneath on the fork at least is what appears to be the original nickel

ericbaker

Here are a few pics pf the crankset assembly all cleaned up and the rim while being glued

ericbaker

Gotsum pics of thew stripped fork, Check out that nickel!! frame is next, hopefully there is a hint as to what it is somewhere under there! Any advice for stripping the top layer of paint and not the base?

ericbaker

New pics of the stripped frame.

Italuminium

Are you building your own rims? That's a cool project! It's an awesome bike, but I'm afraid I can't help you with ID'ing. Be sure to share your knowledge on building those rims in a detailed photo thread!

ericbaker

That was the original wooden rim, It came delaminated, you can see it in the first pic.
So I did not make them from scratch, just glued them back into the shape of a rim, It came out pretty good, far from perfect, but to the point where I can rebuild and display it, I'd even ride it if I had a tire.
I even used "period correct" horsehide glue.

rhm

Really cool!

I don't know anything about those things. Have never seen one in the flesh. But have you seen this blog? Yours has some obvious similarities, but beyond that I can't comment.

Velognome 

+1 on the cool bike!

I'm thinking, broaden your search, not so sure it's very early. Skip tooth was used on track bikes until very late. I've seen a simular frame but I don't recall right now, I remember the seatpost binder bolt and fork crown in particular and I'm thinking it was bought at Trexllertown maybe a year or two ago? Maybe the owner of said bicycle will chime in?

Anyway, nice project- are you sure the paint wasn't original?

rhm

Do you have another piece belonging to that dropout? I'm thinking there was a tensioning device that mounted to the hole below the axle slot-- see how the hole is at the center of the circle described by the axle slot? Very interesting design.

ericbaker

This has been almost a yearlong search for me now. My original thoughts where that it dated to about the 20's. But Ive had myself convinced on different occasions that its anywhere from 1900- 1940

I thought c.1900, due to the pinch bolt BB design, also the laid back geometry feels very early to me. But then I havent really been on or around many pre-50's racers. Also the fact that the fork dropouts are closed speaks early, but again, havent seen many from that in-between period to know when they stopped doing that. Also the seatpost seems an early design.

And then I look at the overall construction and it seems very advanced to be that early, like the curved bridges, the fork crown, the capped stays, the seatpost binder... all really fancy work

rhm: you are the second person to mention that idea, and Im sure it is likely, although the bike did not come with anything.

ericbaker

Also, the paint was 100% not original unless they basted it on with a brush from the factory and ignored all the drips

Yet another baffling thing about this bike is whatever bar and stem that came on it must have been proprietary... the inside of the steerer tapers about 5mm in total diameter very quickly so that no stem ive ever seen will fit. seen will fit.

rhm

I've been trying to find more photos of Racycles online, but haven't found much. Take a look at this thread, which has some interesting photos and shows the Racycle's unusual handlebar/stem though without much detail. Different dropouts.

I think your bike is from before, say, 1920.

Velognome 

No the work looks to be pre-teens thru 40's. but there is something I noticed, but maybe it just doesn't appear in the photos. Here is a pre 1910 frame, stripped with the same curved bridges and internal lugs

What I don't see in yours is the pins in the lugs. I know early frames were assembled pinned and brazed. If the pins are absent in the construction, that might be a clue as to age and origin. FWIW I found dates on my frame under some braze material on the bottom of the BB shell.

ericbaker

There are s couple of stamps on this frame

stamped on front of headtube horizontally, not vertically like schwinns - 20056
stamped on bottom of bb shell - 10

1910 seems reasonable, but not sure thats definitive or not.

rhenning

This is a picture of my Racycle saved from a garage fire.. It was built between 1903 and 1909 which you can tell by the seat post that was used. It isn't a lot further along than the pictures. If anyone has a rear hub for one of these that is my stumbling block at this point. The threading for the rear fixed cog is a bit bigger that a standard fixed hub and this one has one of the spoke holes stripped/broken. Not sure if the original bike is one of these as it has a very small chain ring compared to any Racycle I have seen. Roger

kccomet

cool fork great project

kccomet

oh and my guess is mid teens to mid 20s

realestvin7

Nice. The orginal safety fork, perhaps? Lol.

mkeller234

Wow, that is really interesting.

rhenning: Who has the legs to turn that crank?? That is insane.

rhenning

If you look carefully my bike has a larger than normal rear cog so the overall gearing is about 70 gear inches which is what I ride anyway. Mostly done to scare the other racers. Roger

vjp

Cool bike! Not a "Track Bike", just a bike back then.

clasher

Pins were usually used when the brazing was done in a hearth, as there isn't really any other feasible way to keep the tubes together and aligned. Some framebuilders have started to use them again but I don't think most of them braze in a hearth so I dunno why they are in vogue again.

ericbaker

Maybe I should say "Board Track", cuz there certainly was bikes built specifically for track racers as far back as the 1890s

rhm

Certainly true. Bike racing was a big deal back then, and it was typically done on a wooden track.

But then, as now, not all bikes were made for racing; and then, as now, a lot of bikes that were not made for racing looked a lot like the ones that were. I don't know what yours is, nor what it was made for. Racing? Sure, maybe, but not necessarily.

ericbaker

fair enough, but considering the weight and quality, and comparative features, it likely was, thats my story and Im sticking to it!