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- Apr 26, 2020
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The Stealthmaster (or at least its frame and fork) started life as a 1939 Roadmaster Supreme which was the Cleveland Welding Company’s top model that year. The year before, CWC introduced their Master Weld process using automatically controlled machines that completely eliminated hand welding or brazing with bronze. The engineers claimed this resulted in a frame 100% stronger than ordinary frames and it is important to note this was many years before Schwinn came out with their similar electroforged frames. From an aesthetic point of view, it is fortunate the majority of the frame has beautiful hand brazed joints with the only master weld joints being those where the seat mast and downtube connect to the bottom bracket. The Supreme frame was also unique in that it had a 1”taller head tube and seat mast to suit taller riders.
I purchased the frame, Shockmaster fork and some other parts in 2021 from a seller in Maryland who bought it in Canada a few years earlier. He was parting out a complete bike with a bad repaint he couldn’t look at. The Shockmaster fork wasn’t introduced until 1940, the year after this frame was made so I could only assume a previous owner retrofitted it. I prefer rigid forks so I searched and eventually found the correct rigid fork with its drop forged crown and tubular legs.
Once the frame arrived in Australia I was keen to get it assembled. It went together well and the most time was spent spreading the rear triangle to suit the Nexus 7 hub using a technique I discovered on Sheldon Brown’s website. The first ride revealed a decent riding bike with geometry similar to many modern cruisers. It steered well and had plenty of speed but I soon found out the Nexus coaster brake wasn’t up to the task of pulling up the heavy bike safely when going fast or down any of the steep hills around the city. A new set of wheels using a 100mm Sturmey Archer drum front hub improved the braking but the bike felt slower than before which I assumed was caused by the less than smooth skip tooth drivetrain I just fitted. I also had problems with the bottom bracket and headset bearings having to be set loose so they wouldn’t bind plus I also wanted to put the bike on a diet and improve its looks.
With this build I set out to correct those issues while giving it a dose of BMX vibe. I pulled the bike down and sent the frame and fork to the media blaster and instructed him to use plastic media for a smooth finish. The blasting revealed a frame in excellent condition devoid of any major damage. The chain stays were dented from the kickstand and the only repairs I had to make were filling a small rust hole under the top tube and adding brazing at one joint on the seat mast. Initially I thought I would powder coat the frame as the arthritis in my hands was playing up but once I got to work cleaning and polishing the metal I forgot about the pain and the vision I wanted for the bike became clear to me. After many hours of work the weathered steel frame and fork were ready to be treated with a paste called Rust Prevention Magic. Yes, it’s a terrible name but the stuff does work and it leaves a cool gunmetal like finish on the metal.
The new parts include a Redline crank kit, Johnny Truetorch Powerslide alloy bars, an old school forged bmx stem and Tange sealed bearing headset. The sealed bearings in the bottom bracket and headset solved most of what was wrong with the bike. I also fabricated a layback seat post from a solid bar of stainless to get me where I needed to be on the Brooks B67 saddle that I previously had on the bike. The Cleveland Bicycle licence plate was a lucky late night ebay purchase while I was looking for something else and I swiped the Velo Orange pedals from one of my other less fortunate rides. The rear wheel needed truing and my wheel tech buddy Yngwe discovered the spoke tension of both wheels was too low and suggested this would have been the reason the bike previously felt sluggish.
I’m really pleased with the way the bike has turned out. It not only looks better but rides super smooth and the previous roughness of the skip tooth drivetrain is gone. I believe I have done justice to the beautiful CWC frame and fork. I would like to say thanks those who provided help and encouragement. This has been a another great build off and only the second I've entered. I haven’t had the time to follow the builds as closely as I did last year but I will be trawling through each bike before I vote. Peace and fun to all.
The complete bike as it was offered for sale. I only purchased the frame, fork, headlight, kickstand, sprocket and stem.
The frame with the correct rigid fork from the same model year.
As I built the bike in 2021 riding on its first set of wheels and regular 1/2 x 1/8" drivetrain. The building with the word Cleveland on the front is just around the corner from work!
The second version of the bike with its new wheels built with Sun Rhyno lite rims and SA front drum hub. I also added the skip tooth drivetrain.
The frame and fork after plastic media blasting which doesn't remove rust. I attacked it with Scotchbrite pads, deoxidine and wire wheels.
Looking good. The frame and fork came up much better than I expected so I decided it had to be bare.
The polished frame prior to coating.
The coated frame.
https://ratrodbikes.com/threads/stealthmaster.118276/
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