Torpedo

[bugman]

What year is this bike . Can't find any real info on it. Please help?

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[idiotboy]

Can't help you with the year, but that winged wheel fender ornament is the coolest thing I've ever seen!


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[Bicycle808]

First off, i wanna say that those fender ornaments are tremendously rad, and i think it's awesome that yours is intact.

From German Wikipedia (excuse the bad translations):

The torpedo-Werke AG (Weil-Werke) was a manufacturer of bicycles and office machines in Frankfurt am Main .

History [ edit ]
The company was founded in 1896 by brothers Peter and Henry Because as "Peter Weil & Co". The manufacturing started with nine employees in a 500-square-meter hall in Roedelheim . The wheels that were assembled there from parts, were driven under the brand name "Weil-wheels" and "Torpedo-wheels".

1906 began the manufacture of typewriters , first with one of the company Johann Cultures & Co. of Neu-Isenburg assumed model, but which has been constantly developed. The typewriters were named Torpedo sold. On November 30, 1921, Weil works were in a corporation converted. Appeared in 1927 with the model Torpedo standard first German typewriter with bank switching . The model could be supplied with carriage of different length. Since 1931 there was the majority shareholder of the torpedo-Werke AG in possession of Remington Rand Inc., New York.

Except typewriters built torpedo also booking engines , from 1932 with a mechanical calculator and Einziehautomaten for debit cards.

From 1938 the bikes emerged in a new plant on the Hanauer Landstrasse , the office machinery manufacturing remained in Roedelheim. During the Second World Warin 1943 the bicycle factory and in 1944 the main plant in Roedelheim was in the air raids on Frankfurt destroyed. After the war, the reconstruction of the production began in Frankfurt, Alzenau and wholesale Karben . The product range included motorcycles and mopeds to 175 cc, typewriters and bicycles. Engines for motorcycles came from Fichtel & Sachs and Ilo .

After the number of employees had risen to 2,200 in 1956, came on bicycles and mopeds gradually a market saturation and for office machines they were no longer competitive. In 1967 the production was stopped.

The Torpedo freewheel hub was not manufactured by the torpedo works, but of Fichtel & Sachs.

Doesn't tell us much...the move from Roedelheim to Hanauer Landstrasse is a false lead b/c both locations are technically Frankfurt. I'd like to see what's printed (if anything) under the Thompson-style BB shell, and I'd also like to see the rear hub if you got it and it seems original. Both would be helpful in determining the vintage, but then again, they may not be.

HTH
-Rob

 

[LukeTheJoker]

No idea on year but some very cool stuff there!

Luke.

 

[bugman]

Thanks for help.


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[Bicycle808]

Look under that BB shell..... that could give us some answers....

 

[Nagant]

I agree with the others about that fender ornament, it's spectacular. IMHO the whole bike has a lot of potential to make a nice ride. What are your plans for it?

 

[B607]

The "winged wheel" is pretty common on anything to do with vehicles in Germany, at least in the past. Here is a silver medal and pin given to a railroad retiree with 25 yrs. service. It was issued sometime between 1870 and 1918. The railroad (Reichsbahn) used it a lot. Gary

 

[bigharley]

Judging by whst ive been told about the lever action brakes I would have to say 19 20s but the paint looks to good to be that old.

 

[FlordiaRust]

Nice Torpedo frame, I owned 2 of these bikes years ago and can roughly give a date range is about it. Your Torpedo if on the on the BB cup is a Thompson style and wheel size are 27x1 3/8 or 1/2 its Pre -1936 to Post 1949 than they changed hands and wheels were changed due interchange of parts through Raleigh and all these grey zone, My guess is roughed down to Pre-1939 to Post 1949. Your missing the spoon rod brake for the front. Your also missing the rear drop stand and If it had a coaster brake system would say Torpedo or Morrow, Sachs or in that range be Pre war until they converted them to though goofy 3 speed with coaster brake (1949-1954) 3 speed internal (1946-1949) But these bike are really great but so much we can still learn on the history.

 

[The Black Monark]

I'd bet the bike came with a Fichtel & Sachs Torpedo hub. If you have the wheel the hub should have a date on it. Here's a website with some:

http://www.torpedo-coasterbrake.com/

If you send him an email maybe he'd be able to help with the date of your bike.

Here's another site that might be of help:

http://www.oldbike.eu/