Columbia frame?

[strangeframe]

I dated this J.C.Higgins to be a 48 or 49? from pics, but the chain ring is only one like it i've ever seen.The grips say Columbia and wondered if Columbia built for Sears"Higgins"?
It rides smooooth..

 

[Bettleguise]

Exterior fender braces, heavy duty crash bars.

 

[Walker]

Deja-Vu! slightly different fender braces, fork crown's are slightly different, yours has an aftermarket chainguard but otherwise the same bike.

 

[strangeframe]

very cool, is yours a future project i hope?

 

[deorman]

That is definitely a standard Columbia tank frame from about the time you mention, or earlier. Shortly thereafter they switched to front (bottom) loading horizontal dropouts, but the rest stayed pretty much the same. Even the late 50's early 60's middleweights are the same, just a narrower fork and seat stays. They were sold under several store and tire and auto parts company brands, including a short stint as JC Higgens. 8) 1960ish version :arrow: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=22295

 

[Rustinkerer]

Westfield/Columbia has been making bikes for Sears for several decades. They made most Elgins from the early 30s up to 1938. Around then Murray made the majority through the early 80s. But, there were always other companies making small runs of bikes for them, including Westfield, Monark, Chain Bike (Ross), Stelber, and Huffy just to name a few. Most of them never showed up in a catalog page either. -Adam