aceves 

Hi BF Forum Members! I recently acquired a bike with no branding or decals. Single speed conversion done by a previous owner. It's old and weathered, but interesting and it is my size. I knew this would be a project bike when I got it, so I was not going for a true valuable find. It came with a vintage Brooks saddle and some Cinelli parts. I am just a little puzzled by these lugs. Looks to be a lower-end frame, and I am OK with that. Please check out the pics below and see if we can narrow down the maker... Paging juvela on this one. Thank you!!

aceves

alcjphil

Pictures?

aceves 

Pictures added. Check out the fork crown, that might help as well. And there is a serial number at the bottom of the head tube lug. Looks like the frame was painted with a brush.

aceves

juvela

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bulgie Doug Fattic MauriceMoss

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back in the interwar period NERVEX had some lug patterns with feature cuts similar to these but am not finding an exact match in my materials...

seat stay treatment resembles one employed by Steyr of Austria for several decades
if the steerer has a 26.0mm diameter that would clinch a Steyr origin

puzzled by fork crown; is it an actual crown or are we looking at a cap?

additional images would be likely to assist readers
could we see shell and bridges for example

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alcjphil

OK thanks. I am no expert, I was asking on behalf of those who actually know this stuff, but in my inexpert opinion you are looking at generic lugs that could have been used on all kinds of low end bikes
Pictures of the whole bike might be useful, but only taken from the drive side

noobinsf 

Pic of the full bike? Also what is the serial num?

The frame looks kinda low end while the fork crown looks higher quality, so maybe a replacement?

alcjphil

Serial number? Picture doesn't actually show much of it, just one or two numbers

aceves 

Thank you all! I will try to post more pics soon. Serial number looks like A5900331, although difficult to see fully. More pics coming soon, along with a surprise component that came with the bike.

aceves

juvela

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if you were to check steerer and bottom bracket threading as well as frame tube diameters that would at least narrow the possible national origin


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noobinsf 

Maybe a January 1975 Bridgestone?

juvela

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the forum had a recent identification inquiry on a cycle whose frame has some similarities to this one - certainly not an exact match...

​​​​​​https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...ystery-me.html

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Bianchigirll 

noobinsf I was think along the same lines, a nicer recreational bike with replacement fork.

aceves can you tell was this a three speed at one time?

aceves 

Thanks everyone! juvela, I will take measurements and post them soon. Bianchigirll, I do not know if this was a three speed originally, but I am starting to think it might have been. That little bit of info, along with Austria detail from juvela above, led me to more research and I feel I might have narrowed it down significantly: a 1960s JC Higgins three speed sold by Sears Roebuck & Co. They were made in Austria back in the day. The lug comparisons look almost on point. And I agree with y'all that the fork is most likely not original. Thoughts? Am I close?

aceves

juvela

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wrt the possibility of a Sears bicycle manufactured by Steyr -

if this is the case you should be able to locate a Sears item identification number stamped into the frame (not a serial)

it will begin with a three-digit prefix commencing with the numeral five

the designation for Steyr produced cycles is 503


if this turns out to be the case you would be able to work out a date using the Sears back catalogues archived online

begin with a date estimate and look at the bicycle section for that year

if you do not see a match expand outward in both directions of time until you locate the correct year for the bicycle

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fork -

Steyr used an ugly massive flat faced crown for these with a rounded top:



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unworthy1

another thing to check is whether this one (with a replacement fork) uses any of the "Austrian Spec headset" which had a different crown race as well as cups diameters See below screengrabs from Sutherlands: