Vintage German brands
 

Just wanted to pick your guru brains here. I'm looking for a vintage bike and I'm wondering what German brands are out there that I can look at. My searching came up with Kalkhoff but that's about it. Was there anything decent from Germany back in the day?

Would guess Puch doesn't count as it is Austria? :-)

Close! I've found another, Volkscycle. What else is there? Any high-end german bikes?

Go and check out Velobase's list of German bikes:
http://velobase.com/BrandDirectory.aspx?Load=All
Click the ones on the list for "Germany" with the bike frame icons on them.

Chombi

Wow that's a cool website thanks a ton.

My girl rides a HANS LUTZ.

I can say it is a nice frame and she loves it.
bike has been through alot of upgrades since this picture.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f3...s/IMG_6696.jpg
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f3...o88RQ60_12.jpg

those are some fine and sought after frames...

Great pics love it.
i like the kalkhoff bikes too but here's the million dollar question, how do you find them?

I don't see too many German C&V bikes out there. I suspect that lots of them stay in Germany or they just did not export many outside of their country.....I guess the best hunting ground for German C&V bikes would be.......Germany then,........but there are a few that do pop up at eBay occasionally, but never in the numbers that Italian, Japanese, French or American bikes do.

Chombi

Here's another useful link:
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/Germany/Germany.htm

NSU fine makers of motorcycles and cars and bicycles

Thanks! Imagine how cool it would be to have the exact Kalkhoff Uschi is sitting on and then also have that original ad :)

Here in Holland German bikes never had a very good reputation. In the 60's and the 70's the Germans were mainly known for their cheap sports bikes. This kind of stuff:


I own one German bike, a Kettler Alurad. As bought:

http://www.mijnalbum.nl/GroteFoto-X3DE7FP6.jpg

Hugo Rickert was the king of German bike makers. He supplied top racers for years.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9...D720/ry%3D480/

I was thinking the same thing, after I saw this pic. :thumb:
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/Ger..._Obermaier.htm

American Arrow made in west Germany, but quality wise I`m not too sure.

Since Ignatz Schwinn emigrated from Germany to the US, do Schwinns count? :)

Seriously, in the US we tend to see German cars and Austrian bicycles. In fact, that's what I see at home, with VW/Audi and Capo.

Talking about Hugo Rickert, you have to name his wife Doris too, she was doing all the lug lining and applying the decals. But there were so many German framebuilder, i can't think of, where to start. Lüders, Lauer, Schmidt, Köthke!!! Bauer!!! Polrad, Dürkopp, Rabeneick, Express, Adler and Stollenwerk (just to name a few). Here is a link to some of the best collections of German racing bicycles:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rembeti...oto_5256785375

I had a Matthias Stollenwerk Bicycle once , It was a ten speed racing bike, and quite light and very well made . It was on a par with my old Raleigh Grand Prix from the early 70's, and made about the same time. The only Kettlers I have seen in my part of the US are exercise bikes except for a cargobike I once saw in a pawnshop . When I was a kid,I think my mother had a bike called a Wanderer . I think it may have been a three speed.

^a++++

Speaking of German bikes............
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1940s-Rabene...item2c69692859
http://i.ebayimg.com/t/1940s-Rabenei...2kw~~60_57.JPG

i bought a german 'commuter' in heidelberg in the early 70s. dunno the brand, but it had 3 gears, the front brake was a scrubber- a rod went through the top of the fender to a block
that rubbed on the tire tread, not the rim, and the rear was a coaster. bought new.
nice bike until i came down a mountain carrying a buddy :eek: and burned up the rear brake- smoke pouring out of the
hub and after that the brake would stick when applied and not want to unstick.:D

Volkscycle was not a Grerman. It was a USA brand with manufacturing contracted American and Japanese companies. I've never seen one made in Germany.

One other German brand which has not been previously mentioned in Mondu.

The only German bicycle I've owned is a 1980's Hercules city bicycle. It was owned by the retired German chimney sweep who lived around the corner from my father. His family gave it to me, after he passed away. It was too finicky for them to maintain.

Thanks for the correction. You guys are not helping my lust for a vintage German bike lol. Google brought me this old thread, what a beauty:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ickert-Spezial

They are hard to come by, even in Germany. Some images: http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=281797http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=281798http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=281799http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=281800

Scharrer-Reiff-Heidelmann-Enik