postwar straightbar ID sought

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kentercanyon

kentercanyon

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Here we have a "not in the barn, but outside the barn" farm-fresh boy's straightbar that looks to be postwar. Front facing dropouts, a Komet coaster hub and no apparent badge holes or paint traces where a badge would have been. Peaked fenders and an attractive rack but no chain guard...



Markings on hub read "F&S 56 M Komet Super D.R.P. - D.B.P. Made in Germany" Didn't Sachs make these? I've seen them on various dep't store branded bikes - Western Flyers and Sears bikes from mid-50s into the 60s at least.



The serial is on the bottom bracket and reads "A56508 6" I'm going to go way out on a limb here and say the bike hails from circa 1956 seeing as how that's also the number on the kraut hub.... but who made it and who sold it? Thanks in advance for any help.

More on the post-war German patent situation later. This bike predates the Berlin Wall which went up in 1961 and came to form the heart of the so-called "iron curtain" of the Cold War. DRP and DBP refer to pre-war patents and post-war attempts to retain these patents, sometimes with success and sometimes not. The "R" stands for "Riech" and that particularly distasteful venture came to an end in 1945 after a lot of very serious fighting by a lot of brave anti-fascists from all over the globe, many of whom gave their lives so we could enjoy the freedoms we still enjoy -and still fight for - today.

Also more bike details to come. It seems like this may have had truss bars when new - there is the remnant of a bracket where the "ears" maybe have been broken off underneath the steering tube crown nut. The seat-stays have a flat steel deep V brace that dovetails into the peaked fender nicely. The rear dropouts have an upward reaching tab to connect to the fender brace. I haven't yet looked at the branding etc on the tire, or what's left of it. The stem looks very Wald-ish and plain.
 
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kentercanyon said:
The "R" stands for "Riech" and that particularly distasteful venture came to an end in 1945 after a lot of very serious fighting by a lot of brave anti-fascists from all over the globe, many of whom gave their lives so we could enjoy the freedoms we still enjoy -and still fight for - today.
Click to expand...

First, it is spelled Reich. The translation of this word from German is "kingdom" or "realm". It was used long before the Nazis and is still used today. The First Reich was under Frederic the Great. The Second Reich was under Kaiser Wilhelm the First. And of course we know of the Third Reich.
Ever hear of Austria? In German (Austrians speak German), it is called Österreich, or Eastern Realm.
Now you know a new German word. Gary
 
Yeah I've heard of Austria. I lived in Vienna for six months, pal. I met the princess and hung out with her in a bar. .Really great cinemas! Good town to ride a bike in, too. Killer flea market.

I blame the iPhone for spelling errors!
B607 said:
First, it is spelled Reich. The translation of this word from German is "kingdom" or "realm". It was used long before the Nazis and is still used today. The First Reich was under Frederic the Great. The Second Reich was under Kaiser Wilhelm the First. And of course we know of the Third Reich.
Ever hear of Austria? In German (Austrians speak German), it is called Österreich, or Eastern Realm.
Now you know a new German word. Gary
Click to expand...
 
Sorry for the rant. I'm just another overly sensitive Austrian who gets defensive easily when it comes to Nazi stuff. My family came from Tirol in SW Austria. I've never been there. You're lucky to have lived in Austria. Auf wiedersehen! Gary
 
Ich weiß nicht. It's a beautiful country and like you said seems to have a lot of sensitive intelligent people - Klimpt, Mozart, Freud and Billy Wilder come to mind - but for a simple Texan kid like me from a Scotch-Irish cowboy family, one generation removed from dirt, my time there was mind-expanding. There is a lot of HISTORY there and to be honest when I'm in Europe I'm usually more painfully aware of what it is to be an American than I'm able to fully grok their culture. Six months was great but I barely scratched the surface. (And all the food was brown, even the good stuff. What's with that?)

We here in the states are such mutts in comparison, yet I come to value our maverick spirit and independence from structure and class and coercive emotions like shame. We're making this sh*t up as we go for the most part and it seems so juvenile sometimes, and at other times so evolved in comparison.

Austrians have a lot of baggage. Not to get into a political debate but 97 percent of Austrians went to the polls and voted to join with Nazi Germany, the birthplace of Hitler and Eichmann, and 40% of the extermination camps were built in Austria. I'm glad that generation is passing, and I have many Austrian friends now whose lives are very different from that of their grandparents and they are acutely aware of how and why, and I admire them for that. The ones I met had their heads on straighter then most of the yanks I know. Like I said I met the Princess of Austria, and I've met the Bush daughters, too - Genna and Tonic. It was like comparing Linsey Lohan to Nina Simone or something.

I wish my generation was as aware of the USA's mistakes, and as determined not to repeat them as the Austrians generally are. Everyone I worked with there was well-read and thoughtful to an extreme about ethics and morality. But it would be foolish to discount our national character when the chips come down. Blue jeans, rock and roll and cowboy movies are fine by me. I'll give them beer, however. And sausage. They sure do that well.

From a truly great man, Nelson Mandela's teachings I came believe in truth and reconciliation. It begins with awareness and ends with forgiveness, two of the greatest human qualities we possess.

Thanks for the discussion. Now somebody help me ID this bike!
 
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bump - i'm thinking it might be a Murray-built middleweight. 1956 is a transition year away from ballooners. I need to measure the rims and clearance but the fenders seem middleweight sized to me.

Who used Sachs/Komet coasters around that time?
 
Looks like a late 50's Roadmaster, judging by the dropouts and peaked fenders. And the sprocket too. Where the fenders bolt up on the dropouts they are indented.
 
Thanks! Yeah there are indents on the tabs going off the dropouts. I was starting to spiral in towards the AMF / Roadmaster / CWC transition era family as well based on what I've been finding out here.

See the link below also for paint scheme, which is very difficult to discern but could be similar white long arrows leading back from the headtube. The headtube itself is slightly lengthy compared to other frames I've got lying around. I'll measure it soon... and update pics of the dropout fender stay tabs, etc. It's raining today. The rear rack is on day three of vinegar soak. The hub got a 48 hour dip and cleaned up decently. I endorse the vinegar soak!

This page on the CABE site talks about the transition around that time as the unions were starting to get busted and manufacturing moved out of Chicago/Cleveland areas where workers had more power, and off to Tennessee and Arkansas, etc where non-union workforces drove down the costs (and significantly, the quality) of bicycles. Postwar consumerism and demand for baby-boomer goods must have been significant. Welcome to the suburbs, America.

http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?30405-AMF-Cwc-Roadmaster-age

The fact that rear hub was outsourced to West Germany is a strong clue that this bike wasn't made in Chicago or Cleveland, in my opinion. Union men wouldn't have sat still for it. People like my grandfather would have NOTICED where this bike's parts came from and would have cursed a blue streak about it BITD. As cool as this frame is, it's a testament to slippery slope the USA started down towards shipping all the good jobs away.
 
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I'm thinking its a CWC frame. I wouldn't get too hung up on the rim/hub, its not like they're hard to change. Isn't possible it was swapped out at some point over the last 60 years?
 
Yeah I think it's a CWC from Little Rock, probably branded a Roadmaster or a WF, and built/sold circa 1956. It's just nice to know and not guess. The rack seems semi-distinctive and I can't find one like it yet. Thanks to all for the help.
 

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