petritl

I recently purchased this 6 day track bike the only makings are the remnants of a seat tube decal and stampings on the tubes at the bottom bracket. The seat post appears to be 27mm

Any ideas on the year and builder?

petritl

francophile 

Oscar Wastyn Cycles

In fact, looks almost like that exact same bike is here: Wastyn chrome bike

francophile 

(PS - what's up with all the Wastyns this month?!)

petritl

Update:

I sent photos to Wastyn bicycle shop in Chicago; they don't believe it's a Wastyn stating the open seat stays are not a Wastyn trait.

Tad

rhm

Thanks for the additional photos! I hope to see more. I see you have a 531 decal, and below that the shadow of an elliptical decal. Could you show a better photo of the latter? Also, I'd appreciate photos of the shadows of any other decals that may have been there, especially on the top of the down tube. Often the only trace of a decal will be an area that's a little less rusted than the surrounding area. Thanks!

Search for "Goossens" on this forum; there are a couple threads, including one that was just posted last week. I'm not saying that's what it is, but there are similarities for sure.

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...bike-id-2.html

corrado33

Wow, what is up with the ridiculously slack seat tube? Is that typical of track bikes? I would have imagined it'd be the opposite, very vertical seat tube.

(Sorry OP, totally off topic.)

St33lWh33ls

These old track bikes are hard to nail down without provenance, especially when there are no headbadges or original paint or decals. Sometimes the best you can do is guess from lugs and small details. I have seen Wastyn built bikes with open stays, one is a early Paramount, the other a Wastyn according to the owners information-provenance. That said, the folks at Wastyn would know best. I had never seen a Brennan with open stays either...until I did, Edward Albert sold a bike with solid provenance to a forum member that had uncapped stays. I have never seen a window like the one in the seat cluster on your bike, that may help. Shoot Jeff Groman at Classic Cycle an email or maybe Edward Albert @ thevintagebikelife.com, they are well respected experts on these bikes.

Oh Yeah, almost forgot, Cool Bike!


1939 Schwinn Paramount track bike built by Oscar Wastyn | Classic Cycle Bainbridge Island Kitsap County


https://www.flickr.com/photos/116147...n/photostream/

St33lWh33ls

Just wanted to add that it does have a Schwinn headset, I recognize the locknut.

rhm

Yes, the slack seat tube is indeed typical. These bikes were built with a 7-shaped seat post that allowed a considerable range of adjustment both up/down and fore/aft. There's a certain elegance in this: as you raise the seat, you move it backward, so the frame fits a wider range of riders than you might expect.

The rider's position respective to the crank was not much different than today's.

John D

I am the person with the Goossens Special from earlier this month. I have observed your head lug and fork crown cutouts as well as rear dropouts are filed nearly square but mine are rounded. Seat cluster is also different.

petritl

A bike on eBay now has the same seat cluster:

My bike:





https://www.ebay.com/itm/352088353965

St33lWh33ls

I saw that as well, no new info to be gleaned from the description though. Anybody recognize that seat cluster with a connection to a builder-brand?

USAZorro

Asking purely from a position of ignorance... might this be a "path racer"?

Seems I've seen a very similar head tube treatment somewhere.

iab

Cool frame.

Did I see it for sale at the Harper swap 2-3 years ago? It was very tempting, especially with those impossibly thin seat stays. But in the end, it is too small for me.

schwinnderella

I have also seen Wastyn built bikes with the open seat stays, and believe it or not I do not believe that the Wastyn bike shop is very knowledgeable about Wastyn bikes.
Many years ago likely around 1984 I bought an Oscar Wastyn Special from a local guy who had raced it in the 1940's. I had to be in Chicago for some business and I took the bike by their shop which I believe was then on Milwaukee. They could not have been less interested. They did not even want to look a it. I think today they have embraced more of their heritage.
I agree with St33lWh33ls, these old track bikes are difficult to ID as I think their styles were constantly evolving.
Here are pictures of my black Oscar Wastyn Special and a silver repainted bike with open seat stays which is reported to be a Wastyn. Although I am not able to confirm it in any way the silver bike was supposedly owned by Cecil Yates who was a Schwinn team racer and shows up in some of the Schwinn literature. The BSA hubs are marked CY which looks to have been done a long time ago.

schwinnderella

Not my bike but I think I recall who owns it, Oscar Wastyn Special with unfinished seat stays.

zukahn1 

Very nice track frame from the 30's built for large board tracks based on geometry. Can't help much with ID other than to point out that the lug filing and chrome look they may be none original but very nicely done. It was pretty common on older track bikes to file detail the lugs and chrome the frame after market.