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mystery bike

Old 05-23-22, 06:58 PM
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Poojer
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mystery bike

we have this bike that we've had for a few years. its green and white. it has a name plate on it that says Grants. we can not find any info on it. we would like to know what it is and maybe how much its worth. it may not be worth anything. but it would be interesting to know its history.
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Old 05-23-22, 07:20 PM
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Hello Poojer and welcome to our humble forum.

Faintly recall a dime store chain by this name from my childhood.

It may be that it has been gone for over five decades.

If it is a bicycle from them it would have been contract produced by an actual manufacturer of bicycles.

In order to gain any meaningful response it will be necessary to erect some images of the machine.

You can upload pictures to the "member album" on your "member page."

Readers will be able to visit it and place the images into the discussion thread.


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Old 05-23-22, 07:27 PM
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We had just been talking about such a store that I found out online and we wondered if it was like a promotion bicycle or something like that. We will get it out tomorrow and take pictures and upload for all to see. Excited to hear more. Thanks for your reply.
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Old 05-23-22, 07:41 PM
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Keep posting Poojer to get your message total up to ten so you will be able to post images and URL's directly into your forum messages.

This is an anti-spam measure & not intended to be unfriendly to new members.


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Old 05-23-22, 09:18 PM
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Originally Posted by Poojer
we have this bike that we've had for a few years. its green and white. it has a name plate on it that says Grants. we can not find any info on it. we would like to know what it is and maybe how much its worth. it may not be worth anything. but it would be interesting to know its history.
Grants was a department store where I grew up in suburban New Jersey. My first bike, a Vista Flyer, likely came from there.
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Old 05-24-22, 04:39 AM
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Originally Posted by nlerner
Grants was a department store where I grew up in suburban New Jersey. My first bike, a Vista Flyer, likely came from there.
IIRC we had Grants here in the Midwest BITD too.
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Old 05-24-22, 04:43 AM
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W. T. Grant - Wikipedia
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Old 05-24-22, 06:16 AM
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Many of the automotive, departmenet and hardware store chains had a house brand line of bicycles that were contract manufactured.
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Old 05-24-22, 05:55 PM
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i appreciate the info. i understand the reason for that. i dont really know how to keep this going to ten. lol. but i will try.
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Old 05-24-22, 06:30 PM
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It was suggested that you post photos under your profile.
IF you are on a desk top, simply click on your name.
It will take you to your profile.
When there, look on the right side of the page. You will see "photo albums".
Add photos and return here and add a post asking for someone to move the photos to this thread.


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Old 05-24-22, 06:30 PM
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so i took a picture of the grants logo and used google lens and found another bike with the same logo. its a 70 to a 72 dragster gt. said it was branded and sold through w.t. grants department store. the one we have is a 3 speed cruiser or touring type bike. how would i be able to find out what its worth? we will get it out and take pictures of it outside. my husband is so excited that after 4 years we may finally get some answers. he hasnt touched it. its in rough shape but it looks old.

Last edited by Poojer; 05-24-22 at 06:36 PM.
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Old 05-24-22, 06:53 PM
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i uploaded 2 photos. i will post more hopefully tomorrow.
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Old 05-25-22, 05:20 AM
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The photos don't help much. At minimum ,we need a good photo of the whole bicycle, taken from the drive side. 3 speeds in "rough shape" typically don't have very much value and the house branding doesn't help. Photo assist...


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Old 05-27-22, 11:13 AM
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i posted more pictures. maybe some of you will shed more light on this bike.
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Old 05-27-22, 11:33 AM
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The best way to increase this thing's value is to spend 45 minutes doing a good job washing it with soapy water and then retaking the photos in the sunlight against a plain backdrop.

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Old 05-27-22, 12:31 PM
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ok thank you. will do asap.
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Old 05-27-22, 01:02 PM
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further luridity -

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pretty clearly British - a product of Raleigh Industries

should be able to read a date on the shell of the machine's Sturmey Archer AW rear hub


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Last edited by juvela; 05-27-22 at 01:13 PM. Reason: correction
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Old 05-29-22, 04:35 PM
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my husband bought this bike because he thought it looked like something special. ok we will look further for the date. i know it has a made in india label on it.
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Old 05-29-22, 04:39 PM
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we found a number on the hub and its 72.
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Old 05-29-22, 05:31 PM
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likely contract manufactured by an entity termed Sen-Raleigh

https://www.getbengal.com/details/19...les-to-indians

​​​​​​https://discovery.nationalarchives.g...e-03aa8ff5105c



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Old 05-29-22, 05:53 PM
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interesting. do you know of anyone that may be interested in this bike to refurbish? it apparently has some interesing history to it. its been very exciting for us to learn the information you all have provided. we plan to clean it up and post more pics. my husband also has a vintage schwinn that we plan to clean up and post pics and see what kind of information we can get on this forum.
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Old 05-29-22, 07:04 PM
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if you would like information related to sale you could begin a thread on the cycle in the appraisals forum -

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...th-appraisals/

or you could request the moderators to move this thread to that forum...


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Old 05-30-22, 04:54 AM
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FWIW I think the paint and decals are all in good shape and will clean up very well. The rust on the chrome looks superficial and that will probably clean up quite well with any of a variety of chrome polishes and/or other chrome cleaning techniques too numerous to discuss here. Fresh cables, tires, tubes, rim strips and wax would not be terribly expensive. Bearings and grease are inexpensive and not too complicated (not talking about the guts of the three speed hub, they ARE complicated IMHO and I've never opened one of those myself). Understand you may not want to do all this, just saying that this would likely be a successful restoration/refurbishment project for someone who is interested in the history or brand.
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Old 05-30-22, 06:53 AM
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Originally Posted by Poojer
my husband bought this bike because he thought it looked like something special. ok we will look further for the date. i know it has a made in india label on it.
Sure the label doesn't say Made In Austria? Sears was importing bikes from Austria around that time, and your Grant bike looks quite a bit like those Sears bikes. I worked in bike stores back then, and I don't recall ever seeing a bike from India coming through the store.
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Old 05-30-22, 07:17 AM
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It's a modest bike probably worth $25 bike in most areas, and maybe $50 cleaned up. New tires, tubes and rim liners can run $50 from online discounters when you install them yourself. The strength of the wheels on some of the private label bikes could sometimes be a little weak, but not always. If the tires hold air, and the tires aren't all dried out and cracked, it could be just a neat bike to ride around the neighborhood, especially if there are no hills. The value of that is priceless.. Lubricate the moving parts before riding it.
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