THREE projects: '36 Rollfast, Shelby Rex, 60's Speedster

[ambrose]

Hi all!

**UPDATE: Unpacked some parts and snapped a few pics on my iphone... see below!

I found a few pics on my HD from the day I brought these bikes home.

First up is the Rollfast... I'm TOLD its a '36 (or '36 ish?)... but I think it could be frankensteined a bit, perhaps the wheels are from another bike? I don't know, I could be wrong. Its got New Departure hubs and a Bendix brake arm. The Bendix arm looks almost the same as the one on my 60's Schwinn Speedster, so I'd venture to guess its not original.

Also, the fenders are black and fairly thin and kinda flimsy (granted, I'm a novice to this, so I've no idea on this era's build quality). The photos I've seen of this bike as stock show it with matching red fenders, and these don't appear to be re-sprays.

The handlebars are wasted... the bike was definitely sitting in water for a while, as there's about six inches of handlebar missing, and whats left on that side is pretty cancerous.

This photo was taken after a LONG day of cleaning and a partial tear-down. Fenders were already removed. (Chain is wasted, and I've no idea what kind I should get to replace it... any help there?)

And here's "Rex," or so says his name-plate. I plugged though this project first since, well, it seemed to be the easiest. The following photo you'll see the original handlebars, on which one half is just as cancerous as the bars from the Rollfast.

Here I've replaced the bar and the seat with those from my Speedster... I was itching to take this for a spin. (Believe it or not, the tubes inside the Goodyear WAR TIRES actually held air!!...)

Here are some close-ups... note the pin-striping on the tubes and fenders! And that "pointy" fender?? Okay, granted I don't much of anything about antique bikes, but the shape of that fender is cool as anything!

By the way, if anyone could tell my ANYTHING about this bike at all, I'd be immensely appreciative.

Additionally, if anyone has a solution for replacing the 26x1.375 tires on this piece, I'd be very grateful. (I'm 100% on board with rat-rodding, I really just want to ride this piece, so if I can't find replacement tires I'll probably just get some vintage wheels that accommodate a standard size.)

 

[ambrose]

Continuing on... here are a few more photos of the Rollfast.

You can see someone took a rattlecan to this at some point... slowly and carefully taking it off, since I have no idea what I really want to do with this (other than get it rolling already).

(I DO still have the badge for it... though its pretty beat up.)

Pedals and sprocket... love it. (Believe it or not, someone actually rattlecanned the sprocket! And the cheap paint they used preserved the chrome fairly well!)

Rear wheel has a Bendix hub and brake arm. Front is a New Departure. 26x2.125... and it almost looks like the Allstate Crusader tires might be salvageable. Almost. Maybe.

Close-up of the Bendix arm. I'd venture a guess its not period correct (not that I really care)

Fenders and chain guard... I'm guessing the guard is not correct, as its smaller than the guard on my 24" Speedster... but again, I'm a novice, so I've no idea. The fenders are flat black, banged up a bit, a bit rough underneath... and I'm almost certain non-original. (Pretty wide, too... looks like there's a point on the front fender where the cowls are "pinched" in to fit between the front forks.

And here's the 24" Schwinn Speedster!! Going by the stamp, I remember putting this to 67 or 68?

I got it in Lavalette NJ at a yard sale when I was a kid... must have been 13 or 14? My working-class family had just managed to buy a shore house, and we were on a shoe string. I think my brother and I had $20 to split between the two of us to find a bike. There was this one house on Rt 35 where an older fellow repaired junked or donated bikes and sold them on the cheap from his front lawn every Sunday morning. I can't remember the bike my brother found, some BMX-ish or mundane Mountain bike I think... but I spotted this little guy leaning on the side of his house, looking sad as can be. When I asked the old man about it, it was one of those "Aw, you don't want THAT old thing." Curves? Fenders? Pinstripes? Red sparkle handle bars? The heck I didn't! haha... (If my brother was Metallica, I was Bill Haley. I was the kid who still watched Happy Days when all my friends watched whatever BS teen drama was being force-fed to them.)

I think I bought it from him for five bucks.

I LOVED this thing. I would ride it around Ortley Beach all day, and then in the evening (to the horror of my parents) I'd dismantle the whole thing, scrub it, clean it, learn my way around it, and put it all back together in time for bed... so I could just do the same thing again the next day. (At some point the tire blew out, and the nearby shop didn't have any 24s... but on a hunch they called a medical supply store up the street who happened to have a grey wheelchair tire that fit!)

ANYHOO.

Its a little rough. It was rough when I got it... and hanging on a hook in the shed down the shore for ten years didn't help it.

There's some rust (especially on the wheels and chain guard)... there's some discoloration from where the previous owner plastered it with stickers... but the majority of the original decals are still intact. But aside from that, it still rolled pretty darn well when last I had it assembled!

No handlebars at the moment. They' and the original seat are on the Rex right now....

But on the left of this photo you'll see my most recent Ebay score!

Then there's the fenders and the chain guard.

You've probably all seen what 24" wheels look like, so I won't bother trying to find what box they're in.

So thats it for the moment!

I'll probably start a build journal for the Rollfast and the Schwinn shortly, once we get settled in our new place. Might go gas-bike with the Rollfast... and I was thinking of pulling the sprocket/et al and turning the Speedster into a Gas-Trike... but eh, who has the cash for that kind of thing these days?

 

[rms37]

I can add a bit of information about two of your bikes.

The Rollfast is later than 1936, that style frame was produced by H.P. Snyder from late 1935 through at least 1940. The 1936 frames have a different seat binder and the tangs on the rear dropouts were not added to those frames until about late 1937 so your bike is likely from 1938-1940. The chainring and crank are from a later girl’s Rollfast. The small size of the sprocket means it originally came from a girl’s bike. The slope of the crank arms and the ½” pitch drive is also later than the frame.

The Rex is a Shelby built victory bike. Blackout components are a mark of WW2 manufacture when the use of chrome was limited. The actual build date could range from early 1942 to late 1945. Most builders, Shelby included, discontinued bike production from February 1942 through about 1944. Bikes that left the factories between those dates trickled out, built from parts on hand.

 

[SCHWINNRAY69]

Cool bikes 8)

 

[ambrose]

I can add a bit of information about two of your bikes.

The Rollfast is later than 1936, that style frame was produced by H.P. Snyder from late 1935 through at least 1940. The 1936 frames have a different seat binder and the tangs on the rear dropouts were not added to those frames until about late 1937 so your bike is likely from 1938-1940. The chainring and crank are from a later girl’s Rollfast. The small size of the sprocket means it originally came from a girl’s bike. The slope of the crank arms and the ½” pitch drive is also later than the frame.

The Rex is a Shelby built victory bike. Blackout components are a mark of WW2 manufacture when the use of chrome was limited. The actual build date could range from early 1942 to late 1945. Most builders, Shelby included, discontinued bike production from February 1942 through about 1944. Bikes that left the factories between those dates trickled out, built from parts on hand.

Wow, thanks for the insight!!

Now if only I could find tires to fit the Rex! Seems the general consensus on 26x1.375 (599mm) tires is that they just don't exist anymore?

I had the feeling the Rollfast was already a frankenstein... now I don't feel so bad about slapping random parts on it for the sake of functionality and general cool-ness. Just picked up with I think is a Monark chain guard, a nine-hole rack, a Schwinn Messenger seat, and what might be a Colson springer for it.

 

[rms37]

I hate to post this before I check but I may have a few 26”x 1.375 tires in a stash of things in a remote location….. I don’t know if I have any and I don’t know what condition they are in if I do, but I will try to make it out to check this weekend.