cudak888 

Found this at an antique store today. Typical crack pipe price too ($1,200 - and it's not even well-preserved), but it's an interesting machine. The tires and one-piece crankset (NOT an Ashtabula) made me believe it was a US product initially (that '80s replacement saddle doesn't help) - but sure enough, it's a Wiklund, made in Sweeden. This site probably has the best info on them; it's a shame the aforementioned catalog isn't posted.

Apparently, the marquee (founded in 1889) was dead by 1941 when WWII started, and these two websites are the only sites I've seen with any comprehensive info. Given the conventional inch-pitch chain, I'd take a guess at mid to late '30s on this one. I'm really quite surprised that wrap-around chainguard has survived this long without getting dented up.

Side note: The opportunists at the antique shop insist it is from the late 1800's, probably because someone Googled that the marquee was founded in 1889. Ignorance is profitable. Also hanging up was a '60s Schwinn middleweight and a 1973+ Raleigh Sports so rusty that it might as well have been a barnacle bike at one time.






-Kurt

jamesdak 

That is pretty cool though. So am I seeing some kind of built in stand for the front wheel with a locking mechanism from the fork to the downtube?

cudak888 

Something like that. There's a centering latch built onto the crown race, and the stand retracts by swinging up and to the rear.

It has a clip at the back of the fender to hold the stand (obscured by Jeff Gordon), but it's obvious neither fender nor clip have been treated properly over the years. It literally looks hammered, and you can probably make out that the clip is spaced forward with no less than 1" worth of hardware store washers stacked on a bolt.

-Kurt