Well never say never, in the discussion thread I said I was taking retirement from build offs. I’ve truly been in the downsizing mode, moving 10 bikes on in the last 6 months...and then a friend (DeadWrench) calls me from a swap meet in OK. He says I found this old Elgin bike with a tank in tack. We conversed back and forth, he bought the bike and we agreed to meet for me to take a look.
It turned out to be a repainted 1939-1940 +/- Sports model. It’s missing a rack, chainguard, pedals, drop stand and maybe correct bars. It came with 2 sets of peaked fenders. It has a kickstand that shows up in 1940 Sears catalog reprints.
Still has drop center rims and Musselman air cooled hubs. The seat is probably a later addition, although close to original. The tires hold air, I added some pedals this morning, made some adjustments and took it for a spin. The front wheel bearings need adjustment or replacement. Hopefully the races are OK.
After doing 8 of these build offs I’ve given up on trying to build a vote winning bike. I’ve spent endless hours, money and effort trying to build a bike that the majority of voters would like. In my mind I’ve built several bikes that were really very under appreciated and I’ve had total “views” that should have pulled in more votes in the end.
The title “1939-40 ELGIN SPORTS MODEL NO (1)3”, is the result of this being my 3rd Elgin Build project now in BO #13.
The direction will evolve as time goes on, probably nothing over the top...just a rejuvenated rider for someone with a retro look.
It turned out to be a repainted 1939-1940 +/- Sports model. It’s missing a rack, chainguard, pedals, drop stand and maybe correct bars. It came with 2 sets of peaked fenders. It has a kickstand that shows up in 1940 Sears catalog reprints.
Still has drop center rims and Musselman air cooled hubs. The seat is probably a later addition, although close to original. The tires hold air, I added some pedals this morning, made some adjustments and took it for a spin. The front wheel bearings need adjustment or replacement. Hopefully the races are OK.
After doing 8 of these build offs I’ve given up on trying to build a vote winning bike. I’ve spent endless hours, money and effort trying to build a bike that the majority of voters would like. In my mind I’ve built several bikes that were really very under appreciated and I’ve had total “views” that should have pulled in more votes in the end.
The title “1939-40 ELGIN SPORTS MODEL NO (1)3”, is the result of this being my 3rd Elgin Build project now in BO #13.
The direction will evolve as time goes on, probably nothing over the top...just a rejuvenated rider for someone with a retro look.
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