Elgin Twin?

[Danimal]

Hey,

Do any of you guys have one of these? Are they "that" rare? I would love to find one of these!

http://cgi.ebay.com/MINT-Elgin-Twin...yZ156524QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Uncle Stretch]

Its in tha ....there are a few around if your willing to pay catagorie. They look kinda like something is missing.

 

[icyuod2]

does the frame act like a giant spring?
if your gonna buy one danimal, make sure ya get a good one. if that frame was old and rusty, i'd be scare of getting impailed on it if/when it failed.

 

[Danimal]

I doubt I'll ever buy one unless I got REAL lucky.

I was talking with my dad tonight and he asked if I had ever heard of a bike without a seat post tube. I told him no, but he told me he owned one when he was a kid. We hunted online until we found some info and that indeed, it was an Elgin Twin. Sweet bike but I'm sure it would cost a fortune.

 

[ish]

I just bought a Twin 20 that needs a ton of work. I'll start a build thread soon.

That Ebay bike is actually what inspired me to get a Twin. They did an awesome job with it.

 

[Danimal]

I just bought a Twin 20 that needs a ton of work. I'll start a build thread soon.

That Ebay bike is actually what inspired me to get a Twin. They did an awesome job with it.

If you don't mind me asking, what did you pay for it? What condition is it in?

Dan

 

[Quanah]

Thats a new one on me. It's HAS to flex, probably a pretty sweet ride. Once again I am enlightened!

 

[icyuod2]

i'm really curious how safe these old style bikes are. would you ride one witout first completely rebuilding the frame?

if it is a spring type frame, over 50 years of flexing has to causing alot of fatigue. once it breaks and you go down (the only way is down) you have 4 broken pieces of steel to avoid. what about weight restrictions?

theres got to be a reason 95% of bicycles today have seat tubes.
how much is tonnes of work?
sorry for all the questions, but this one has really struck my interest.

 

[Danimal]

Well, my dad said he had one when he was in his teens. He said they used to take it off jumps, etc like every other bike and it never had isues. However, I'm pushing 275# so I would be a bit apprehensive to ride it. If I could ever find one, I would give it a slight resto/mod and give it to my old man. He would love to have one again even if it never got riden.

 

[BrigmasterA]

If it was a super awesome design, I think others would have made them, and they would have been made a lot longer than they were... They look kinda spooky... and cool at the same time...

 

[zaz]

The Twin is rather uncomfortable (and I'm not a giant (5.64')) because you pedal with the knees in the chin, that's the reason why my saddle is back.

Even if it was "constructed like a suspension bridge" I never noticed it was behaving like a spring frame, it doesn't flex.

I took both of them for long distance cruise (50km) in Amsterdam and never had the slightest problem.

Those bikes where manufactured by the Westfield Cie, they can't be totally bad.

I paid 180$ for the last frame I bought, less for my first one. They were both nudes.

You find parts on ebay but the extremely rare head shroud (there's one fore sale 350$...).

Don't get me wrong, I'm Sears prewar bikes design nut.

 

[BrigmasterA]

Dang both those are cool. I really like what you did with the black one though... Nice job. I bet it was pricy getting them to France...

 

[zaz]

Thanks.

I was just talking about the price I bought them, for the last one I paid 71$ to give it wings...

 

[Danimal]

Wow, those are sweet! :shock:

I'll be looking....

Dan

 

[Walker]

Hey ZAZ, nice twisted spokes! I'd love to get my hands on an old fork like that for my motorized project, hard to find though...

 

[zaz]

A french seller sales that rusty fork for 15€, generally the problem is not rust but compatibility with your fork tube.

 

[ratina]

Shouldnt have reflector pedals should it?

 

[ish]

If you don't mind me asking, what did you pay for it? What condition is it in?

I bought this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290301562283 It appears to be an early Twin 20.

would you ride one witout first completely rebuilding the frame?

Sure. I live dangerously. :lol:

how much is tonnes of work?

You can gauge from the Ebay listing, probably not much work to get functional, but a lot of work to get it looking good.

If it was a super awesome design, I think others would have made them, and they would have been made a lot longer than they were...

There were a lot of cool products made in the late 30s for a short period (just look up "Machine Age"), then the war caused products to be more utilitarian and most of the raw materials went to the war. The Twin is an awesome design visually, probably not the best functional design.

The Twin is rather uncomfortable (and I'm not a giant (5.64')) because you pedal with the knees in the chin, that's the reason why my saddle is back.

Check out what this guy did, must be a custom seatpost. I might get one fabricated, too. I need to email that guy and see how he did it.

Nice Twins, by the way. Can't wait to get mine. Do you have original kickstands, or did you mount aftermarket stands on them?

extremely rare head shroud (there's one fore sale 350$...).

Someone should repop the Twin 20 head shroud. I'll look into it if I can find one.

 

[zaz]

Someone should repop the Twin 20 head shroud. I'll look into it if I can find one.

The ebay seller who sold yesterday a "damaged" 4-star headlight shroud for 350$ (http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150331456499&ssPageName=ADME:B:WNA:FR:1123) was also including a repop head shroud but I don't know if it was a homemade one.

Anyway, if you find two, remember me :wink:

Check out what this guy did, must be a custom seatpost. I might get one fabricated, too. I need to email that guy and see how he did it.

I made a high seat post using an iron bar bought in a hardware store. It's a classic diameter. I just don't succeed to obtain an angle only a curve.

Your pedaling position is then a bit strange like on a limo, hard to win a dragrace...

There were a lot of cool products made in the late 30s for a short period

Even mower and vacuum cleaner were looking like flying saucers

 

[zaz]

Here is my seat post, I tryed to have an angle and obtained that curve...