Flipped bars 🤪
I know! It's a Department Store Bike! But, Montgomery Ward's Hawthorne brand was built by Hercules, which was a part of TI industries at the time the bike was assembled.
The original wheelset had a SA AW hub with 60 8 stamped in the shell (it's a smooth shell, not lined). In 1962, the MW Christmas catalog specified that the bikes were red, and no longer black. This bike was someone's 1960 or 1961 Christmas present. The original seat pin wasn't long enough to permit me to ride this bicycle (advertised for ages 9 and up!) so I have an alloy seat pin in there. Just about every component is stamped with "Made in England" or "Made in Great Britain" somewhere. The pedals were rebuilt, along with the headset and bottom bracket, and the hubs. Because this frame is using a single top tube, I have to conclude that this was MW's "thrift" or "budget" offering. The Deluxe version in 1960-1962 used dual top tubes that continued to the rear dropouts after the seat tube.
The bicycle was in poor condition when I found it, with rusted rims missing a great deal of chroming, dry rotted tires, a scaly DS seatstay, and decades of accumulated grime and rust.
The sellers picture.
I cleaned it, disassembled it, and tried to rescue the original wheels in vain. Missing chrome on the brake surface and bad cones in the front hub sealed their fate. Thankfully, the bike co-op had a *matching* set of 1970's ISO 590 wheels for a song! I used Evapo-Rust on the saddle and just about every part but the frame and chainguard. Those were treated with naval jelly. I sanded the rust scale off of the DS chainstay and treated all bare steel with Ospho for rust prevention/abatement. I mushroomed the crank cotter pins trying to remove them with a homemade pin press, so I ordered replacements and filed them until they fit. I painted the saddle frame, light kit mounts, and the unchromed SA fulcrum with Rustoleum cold galvanizing paint to get as close as possible to the original coating they had. I kept the original ribbed housings since I like the look, and replacing them would cost several times more than I paid for the bike. Chrome and paint were polished and oiled or waxed! Rims were trued! New grips and tyres (
) were mounted!
I'm not sold on the flipped bars, but they seem useful for fit even if the steering is a little twitchy.
Here are a few pictures of details. I have more in my album here, and I can post more if anyone is interested. I don't want to clog up this marvelous thread!
Hercules Decal on the seat tube. "Guaranteed Made in England"
Genuine English Lightweight. At just under 36 ½ pounds as built.
Miller light kit, an accessory for the bike. Tinned glass reflector and lens. Original dimpled Bulb! Anachronistic nylon zip tie for cable management.
Miller bottle dynamo, mount, and tail light. Vox Populi Phillips pattern sidepull brake.
This saddle did not sell with this bike in the catalog. The two- toned vinyl saddle was sold on the more expensive double top tube frame. I removed the rivets and cover to remove the rust and repaint the frame, rails, and guts. Rivets were replaced with new ones.