Has anyone seen a frame like this??

[157bradley]

I am a new member here. I am fixing up an old CWC for my personal ride (see my post in the Intro section).

In looking for vintage parts for my bike, I stumbled on this one. I bought it off the internet and I have not got it yet. It is a 26 inch wheeled bike.











They called it a Hawthorne, but they were not bike people and somebody just told them that it was a Hawthorne. No headbadge is present.

I have done a lot of image searching here and on other sites.

It looks vaguely like a Colson but I cannot find any bike that have this EXACT shape to the chain stay and fender stays.

ANY insight is greatly appreciated.

[Nickinator]

Is it a 24 or 26 inch tire?

[157bradley]

It is a 26 inch tire.

It looked a little like a 24 to me as well. The seller assured me it was a 26 though.

I don't have it yet, but I will not be bummed out either way. If it turned out to be a 24 I could build it for my kid. I have some very nice 24 inch freewheel rims off a GT BMX cruiser from the 90's that would work fine with a little cold setting of the frame.

I just loved the looped tail of the frame.

regards, Brad

[Nickinator]

the chainring looks somewhat like a cwc or a monark its a loop tail bike for sure is all i know.

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

Steve would love that frame. Nice loop tail.

[roadmaster]

That is one cool frame! Looks like 40's to early 50's and I have no idea who made it. If it is a Hawthorne, it could be made by one of a number of companies, such as Huffy, Murray, HP Snyder and a few odd ball companies, but its definatly not one of the first 3. An old Iverson or ??? Good luck and cool bike.

[157bradley]

Thanks for all the comments.

It must be rare if all of you folks don't know what it is.

I talked to the seller last night and it should get shipped to me today or tomorrow. I am really excited about this one. I have searched the 'net for several hours looking at vintage bikes and I haven't found anything exactly like it.

The rear of the frame is closest to a Colson but the front of the frame doesn't match.

Am I wrong to think that it is a pre-War frame? It has a skip tooth chainring. It also has a rear bike stand thinga-ma-jig (sorry....don't know the word) built in to the rear drop outs. The seatpost appears to be 5/8" diameter and a "lucky seven" type. The seat post clamp has a square headed bolt. I was under the impression that these features were pre-War? I am new to all of this so I could be wrong.

This is like a treasure hunt. I can't wait till it gets here. I have more pictures if anyone might need them.

Regards, Brad

[Nickinator]

Thanks for all the comments.

It must be rare if all of you folks don't know what it is.

I talked to the seller last night and it should get shipped to me today or tomorrow. I am really excited about this one. I have searched the 'net for several hours looking at vintage bikes and I haven't found anything exactly like it.

The rear of the frame is closest to a Colson but the front of the frame doesn't match.

Am I wrong to think that it is a pre-War frame? It has a skip tooth chainring. It also has a rear bike stand thinga-ma-jig (sorry....don't know the word) built in to the rear drop outs. The seatpost appears to be 5/8" diameter and a "lucky seven" type. The seat post clamp has a square headed bolt. I was under the impression that these features were pre-War? I am new to all of this so I could be wrong.

This is like a treasure hunt. I can't wait till it gets here. I have more pictures if anyone might need them.

Regards, Brad

Post it on thecabe.com they will know what it is instantly .

Nick.

[rms37]

The bike was produced by the Chain Bike Co./Stelber conglom for which there is little reference information available on the internet. The company is a post-war only entity so the bike is not prewar (I believe it dates to the early to mid fifties). A few of these frames have turned up in the hobby on the internet in the last year but they were probably not made in large numbers originally and were somewhat fragile and disposable in their day so the survival rate was not as high as Schwinns for instance.

[157bradley]

Thank you RMS37....

It is great to know what it is. It is a little disappointing to hear that it is a delicate bike.

Do you think it is not worth making a rider out of it?

This is something I had never really considered.

Is there a thread or a link to information about the strength of various old bicycles? I would really appreciate the information.

I am a big guy and I would hate to have a catastrophic failure.

By the way, I see you are in Seattle. Beautiful city. I lived there in the '90s....loved it.

Many thanks, Brad

[mos6502]

I've never seen a CBC bike with a looptail frame. When did they drop that feature?