Trying to get an old tandem project cranked up

[Ogre01]

Hello all. I've been a member of automotive forums for ages, but never a bicycle forum despite having owned and ridden them my whole life. That brings us to this bike. We bought a house and in the basement was this old bike that my wife wants to make functional again, with a down-the-road restoration. It's in pretty poor shape, no identifying numbers/names/etc anywhere that we can read. It looks like its been painted a number of times over the years, with what appears like house paint, including a whiteish paint on the rims (looks terrible). With my rudimentary ability to identify it, I'm putting it around the 1900s, maybe a Crescent tandem. However, there are a number of small features that don't match-up with other pictures online.

I hope there are some on this forum that can help with identifying what it actually is, and technical information about it (like crankset info). Eventually, if I can get it functioning mechanically, I'll try to restore it aesthetically. It is a long monster though and with 12 bikes in the garage already storing it will be ... fun?

I'll start another post for some specific questions about the bike, but hopefully I've stumbled on the right spot to get it rolling again.

 

[Wildcat]

Welcome aboard!

I looked at tons of tandem pics and didn't see yours. However, for very old bike ID, I would recommend the CABE website.

https://thecabe.com/

 

[RustySprockets]

We've seen plenty worse brought back. I was going to chime in about the CABE, as well. They're the best source for most TOC material. Meanwhile, your tandem is pretty complete already--just needs a long skip-tooth chain to tie the cranks together.

I'd stake my reputation that the wheels (both front and back) have been replaced with something more modern and undersized. They don't even look like they match.

The CABE maintains a directory of chainring shapes that can often be used to narrow down a bike's identity. Yours is a mish-mash of Shelby front, Schwinn rear, and the small hearts on the drive side are anyone's guess. But again, making it merely ride-able would not be a huge undertaking.