- Joined
- May 12, 2009
- Messages
- 1,547
- Reaction score
- 117
Hi! I was scanning CL a few weeks ago and I saw a listing for a vintage Belknap. Anytime they connect a bike with one of the key words - vintage/antique/ratrod/cruiser/etc - I check it out. I can tell by the pics it's gotta be 1930s but I didn't have the cash. I emailed the guy, said it was a cool bike and good luck with the sale. We swapped emails for a couple days talking about bikes and that's it. A week later he lists it again with a reduced price - I still didn't have the money but I really wanted it because of the age. I email him again and ask if he'd take payments. No one else had shown interest so he said yes. I put the full court press on selling parts and had him paid off in two weeks.
When I arrived at his place to pick up the bike there were bike parts all over the yard - he was cleaning out the garage and wanted to know if I want them. Free Parts? Every day of the week! I like the shape of all the bars - look great flipped and there are tons of chains including the skip tooth that was on the Belknap. I loaded everything up and off I went.
Prior to purchasing the Belknap I sent the four CL pics to Phil (rms37) for identification. Turns out it's a 1936 Snyder Built Belknap Badged ballooner of which the frame is the "Zep" style. 1936 was the only year the seat post was secured in this manner and from 1937 to 1940 they used a clamp. I found pics of the bicycle pages from the 1940 Belknap 100th Anniversary Catalog showing the model of my Belknap - not the top of the line but not the bottom either. It's missing grips and the drop stand w/ clip. Also needs tire/tubes and rear wheel respoked.
Belknap was a Hardware Store Chain based out of Louisville, KY - you may have seen hand tools marked "Bluegrass" - thems the ones. Over the years they sold all the different styles of bikes available, just badged Belknap. In my research I didn't find any bikes badged Belknap that were older than my '36 but if they had a 100th Anniversary in 1940 I'm sure they sold everything starting with bike 1.
I haven't decided what I am going to do with it yet but I really like the 30s & 40s era bikes and with the Zep Frame it's definitely a keeper. I'll throw some rims and tires on it to get it running and then think about it. I figure I got one heck of a deal just for the bike - I could sell the frame for more than I paid for the entire bike - and got all the extra parts to boot! To be continued! Robert
I like the way the drop stand stop is an integral part of the fender braces - never saw that before.
When I arrived at his place to pick up the bike there were bike parts all over the yard - he was cleaning out the garage and wanted to know if I want them. Free Parts? Every day of the week! I like the shape of all the bars - look great flipped and there are tons of chains including the skip tooth that was on the Belknap. I loaded everything up and off I went.
Prior to purchasing the Belknap I sent the four CL pics to Phil (rms37) for identification. Turns out it's a 1936 Snyder Built Belknap Badged ballooner of which the frame is the "Zep" style. 1936 was the only year the seat post was secured in this manner and from 1937 to 1940 they used a clamp. I found pics of the bicycle pages from the 1940 Belknap 100th Anniversary Catalog showing the model of my Belknap - not the top of the line but not the bottom either. It's missing grips and the drop stand w/ clip. Also needs tire/tubes and rear wheel respoked.
Belknap was a Hardware Store Chain based out of Louisville, KY - you may have seen hand tools marked "Bluegrass" - thems the ones. Over the years they sold all the different styles of bikes available, just badged Belknap. In my research I didn't find any bikes badged Belknap that were older than my '36 but if they had a 100th Anniversary in 1940 I'm sure they sold everything starting with bike 1.
I haven't decided what I am going to do with it yet but I really like the 30s & 40s era bikes and with the Zep Frame it's definitely a keeper. I'll throw some rims and tires on it to get it running and then think about it. I figure I got one heck of a deal just for the bike - I could sell the frame for more than I paid for the entire bike - and got all the extra parts to boot! To be continued! Robert
I like the way the drop stand stop is an integral part of the fender braces - never saw that before.
