Boy's/Men's Frames

[mornview]

Sorry for such a novice question, but I can't turn up an answer to this by googling it.

Anyways, when I'm searching CL or Ebay for old (especially pre-war) cruisers, sometimes the bike will be referred to as a '26" men's cruiser' and sometimes it'll be listed as a '26" boy's cruiser'. Just from looking at the bikes labeled as "boy's" they don't appear to be any different in measurement than the one's labeled "men's".

Which brings me to my question ... when talking about pre-war 26" wheel cruisers, are "boys" and "mens" pretty much interchangable; just a way to differentiate the frame from a female's bike? I've often seen pictures from the pre-war time period of boys on bikes that absolutely dwarfed them. I've gotten the impression that boys (at a certain age) were riding the same bikes as adult men.

The reason I finally decided to ask this is because of this recent CL posting:

http://appleton.craigslist.org/bik/4540697042.html

I know I could just ask the seller for some measurements, but sellers on CL aren't always knowledgable about bikes, and, besides, I've wanted to know the answer to this.

But if that bike is likely to fit me as a grown man, $80 seems almost too good to be true.

Thanks!

 

[Bicycle808]

OK, short answer: basically interchangeable terminology.

Longer answer: prewar, they tended to make more variants of the 26"-wheeled bikes. Consider this 1938 Schwinn catalog: http://schwinncruisers.com/catalogs/1938.html#b707 They show several of the 26"-wheel models available as 16", 18", or 20" frames (measured at the seat-tube.) Seems like the 18" are, by far, most common. But, it could mean different size frames, to some sellers, if they're saying "men's" versus "boys'"...

But yeah, 99 times out of 100, either "men's" or "boys" will mean the typical "male" frame, as opposed to "girls'" or "ladies'", which would refer to the step-thru "female" frame.

HTH. Hopefully, other ppl will have something to add...

 

[mornview]

OK, short answer: basically interchangeable terminology.

Longer answer: prewar, they tended to make more variants of the 26"-wheeled bikes. Consider this 1938 Schwinn catalog: http://schwinncruisers.com/catalogs/1938.html#b707 They show several of the 26"-wheel models available as 16", 18", or 20" frames (measured at the seat-tube.) Seems like the 18" are, by far, most common. But, it could mean different size frames, to some sellers, if they're saying "men's" versus "boys'"...

But yeah, 99 times out of 100, either "men's" or "boys" will mean the typical "male" frame, as opposed to "girls'" or "ladies'", which would refer to the step-thru "female" frame.

HTH. Hopefully, other ppl will have something to add...

Yes, that definitely helped. I kind of had a feeling that was what was going on at the time, but I wasn't anywhere near being alive back then. Thanks!

 

[deven_science]

Yeah, they're used interchangeably. Just means "the one meant for males."

 

[whitefiretiger]

That looks like a nice bike for the price but unless its a skiptooth its probably not prewar as advertised

 

[B607]

That looks like a nice bike for the price but unless its a skiptooth its probably not prewar as advertised

I can't tell for sure but it looks like that is a cantilever style frame. Schwinn held the patent on those until 1955. The frame can't be older than that if it's a cantilever. Gary