$5.00 1937 Blue Bird

[nateyboy]

Ok, so it's not that Blue Bird, but it's still a cool bike. Don't know much about it yet, but for $5 I couldn't pass it up. Has a shift lever and pulley system on the top tube, but I'm not sure how many speeds. Wood inside the rims, Torrington brace bars (missing the brace), 7 seatpost, nice springer saddle. Can't wait to get it torn apart and cleaned up. If anyone knows anything else about this one please let me know.

 

[Markm]

Cool!!!!

 

[Crassly]

New Departure 2 speed is very cool. The toggle or shift knuckle is a hard to find item that I've seen bring $100 all by itself. The tough part is finding tires for those wheels. There are repros out there, but they are spendy.

 

[schwinnmesa]

Very cool find. The seat is identical to the one on my 1937 Fleetwing.

 

[Boardtrack fan]

Very cool find. I love those shifters.

 

[B607]

Richards and Conover was a large hardware store in Kansas City. 1880's-1930's. Your bike is a "hardware bike", wearing a badge from a hardware co. but made who knows where. Others from that time were Shapleigh Hardware and Witte Hardware, both out of St.Louis. There were probably hundreds nationwide. Cool bike. B607

 

[roadmaster]

a totally rustic find. always wondered about those 2speed nd huds. definatly looks like a fun project.

 

[user 135]

Cool find. Clean it up and ride it. That color combo is a favorite.

As for the zipties, is that some fangle system for keeping the tires on?

 

[sensor]

well ive got to say for $5 you did great!
it looks like a schwinn camel back from the stays(not 100% from the pictures though) and yeah that is a new departure 2 speed(those are fun too rebuild :roll: )
just wondering if you could post a picture of the serial #? itll help say what it is for sure
great score :mrgreen:

 

[rat royale]

$5.00?
Take it back! It doesn't even have a front tire!

WOW! I thought I did good for $25 (and it didn't even have wheels!) for the Tandem Sequel...

That is one heckuva deal! Beautimus!

Rat Royale
REC Elsewhere

 

[MonsterMetal]

Shoot yeah..... Id say u did good. If you want to make 10X your money I'll gladly buy it Where else in the world can you make that kind of return on your investment these days??

Seriously though... very cool bike and that two speed is kickin... I have one that is missing all the shifter parts and been unable to locate spares so hold on to that stuff for dear life....

 

[No cars on mars]

Cool find. Clean it up and ride it. That color combo is a favorite.

As for the zipties, is that some fangle system for keeping the tires on?

He is turning it into a snow bicycle. The zipties act like mini chains.

 

[user 135]

As for the zipties, is that some fangle system for keeping the tires on?

He is turning it into a snow bicycle. The zipties act like mini chains.

Hahahhahahah

 

[beast775]

:shock: that bike is awesome!great gear ratio.its all you need.

 

[rms37]

Great find, great price, and wonderful colors.

The bend of the seat stays and the fork crown both look like the bike was sourced from Schwinn. As a Schwinn product you may find a year stamp on the center of the cranks.

It also looks like it is on 26” single tube wheels which look original judging by the narrow fork crown and the compact nature of the frame.

26” single tubes wheels were used on junior sized single tube bikes much like the relationship between 24” and 26” balloon wheeled bikes.

Phil

 

[Skipton]

WOW great score!!!!!!!!! you will Have fun with that one

 

[langsmer]

Looks like its a 26" or 28" tire bike with the wrong wheels. Cool paint scheme!

 

[sensor]

im guessing that was you that posted for the 26" single tubes.......ill start poking around and see if i cant come up with any leads.........but those are gonna be somewhat tough to come by

 

[nateyboy]

THANK YOU SENSOR!!! I know I'm in for a hunt, but I'm hoping some will turn up. I'd really like to use the existing wheels. It will be too small for me, but a nice one for the collection. Thanks again!

 

[sensor]

well unfortunately ive had no luck(other than the one youve seen already)......i even thought you might be able to get the semi-pneumatic wheel chair tires in 26x1.5 but i havent seen any yet(just 1").......you might try calling here to see if they have any...
http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/ ... 4-768-1147
if i do run across any leads ill let you know