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I bought a Pope bicycle tonight. It is a Columbia Ladies Safety, introduced in 1890. Even though Columbia is in the name, it is pre-Columbia. The model 41 was released in 1895 and It appears to have replaced this model and the round head badge is on bikes in the 1895 range. The latest patent on the head badge is 1889. It looks highly restorable, the seat and handlebars seem to be the only missing parts. So, how does one go forward with this one? Where do I get information about it? I got in too late to get photos but here are a couple of the head badge.





20200525_230854.jpg
20200525_230808.jpg
 
I found the pedals were made in 1890 - 1893 for penny farthings and safeties. Nothing is seized and there is blue OG paint showing.
 
Wow, 130 year old rubber blocks. Or is it fungus? :thumbsup:
That is rubber. When I first saw it I thought it was Instafoam. The back tire is a pneumatic and from my research is among the very earliest aired bicycle tires. I'm finding very limited information about this or any Pope bicycles of this era. A proper restoration would be cost prohibitive, parts would all have to be hand made, so I have begun looking into resto-modding it while maintaining as much original character as possible. This bike deserves to be ridden again.
 
Maybe the "Wheelmen" group; they specialize in pre-WW1 (1918) bicycles; perhaps some may also belong to a "CABE" group, for classic and antique bicycle examples.

I understand that pre-Columbia, (as a company name), means pre-1960's.
 
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www.thecabe.com is probably going to be your best bet. I also think there is an old webpage that might be called Mr. Columbia something.
I know nothing about TOC bikes.
 
www.thecabe.com is probably going to be your best bet. I also think there is an old webpage that might be called Mr. Columbia something.
I know nothing about TOC bikes.
I've already jumped both feet in on rebuilding it, check my thread "Mrs Robinson" in the builds threads. It's getting the resto-mod treatment.
 
it looks like the juvenile in the catalog I have . you can also look for old Hartfords. they were all kind of the same pope mead columbia hartford bicycle back then
 

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