Found Columbia Thunderbolt in the UK!

[NICK1985]

Picked this up off a friend who found it out front of his house in...wait for it...London! Im new to this whole bike thing and I cant get enough of these American Made bikes since my recent trip to NY. To find one in the UK is rare to say the least. I wonder how it ended up in this country???

Does anyone know what year it would be? Im guessing 60's?

It does need some love but at least it has the tank and all the main bits etc. Below is what I need to do....

• New tires/tubes. I've had a quick look and there isn't many options over here for nice whitewall tires. The best ones I seem to be able to find are the Quick Brick.
• New crank as it looks like someone has cut it off
• Grips
• Front fender light
• Pedals
• Chain

Questions: Will any crank fit or will I need to buy a Columbia one from the US? Does anyone know what repro whitewalls are the best as I might order some from the US...the more original looking the better.

I will post some more photos of its progress over the Christmas break. Im one happy guy

 

[Bicycle808]

Nice score! Any 24tpi one-piece crank should fit; get one with arms in whatever length you prefer. Beware; Schwinn/ Schwinn-compatible cranks and "hangers" (aka BBs) are 28tpi; to make one of those fit, you'd need to change the crank itself, plus the cups, bearings, and all hardware, aside from the sprocket. So, yeah, just get a 24tpi set. They range from new and cheap to old and cheap, or old and expensive/collectible. From what I've seen online, it seems like BMX bikes in the UK retained the one-piece cranks for far longer than we did; you ought to be able to find one easily.

HTH
-Rob

 

[LIVE TO RIDE]

keep checkin the for sale posts here as well as put a ad in the want to buy section.You can still have really good condition old whitewalls.Duro makes a very nice whitewall and are very inexpensive and work great.Thats what I use on most of mine just because I ride my bikes a lot.Youd be pretty safe just buying a crank arm in 170/175 length.Those are a pretty common length and they ride great.Anythin smaller than 170 feels like a little kids bike to me and really don't like how they feel.

 

[motu]

From the mettalic paint I am thinking 60s. I wonder how a girls bike from the US got all the way out there??

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Rustinkerer]

58-62. In 63, they went to block lettering on the guard and tank. -Adam

 

[NICK1985]

Nice score! Any 24tpi one-piece crank should fit; get one with arms in whatever length you prefer. Beware; Schwinn/ Schwinn-compatible cranks and "hangers" (aka BBs) are 28tpi; to make one of those fit, you'd need to change the crank itself, plus the cups, bearings, and all hardware, aside from the sprocket. So, yeah, just get a 24tpi set. They range from new and cheap to old and cheap, or old and expensive/collectible. From what I've seen online, it seems like BMX bikes in the UK retained the one-piece cranks for far longer than we did; you ought to be able to find one easily.

HTH
-Rob

Awesome thank you for the advice on. Ill pop down to my local bike shop and see what they have. Otherwise I have found them cheaply online.

 

[NICK1985]

From the mettalic paint I am thinking 60s. I wonder how a girls bike from the US got all the way out there??

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

yeah I have no idea, maybe someone re located and couldn't bare to leave their bike in the US haha. I have found a couple of US bikes over the last few months but they dont pop up very often.

 

[NICK1985]

keep checkin the for sale posts here as well as put a ad in the want to buy section.You can still have really good condition old whitewalls.Duro makes a very nice whitewall and are very inexpensive and work great.Thats what I use on most of mine just because I ride my bikes a lot.Youd be pretty safe just buying a crank arm in 170/175 length.Those are a pretty common length and they ride great.Anythin smaller than 170 feels like a little kids bike to me and really don't like how they feel.

Thank you, I will have a look into the Duro tires. Thanks for the advice on the cranks, I have found a few cheap pairs online.

 

[marcusthemoose]

so you are the one who bought it! i was watching that but couldnt be bothered to come into town to pick it up.

 

[NICK1985]

so you are the one who bought it! i was watching that but couldnt be bothered to come into town to pick it up.

yeah my friend found it out front of his house as a neighbour was getting rid of it. My friend offered it to me a month ago but I didnt have the money. By the time I wanted to buy it he had stuck it on ebay so I had to bid for it.

 

[Wildcat]

The serial number will give the year of manufacture. It looks like early 60's and in good shape. Here's a link with all kinds of info on Columbia bikes:
http://vintagecolumbiabikes.com/id79.html