Pumped up ! Rollfast bike from childhood !

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1969nam

1969nam

Joined
Sep 10, 2015
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Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
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I finally found my childhood Shamrock green Rollfast on ebay. Serial # on left rear drop out (SE) C139917. The bike is being delivered today from Fedex. My very first bike was a Shamrock green color Rollfast. I have some literature for Rollfast. Mine has the shorter front fender with only 1 fender brace(stay). I have a Rollfast ad from 1959 showing this twin bar cantilever frame in Shamrock green with this front fender and 1 fender stay. A middleweight with tires 26" x 1.75. I told the fellow to keep the basket. I would guess early 60's. Any help is greatly appreciated. I was 10 years old in 1960, so I put the bike time frame from 1959 to 1962.
1958GreenRollfast.jpg
 
Last edited:
I believe my Hawthorn was built by Harris in 1956 - serial # on bottom of BB starts with 56.
mwhawthornpaintchainguard_zps312d6bee.jpg

Frame is different but chainguard looks similar to yours.
2-27-2015%20Hawthorne%20iso_zpsdw91csfh.jpg

I've got the right front fender tho.
 
I don't think there's a serial number chart made up for Rollfast (yet). I've looked all over and haven't found any solid info on the serial numbers. The chain ring gives the best clue, 1969nam's bike has the 60s version and looks like an early 60's bike while horsefarmer's bike has the 50's chain wheel, it may well be a 56 bike. The paint on both bikes looks great.
 
Wildcat said:
I don't think there's a serial number chart made up for Rollfast (yet). I've looked all over and haven't found any solid info on the serial numbers. The chain ring gives the best clue, 1969nam's bike has the 60s version and looks like an early 60's bike while horsefarmer's bike has the 50's chain wheel, it may well be a 56 bike. The paint on both bikes looks great.
Click to expand...
I don't know where I read it - but my bike has 65 as the first two digits of the serial number on the bottom bracket. I believe if you invert these two digits it give you the year so 65 = 1956.
 
This is like Deja Vu all over again (credit Yogi Berra). I too was 10 years old in 1960 and my Rollfast also was a Twin Bar Cantilever with 1.75 tires but mine was red. Brings back a lot of memories. I lost biking priveledges with that bike for a year the first time when a neighbor told my mother she saw me riding down the street no hands with traffic going both ways (snitch!). The second time they took the bike away forever - a bunch of us were racing around the block and I came flying around a corner and almost ran head on into a car - one my father was driving. The good news is I had to buy my own bikes after that and my first was a 1950s Roadmaster with a Shockmaster Springer. I think I won?
 

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