I picked this up last year. I was told it was a 1936, but features make me think it is older. It had a factory New Departure 2 speed "DD" rear hub and the 28" metal clad wood wheels that used single tube tires. Since I couldn't find any tires for reasonable money, I delaced the wheels and installed the original hubs into a set of Velocity Blunt 29'er hoops. Almost the exact same size. Then I could buy any tire I wanted in the 700C size and these cream colored ones look great IMHO. The rear hub had some broken internals and a member on the Cabe came through on those. First obstacle overcome!
Next I had to deal with the bent steerer tube on the fork. Walker took that task for me and welded on a new steerer tube to original fork. Another awesome job Walker!
The thing that bothered me the most on this bike was the missing head badge. It took some research to figure out what badge it should have and the search for a replacement was futile. I contacted Jezusjonz and he did an amazing job making me a one. I cannot believe how perfect that badge looks on the bike.
Other than that, the bike just needed a thorough cleaning. The correct drop stand for it (yet another rare part) is missing but I can live without that. It could use some new pedal blocks, but I am undecided on whether I should use red or black blocks. The grip are probably not right (they came from an Elgin) but they look good on there. The dual-tone bell was flea market find and the old bike pump came from another old project I had years ago.
One other cool feature? Check out the initials on the top tube. Those are the initials of the original owner (I know who it belonged to) and are in the exact same font as the "Lovell-Diamond" letters, just smaller. That must have been some kind of option on the bike back in the day. Nice touch.
Before:
Finished:
Next I had to deal with the bent steerer tube on the fork. Walker took that task for me and welded on a new steerer tube to original fork. Another awesome job Walker!
The thing that bothered me the most on this bike was the missing head badge. It took some research to figure out what badge it should have and the search for a replacement was futile. I contacted Jezusjonz and he did an amazing job making me a one. I cannot believe how perfect that badge looks on the bike.
Other than that, the bike just needed a thorough cleaning. The correct drop stand for it (yet another rare part) is missing but I can live without that. It could use some new pedal blocks, but I am undecided on whether I should use red or black blocks. The grip are probably not right (they came from an Elgin) but they look good on there. The dual-tone bell was flea market find and the old bike pump came from another old project I had years ago.
One other cool feature? Check out the initials on the top tube. Those are the initials of the original owner (I know who it belonged to) and are in the exact same font as the "Lovell-Diamond" letters, just smaller. That must have been some kind of option on the bike back in the day. Nice touch.
Before:
Finished:
