I bought a group of 3 bikes and have since been told that the red bike in the foreground of this picture is a pre-war vintage. It has a skip tooth chain, and both sprockets. I am totally unfamiliar with this so need some help. My first question is how to measure the skip tooth chain for wear. I have a gauge for standard 1/2 inch chain but I am not sure it can be used on this chain. Do you break this chain with the same chain tool that you use on a regular chain? And if the chain is shot, what are my next steps? Will a standard ashtabula crank fit in this bottom bracket? Is there a way to replace the skip tooth cog on the rear hub with a regular cog while keeping the hub? I was just wanting to build a Klunker type bike and am now wondering if I should let this go to someone who is really into the whole skip tooth thing and just get a more modern frame. One final question on wheel and tire sizes on these pre-war bikes. Am I going to have trouble buying tires; are they an oddball size? Thanks!

There is a lot of knowledge on this forum, but pre-war skip tooth bikes is not our strongest area of expertise. I would urge you to post your questions over on the Classic and Antique Bicycle Exchange, where there are a lot of people who are much more knowledgeable. The CABE Then report back here to share what you learned so we can learn too!

Thanks for the referral! I have seen the term CABE in my travels but never knew what it was. I will visit there and post what I find back on this forum.

For reference, the proper name is "Inch pitch."

Yep! There were some freewheels made in Japan in the '70s that skipped half the teeth on the largest sprockets. Those were the only skip-tooth sprockets I know of. No teeth are skipped on any inch-pitch chainrings or rear sprockets, that I know of.

Still, the technically-incorrect usage of skip-tooth to mean inch pitch is too ingrained in bike culture to ever eradicate it. And we do know what you mean when you say it, so communication flow is unhindered.

So "inch pitch" serves mostly as a shibboleth separating the more engineering-oriented bikies from the rest of the populace. It shows you're fancy.

I'll confess, I've called 'em skip-tooth a time or two myself, when I could tell the person I was talking to wouldn't know inch-pitch from pine pitch or slow-pitch. I may have done the air-quotes thing with my fingers when I said it.

Now we can talk about roller chains, block chains and skip tooth chains... or not.
I never saw skip tooth bikes north of the 49th. I learned the term inch pitch in reference to track bikes before having to parse 'skiptooth. More of a US thing?
The Cabe is your answer.

Skiptooth - did that name develop after the current style chainrings became common or was it in use when those were new?

Mysteries of the universe…🧐

One of our stranger wedding presents came from my wife's brother: an ancient Swedish Avanti track bike with inch-pitch chain. I am not into single-speeds, so I gave it to one of my coworkers at the bike shop. We fitted it with a regular 1/2-inch pitch chain (worked just fine), added caliper brakes front and rear, and screwed on a 5-speed Regina freewheel with the smallest (screw-in) cog removed. My buddy had the clever idea of doing a little machining on a standard SunTour 4532 derailleur hanging "claw," so that it could be mounted backward in a track-style dropout. We ended up with a pretty slick, very light weight, 4-speed road bike.

On a related note, just wondering: are all thread sizes on 1" pitch cogs the same? If one found a "skip-tooth" sprocket on eBay, would it fit any track bike or very old non-track bike, like post #1? Or are there various sizes (sheesh, French skip-tooth cogs ) I have a track bike, not finished, and I have a 6T and a 10T and suspect that, in use, do not want either.

Ooooh! I've had a couple of those in the past and really like them. On the rite bike, the unique look of them adds a touch of character. Plus they shift smoothly.

My Daughter called them 'skip teefsss'.

If what you are really after is a Kunker, the frame may be the only thing that you need. The fork and wheels can be replaced. For the fork, you can use a unicrown fork and for the wheels 26" wheels wiill be fine. Alloy rims are prefered.

Hmm, Not much love for this bike over on the Cabe.

At first, I didn't notice the structural damage until it was pointed out.

Possibly a Muscleman rear hub and looks to have the Sweetheart (hearts shape openings) chainring up front. My lbs has quite the display/collection of these prewar skiptooth hubs and chainrings in their museum section. None are for sale, I ask every time.

Umm... this bike does have its own thread, yes?

Cuz what I see, I like a lot. I would like to see more, so that I can like a lot more.

--Shannon

(As to your original question... sorry, I got nuthin', except to say that I wouldn't use a pre-war bike as the basis for a project. There's just not enough of them left in the world anymore, and the 50s and early 60s stuff looks quite similar and is a lot more plentiful.)

Ha, Thanks!
There may be a photo or 2 around on the forums. Idk

Mid-Seventies Motobecane Mirage