Wogster

You would think that with the engineering precision of the Germans, that there would be a lot of West German made bicycles around, especially from the mid 1950's to early 1980's when that country was rebuilding, you would think that more then a few would have made it over to this side of the pond.

There don't seem to be many, a lot of French, Italian and English, some Dutch, but there don't seem to be many German bicycles though.... Anyone know of any German made bicycles that found there way to North America. Puch doesn't count, they are Austrian.

riderInTheDark

Hi Wogsterca,

If those are the models that were popular in the 1970's in German, I am happy they stayed there
I put the article through Google translate so you can read it in English. I even took the time to check what was written there - Google really got much better at translating from German to English! I was impressed.

If you stumble upon German material you want to translate - PM me.

Wogster

I have access to several translators, thanks, I was thinking more something C&V, I visited Germany in 1972 and saw more then a few bicycles at the time, must admit that it was over 35 years ago, so I couldn't tell you what they were. Autobild is a car magazine, so I wouldn't expect much more then junk from them, just like I wouldn't expect car and driver to know about bicycles either.

Esteban32696

Some interesting info & links are here;
Translate with Google if needed.
https://www.sammeln.at/oldtimer/fahrraeder.htm

Another interesting thing to do is Google , " Oldtimer fahrrad ." I have always thought it interesting how Germans like to use the English term , " oldtimer !"

eboard17

Montarino

old's'cool

The story in the Netherlands is that as the Germans left in 1945 they pilfered any bike they could lay their hands on; if so perhaps there was a surplus of bikes in Germany for a while.
The Netherlanders still say, in jest, upon making acquaintance with a German, "Wo ist mein Großvaters Fahrrad?" ("Where is my grandfather's bicycle?").

Wogster

AT is Austria, so it's an Austrian site....

Wogster

That would be fine for really pre-war aged bikes, what about a mid to late 60's or early 70's road type bike though....

shelbyfv

I had a Kalkhoff in the early 70's. I guess it was an unexceptional bike boom 10 speed, but it seemed pretty nice at the time. I "traded" it after a couple of years for a Raleigh competition.

frameteam2003

Some were imported---mostly low end cruzers--and parts(used on schwinn tornandos)a few low end sports L/Ws 26X1&3/8"For the most part german bicycles were coaster brake bikes.

John E

In an email reply, Vienna-based Harald "Harry Capo" Cap referred to my bikes as "oldtimers," so perhaps that is a common Austrian expression.

I just assumed that Germany focused on cars and Austria focused on bicycles, not having its own auto industry. Of course, Steyr-Daimler-Puch made plenty of firearms as well as parts for German cars. Capo was always a much smaller company, focused on bicycles, which they still make.

roccobike

My first full size bike as a kid was a Baronia made in West Germany. It was an unspectacular bike, very plain, nothing exciting. However, the price was cheaper than a Schwinn.

Binxsy

I just say this.....
https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ra...754593542.html

javal

One Scharrer and one Heidemann. Era should be 70-80´s. Gudereits also made finer road bikes.

Esteban32696

Yes, that website is in Austria but, they have links on it to German bikes.

poprad

OP this is a great question. I was in Germany for a trip in 1995 and found (of course) myself in a small bike shop near Frankfurt. The bikes were mostly German (some Italian makers I recognized like Biachi and Chesini also) and seemed like their quality would rival that of any Italian or U.S. made frames. In fact, I recall looking closely at the paint job and finishing of a couple which seemed exceptional. I can't recall any of the German names of the bikes, but it has always seemed odd to me that more Ger bikes haven't made it here.

Maybe they just hold onto them? I will be stationed in Luxembourg next year, and if I find out I'll let you know (along with posting detail shots of the 50th ann Campy group I plan to find in some dusty shop basement).

gbalke

This is my '71 German 3 speed that I bought off of Craigslist last year. I have been unable to find out any additional information on the bike.




Additional pictures can be found here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stl914/...7622230065976/

47p2

They're slowly getting their act together, this is my modern piece of German engineering

seypat

Here is the link to Classic Rendezvous German section:

https://www.classicrendezvous.com/Germany/Germany.htm

That Schumacher has its "stripes." You don't come by those easily!

non-fixie 

German bikes weren't popular in Holland in the postwar decades. Most of the German imports were cheap sporty-looking bikes. Some kids at my school had them, and they deteriorated a lot faster than my Batavus. (Which was good for them, as they'd get a new bike, whereas I did not .)

I have two German bikes in my stable. One is a Kettler Alurad, an aluminum bike. I still need to attend to it, so only an "as bought" pic:



The other is a Winora. Way back in the line of bikes waiting to be attended to. I have only a rather lousy seller's pic so far:

fettsvenska 

Wogster, I have the same observation that you do...not a lot of German C&V bikes around compared to bike from other countries. They do come up on CL and Ebay occasionally but most of the time they either tend to be overpriced(IMO) or a POS.

Here is a link to my Hercules...not a real high end bike but still sort of interesting.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/5579964...7631488956758/

seypat

Actually, I was talking about the world champion stripes not coming easily. The brand had to have some major racing victories to wear the stripes.

a77impala

I had an Arabella, gas pipe lugged frame, very poor chrome finish, three speed gearing. I stripped
it, made it a single speed and eventually gave the frame to a guy at a LBS.

oldbikenewbike

I'm getting technical here, and I know I'll hear about it, but a German gentleman by the name of Schwinn brought his technical expertise here to the US. Building only the best of bicycles at a time when a lot of other brands were basically water pipes thrown together and didn't last, he made a bicycle with a lifetime warranty. NO ONE else had enough confidence in their product to do this. The Paramount was the pinnacle of road bikes at the time it was introduced and are still coveted to this day.

Yes, they were built here, but by a man who brought his expertise from Germany.

kc0yef 

Nsu