Tiger Cycle from Holland

[No cars on mars]

I got this bicycle last week. A Tiger Cycle. Can any of our overseas friend help me date this one?
headbadge

Tiger Rat

Brampton Speedy Switch. Can this help date the bicycle

Nice fender crown and fork cover

Wire goes from light holder on front and through frame near fork. It almost has the same lugs as my Indian Scout!

Wire comes out of frame near rear dropout

 

[deorman]

Image not working.

 

[Rustinkerer]

I've seen some late 50s Royce Unions with that deep chain guard...~Adam

 

[C.S.]

Well, I e-mailed Herbert Kuner who owns http://www.rijwiel.net/ and:
Mister Kuner thinks it’s an interesting bicyle and can tell some about it.
The bike has been almost ceartenly built by ‘rijwielfabriek Hartog’ in Rhenen, yes, the Netherlands. He thinks so because of the chrome piece on the fork crown, which he saw once before, on one of their bikes. And Hartog sold almost exclusively outside the country, mainly Indonesia and the United States, and lots of them. He thinks the chainguard also says it’s made for export.
He doesn’t know the exact year, but it has to be from the fifties, according to the looks of the bike, presumably pre 1957 because Teun Hartog (Sr.) died in 1956 and his son had to sell most of the equipment due to bankrupty and continued production on a smaller scale.
He says that if you can give the exact fram number -on the left dropout, looks like 18370- he may get/give some more information.
I sure hope my translation makes some sense.

 

[AustrianOakJr]

Hey guys my name is Sean and im from Rochester, NY. Brand new to the forum. I found this thread while researching a bike that I have inherited. Its very much like the bike that started this thread. Anyone have an idea what this bike is worth? Is it worth restoring? I would be interested in getting rid of it if its of value to someone. The bike seems to be in great shape for a 50+ year old bike. Its complete and it works!

 

[AustrianOakJr]

Hmmm....no one? I would think this would make a sweet ride..... 8)

 

[C.S.]

Hmmm....no one? I would think this would make a sweet ride..... 8)

Well, go ahead, ride it. The value of a bike like this is not measurable by the length of its price tag. Sorry.

 

[AustrianOakJr]

Hmmm....no one? I would think this would make a sweet ride..... 8)

Well, go ahead, ride it. The value of a bike like this is not measurable by the length of its price tag. Sorry.

I did ride it today. Inflated the tires, oiled the chain and it rode like a new bike. I was impressed. The reason why I made the post was to find out what the approximate value was. I didnt think that was a taboo question. Is it 5 bucks? Or 500 bucks? Or ...... If its worth a couple hundred bucks, id throw it on ebay and let it go to someone who would appreciate it. If its only worth 20 or 30 bucks, ill probably hang onto it and play around.

 

[C.S.]

AustrianOakJr:
I don't know how it is in the US but I own four similar bikes, two of them found in the street and rebuilt, one I got in 1992 from a friend, one I got last year from another friend, just the bare frame. If I was without a bike I would pay up to € 50,-- but probably € 20,-- for a similar one, in riding condition, but that will never happen because I like to build my own. A second hand bike like that with new wheels, brakes, lights and such would cost about € 180,-- in a bike shop. Although it is a good design and well made, it is not a very popular type of bicycle.
I think you are stuck with it, so play around and have fun.

 

[Lonewolf]

Questions like that are generally considered pretty taboo on enthusiast sites, because it makes you look like a hit and run member, only there to find a bike's worth.

I think a bike like that is more valuable the closer you are to an urban/metropolitan area. A bike that will sell for $20 from under someone's back porch, in my neighborhood, might sell for $300 in San Fransisco.

It seems that many bikes from the 70's have gained value to the point of being irrational. A $300 '77 Schwinn Collegiate?
Some of the bikes with those cheap looking metal spoke protectors that I would simply pass up, go for $200+ USD in some places.
How can this be?
By that same measure and the name of the bike, yours would be important to someone, I guess.

It looks like a perfectly nice bike and someone would want it.

 

[C.S.]

Oi, Lonewolf, don't spoil it now, I just convinced him to keep it.

 

[Lonewolf]

 

[philwhitetx]

For what it's worth, the Brampton SpeedySwitch like your bike has was commonly used on USA makes in the mid to late 1950s, on what were then called generically "English" bikes or, at least in the vernacular of Northern Indiana, "English racers." Essentially this meant a bike with squared off rather than curvaceous frame geometry, "skinny" tires and rims as opposed to the balloon tires then in vogue, and hand brakes rather than the New Departure coaster brake (without which my dear wife of 37 years is convinced a bicycle cannot possibly be ridden...at least by her!) And, of course, "multispeed" gearing, as exemplified by the Brampton which now seems almost comically primitive! When I had "graduated" from a balloon-tired "kiddie" Schwinn to a "full size" bike (meaning, as I recall, with 26" rims) around 1954, my new ride was a black Columbia with chrome fenders. "Rust belt" road and weather conditions (and lack of maintenance characteristic of a 9-year-old) soon led to rusty chrome and dull paint. By age 13 I had disassembled the entire bike and repainted the frame twice and tossed the fenders after banishing the last atom of chromium with rubbing compound in a misguided attempt to restore the luster of the bike's youth. Given my lack of finesse in painting and pinstriping (the latter being de rigeur on US bikes of the mid-50s) what I wound up with, by default, was something of a rat rod before rat rods were cool! A few rides during mud season sans fenders led to spattered clothing which slowed me down not in the least, but my mother was not amused. And so it was that Christmas, my birthday, and some spending money from odd jobs resulted in my being the proud owner of a new Columbia in 1959, at age 14. This had a candy apple red metallic finish, fenders included, and was to last me well into college days. It had, of course, the ubiquitous Brampton SpeedySwitch, exactly the same as my '54.
Has this helped to identify your bike? Probably not, other than suggesting its gear switch was popular in the 1950s, at least in the US. But I've a feeling that bicycle technology in Europe in those days was several years ahead of the US, out of necessity since bikes often served as everyday transportation for many adults there at that time. Anyhow, best of luck in your research.