Gasbag

Look what fell from the sky. I certainly didn't need another project but I couldn't resist this one. I keep a throwaway e-mail box for Craigslist and other web activity that collect spam and I check it about once a week to clean it out. Tuesday there was a response from a Craigslist ad that I responded to more than a month ago for a Westfield Compax Parachute bicycle wanting to know if I was still interested. A reply later, we were on the phone and I bought it sight unseen. The bike belonged to the deceased mother of the seller and had hung on the wall of his garage since 1985. He was not sure if she was the original owner but he stated that as long as he could remember she had this bike.

The Westfield Compax Paratrooper was trialed for military use during WWII. Although there is no evidence that they were ever used for airborne combat duties, they were used by the military on bases. Westfield used this to their advantage in marketing the Paratroopers to the general public. They were sold as balloon tired bikes and as Sports models with 26" X 1.375, ISO 599 tires

The unique characteristics of the Paratrooper are the folding, multiple position handlebars and the take apart frame joint. It is said that even though they weren't true folding bikes, they were the first American made compact travelers.

My example is the Sports Traveler. The serial number dates it to 1946.

A Google search or visit to The Cabe will turn up quite a bit of information about these bicycles.

Pics are coming up

Gasbag

Gasbag

Gasbag

non-fixie 

Interesting! Looks pretty heavy, though. Is it? Thanks for posting it.

Gasbag

I haven't weighed it yet, but yes it does have a bit of heft. The frame joint is machined from from solid billet steel round stock and the fixing clamp is cast iron.

Curtis Odom 

I have two "Compax", one middleweight and one balloon tire. Both are early bikes. I use the middleweight now with 700c wheels all the time.