Help with old J.C. Higgins bicycle
 

Hey BF,

a year ago I found this old man in a 2nd hand store in Toronto. I bought it cause it was the cheapest 'road bike' they were offering. I tried to find some information on the age of the frame, but couldn't find any.

The internet, friends, former tour-de-france riders and other bike mechanics couldn't help me so I ask you guys, hoping that someone has seen this 'thing' before.

The frame and the fork are the only original parts that I am sure of and it has a hand painted 'J.C. Higgins' logo on the seat tube.

Here is a picture.

http://www.lispel.de/jchiggins.jpg
http://lispel.de/higgins1.jpghttp://lispel.de/higgins2.jpg

Looks a middleweight ballontire frame that someone has changed out the wheels, added drop bars and looks like the cranks also. Not too much original Higgins left at all but kinda a cool ride in the style of the Little 500 bikes. Looks like a lota fun to ride!

garamond, All I can help with is that the English made JCHs were from the early 50s, maybe earlier, in the middle 50s the bikes were sourced from Puch in Austria. I don't know who manufactured it, I've read that the possible manufactures were Raleigh or BSA.

Brad

Man, that is some seriously relaxed geometry...what's the wheelbase on that thing ?

The wheelbase 114cm or 44.8inches.
Thanks for the help so far!

I have an old JC Higgins, with a "stingray" style frame.
.
I cobbled it into a 3-speed, with parts from my Dad's retired Sears bike, + TA cranks and othere oddball parts. Did a hilly century on it. Fun!
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Did Higgins sell CMCs in Canada? That looks a little like a CMC.
Higgins was a Sears brand, right? First they called the bikes they sold Elgins, then JC Higgins, then Ted Williams and the Free Spirit. These names were also used on other sporting goods and I think some outboard motors.

My 1961 Sears Elgin 7.5hp outboard motor was made down the road by West Bend Co.

My first bike was a JCH. Got it in the summer of 1957 I recall. It was a 20 incher with coaster brakes that allowed me to terrorize the neighborhood with the gonzo riding of a 6 year old. After a while, the fenders came loose and rattled considerably. My friends started calling it the J.C. Higgins Fall-apart

-G