wschellen

francophile dam good eye my friend. I rode the bike and thought it didn't feel as stable as the wheelbase and fork rake would indicate. I removed the fork last night and to my eye it looks like it is bent slightly back form the fork crown. Perhaps a front end impact of some sort. The fork blades are even, but it seems bent back right at the crown. The fork seems solid and I think it is worth trying to straighten, the lord knows I am not going to find a replacement. This photo is taken from the non drive side.

cudak888 

It depends how the builder of the frame preferred to set the blades in the crown though. The blade may be aligned with the centerline or rear edge of the fork - resulting in the blade's taper appearing to angle backwards before the curvature forward. Peugeots and Motobecanes were often built like this, and it's not out of the question for some English builders.

Before trying to tweak the blades, start by putting a pair of dropout alignment adjusters in the front dropouts. It's not a guarantee to determine whether the fork is bent or not, but it'll help indicate whether there is some sort of alignment problem up front.

-Kurt

martl

All collectors know such first- or secondhand background stories have to be taken with a pinch of salt because memories are blurred, dates get mixed up etc. fella in his 70ies equals to born ~1945? while not impossible and certainly common today, in 1920 it would have been very unusual to have a child 25 years after being courted so i would allow a margin of error here.

I've handled a couple of bikes from that era and i know how hard they are to date. In between ~1915 and 1940, the transition from the "older" style with stamped sheetmetal dropouts, fire-welded tubing, longer wheelbase and bolted on chainstays to lugged to mor filigrane lug style, forged dropuouts, more modern geometry took place, for some vendors earlier, others later. My 1938 "Edelweiß" Halbrenner is much more traditional in style than one of my Automotos which is in fact possibly 10-15 years older.

wschellen

cudak888 Good point. I have an old Peugeot that appeared at first to have a bent fork, but after looking at several similar bikes I realized that is just how the fork looks. I will check the front dropouts with an alignment tool.

wschellen

martl Exactly right. I myself got the story of the bicycle second hand and after questioning the person who spoke to the previous owner the story seemed a bit blurry. "Maybe they said it was when they were in the their 20s not in the twenty s". And perhaps the man was only in his 60s not 70s and so on. Anyway I have been able to gather a little more info. A guy on the other forum, CABE, recommended I look on the back of the chain ring for a date code. Using data from Classic Rendezvous page the chain ring is dated 1939. The cranks appear original so that may be close to the date of the bicycle, and would be more consistent with what other forum members think. Here is the photo and the link to the Williams brand cranks. Look closely under the Trade Mark and you can see the letters AB.
Williams serial #s

wschellen

A few "Glamor Shots" after an overhaul and some new tires.

bwilli88 

What handlebars are they?

seedsbelize 

Beautiful!

cudak888 

This, OldsCOOL's Glennwood, and the Jack Taylor tandem have to be some of the most interesting and exciting machines to grace this forum as of recent. Fantastic stuff.

Any possibility of period fenders to grace those quick-release stay eyelets?

-Kurt

wschellen

bwilli88 sorry I do not know what bars they are. They are steel and it looks like they were chrome at one point. They are a really cool bend, more comfortable than they look. The stem says Reynolds on it.
cudak888 Actually it did come with some pretty cool fenders, though I think they are newer than the bike. They say Durex RBN on them and they have a very cool decorative trademark.

wschellen

Thanks to all the forum members who helped me identify and understand this old bicycle. I gave it an overhaul and some new tires and you can see it now on the Classic Rendezvous web site. C. Bertrand main page I am hoping that I can ride it in the California Eroica if this dam virus allows. Thanks

alexnagui

That's an awesome bike! Well done!

Johno59

A bike of this era would have Resilion brakes like these


​​​​​​They fit any size wheel.