Bike tinker man

Well guys this is neither Classic or vintage, I guess its around 1990 not much to shout about.

Here in Malaysia in a town few hours away there is a bike shop been there for ages he is older than me, he has a good collection of various older bikes frames I always enjoy pottering out the back in his store area, he has a few very good ones there. A couple of days ago he pulled out of some store room two new never built out frames labeled as Singer, his English is terrible he could not remember when or where they came from. I said I would try & find out for him, hence the posting & photos.

I've done a check around the web & cannot pick anything out ? if it was a 2nd hand sell I could understand one having a fake label, but both these frames are new & the same except serial numbers P2092021 & P2091791 the chances of them being letter R are slight.

BB is 68.mm seat post seems to be 25.4 mm drop out spacing is 123.mm.

Anyone any clues I will pass on appreciate

Lascauxcaveman 

Funny. When I was first thinking of how to refurb my old Lambert, I was shopping on the big auction site for a vintage Singer (sewing machine) insignia that I could slap on the head tube so I could tell everyone I had a "Singer" bicycle.

Joke's on me, I guess

noobinsf 

It looks like Singer has a presence in Sri Lanka with both sewing machines and bicycles, so this is likely part of that enterprise.

https://www.singersl.com/products/index.asp?PC=bicycles

They don't appear to have any road bikes in their current line up, but that doesn't mean they didn't in the past.

25.4mm seat post means the steel is nothing special, but I suspect it would still ride nicely and be a fun project, if you decide to build it up.

nashvillebill

I vaguely recall seeing older Singer bicycles, but my memory is hazy. I did research the demise of Singer and its subsequent re-emergence a few years back so here's the short version: As Singer gained popularity in the mid-20th century, the company did form partnerships around the world which used the Singer name. These partners also embarked on various other ventures: in Japan, I believe Matsamoku (who primarily made guitars) also delved into the sewing machine, IIRC. Then in the US, Singer's sewing machine sales began to tank in the 1960's. People just got away from the home-made clothing concept--why make a shirt that could be bought for a few dollars? And Singer was in a way victim of its own success: their basic black machines such as the Model 66 were very well made and lasted forever--I have one from around 1950 and it just needed some cleaning and oiling to start sewing like a champ. So by the early 60's there were a gazillion Singers already in everybody's household. Singer developed newer models (the Rocketeer 500's for example) and then the touch-and-sew 600's, but the company was sinking fast. They desperately tried to diversify, and for a while they made/branded other home items like vacuum cleaners, even stereos! Along the way they even sold bikes here in US, I think. But they couldn't "stitch" the company back into profitability. They folded, sold the name, and eventually a company reemerged which sells Singer sewing machines here in the US. No relation to the original Singer other than the name.

I don't doubt at all that foreign partnerships such as the aforementioned Sri Lanka folks could be making bikes.

dweenk

Maybe someone from the thread about obsession with sewing machines could chime in here.

T-Mar

The serial number is a standard Taiwanese format where P designates the manufacturer, Pacific. Both frames are from September 1982 or 1992. The former is a bit early for a fade paint scheme, so the later seems more plausible, though 12 speeds in 1992 would make it very low end. Conversely, a riveted, metal, head badge is more likely from 1982, as opposed to 1992, especially at the low end.

I haven't seen the brand before. It may be legitimate but they could also have been limited production, promotional bicycles, along the lines of the Coca-Cola and Marlboro bicycles that sometimes surface. that might explain the use of the riveted, metal, head badge at a relatively later date.

Bike tinker man

I do thank the comments especially T-Mar, thank you so much for the detailed information, as you one can only assume they were limited production or promotional & maybe didn't sell well ?

There were a couple of other interesting ones in the shop which I will post shortly purely for peoples interest, I'm not specifically asking questions: Title under "Interesting bikes"

Thanks again.

rootboy 

That's a neat head badge. Does it do zig-zag?

T-Mar

Certainly! Standard equipment included a mini-Singer to re-stitch a punctured tubular.