I was talking to an older family friend, Tom, who lives in the neighborhood where I (and my mother) grew up and the conversation turned to the bicycle that I put together for my Mom for Christmas last year. Mom rode the bike all over the neighborhood and he was riding his old Murray built cruiser and they started talking about her bike and she told him how I gave it to her for Christmas. Apparently, he was impressed, and when I ran into him a few months later, he mentioned the story. So, naturally, the conversation turned to old bicycles and he mentioned that he had an old Schwinn boys bike that he needed some parts for. It turns out the bike belonged to another long time family friend, Dale, in the neighborhood and had been ridden all over the place by him and his kids. Well, Tom found out about this bike years ago and had kept bugging Dale about it, in a friendly way of course. Well, the day came when Dale became old and ill and he knew he was going to pass, so he made his kids promise to give the bike to Tom when he passed. Dale's kids made good on the request and gave it to Tom and he's had it ever since. I can't remember exactly when Dale passed, but it was a good 5-10 years ago, and the bike has been in limbo in Tom's yard, under a tarp, ever since. Because we live in Arizona, the bike has survived remarkably well, despite all those years of being ridden everywhere. So, when I was finally able to stop by Tom's house and check out the bike, I took some photos and the serial number with the promise that I would help him source the parts for the bike. I am kind of a sucker for this kind of thing. Bikes that are original to the area from new are pretty rare. Mesa, AZ was a sleepy little suburb of sleepy little Phoenix when this bike was new, so finding an old bike in original shape, in the original neighborhood where it was purchased new, is next to impossible. Plus, this is the neighborhood where I grew up, throwing papers every morning as a paperboy. So, I want to help Tom replace the parts he needs to help keep this piece of neighborhood history alive. I want to give Tom the few parts he is looking for as a gift, so if you can help me find them, I would be very grateful. So, without any more delay, here are the photos.
Look at the handlebars, they are WIDE! Tom said he doesn't like them. I told him they were cool and a lot of people like them, so I think he likes them now.
It appears as if this bicycle was built in the middle of November, 1954. Cool!
This is one of the parts that I am looking for. At some point this piece of the fork broke and someone used an ox-acetelyne torch to repair it. It appears solid, but Tom would like to replace it .
I am also trying to identify this seat to see if it was original to the bike. I am looking for at least a replacement top pan for this seat if not the whole thing.
The pedals don't look original as well, but they look period correct, so I won't replace them unless some fall in my lap. I am also looking for some scans of original ads for this bike, so if you know where I could source some, please post a link. I plan on putting together a little booklet of information to go along with the parts when I leave it on his doorstep as a surprise. Let me know what you ratrodders think. Thanks
Look at the handlebars, they are WIDE! Tom said he doesn't like them. I told him they were cool and a lot of people like them, so I think he likes them now.
It appears as if this bicycle was built in the middle of November, 1954. Cool!
This is one of the parts that I am looking for. At some point this piece of the fork broke and someone used an ox-acetelyne torch to repair it. It appears solid, but Tom would like to replace it .
I am also trying to identify this seat to see if it was original to the bike. I am looking for at least a replacement top pan for this seat if not the whole thing.
The pedals don't look original as well, but they look period correct, so I won't replace them unless some fall in my lap. I am also looking for some scans of original ads for this bike, so if you know where I could source some, please post a link. I plan on putting together a little booklet of information to go along with the parts when I leave it on his doorstep as a surprise. Let me know what you ratrodders think. Thanks
