albrt 

This week's mystery bike at the co-op is a DWK (or OWK?) Moselgold.



This example has a 1975 Texas bike license on the seat tube, a Sachs Torpedo Dreigang (three speed) rear hub, and other weird features including a backwards stem (which I assume is a user modification?). The wheels are 26 inch (559 mm).






I can't find anything about a Moselgold bike brand with a quick internet search - it sounds more like a brand of butter or beer to me. Comments, war stories, etc. are welcome, including any thoughts on whether this bike deserves better than being cleaned up and sold to a college student for around a hundred bucks?

juvela

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thank you for sharing this find

wonderful condition for age; no abuse or damage

an honest product nicely done; fully lugged frame with taper tubes brazed to separate frame ends, alloy mudguards and chainguard

nice paint, transfers & headplate

this chainset with the arrows pattern spider widely found on german products
arrow motif also employed on chainsets from italy

appears it may date from mid-sixties; you might discover a date marking on Herr Torpedo

in 1958 they began a system with a letter of the alphabet to indicate year of manufacture:



the Alti Synchron brakes went through several caliper transfers over the years

IIRC this red one is the earliest

pedals appear they may be WECO

front hub looks like it might be either WECO or Union

rack, seatstay bridge and chainsstay bridge appear to be ESGE items

fork blade braze-on invites conjecture; could be for either dynamo or headlamp; if for headlamp suggests cycle produced for UK or Commonwealth market where traffic flows on the left

same bracket also employed for mounting of some chainstay derailleurs

one nice thing to do with it would be to fix it up for a family member or friend so you would be able to keep in touch with it.

if convenient, would like to see better view of top tube and seat tube transfers


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dedhed

The white with red cross shield may be a clue. Swiss would be red with white cross

juvela

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sometimes when a mfr has a "main" marque the crests for the secondary marques will exhibit similar features to the "main"

checked a german language forum for old bicycles and the DWK, OWK and Moselgold names have never come up

wondering if name may belong to a chainstore or importer...

perchance it may have been purchased in europe by a traveler or member of the military who brought it home to AZ...


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non-fixie 

It is.




It's the flag of the city of Koblenz, Germany, where the Mosel river joins the Rhine.

juvela

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alt fahrraden und heraldric discussions too!


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non-fixie 

To get everyone started: it is based on the Trierer Kreuz.

Anyway, "OWK" could well be the <something starting with O> Werke Koblenz, but so far I haven't found anything useful. I haven't been able to match the picture of the buildings on the headbadge with anything either. Someplace somewhere along the Mosel, is my best guess.

albrt 

Thanks for all the interest. I put the bike in offsite storage since it needs a lot of work, but I'll try to get some additional detail pictures this weekend. Let me know if there is anything else in particular you want to see.

albrt 

Two thing that occur to me on reviewing the comments again:

1. I think there is a mark that looks like a U on the front hub.

2. There was (is?) a German punk band called Torpedo Dreigang, which is cool. I don't think England has a punk band named Sturmey Archer, so the Germans score a point on that one.

juvela

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marking on front hub may be this one -


one of several hallmarks for the Union Frondenberg company

makers of hubs, pedals, spokes & lighting for cycles

there is likely to be also a marking on the velo's pedal endcaps

expect either Union or WECO

the endcaps usually get scuffed up with normal use, often rendering the marking illegible

you may also find a name moulded into the pedal rubbers

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the only fitting on the machine which appears non-original is the Magura handgrips


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Reynolds 

This kind of thread makes C&V a great forum!

non-fixie 

Two other Moselgolds I've found so far.

A scrap bike in Cologne:



And a ten speed for sale in Warsaw:



'Moselgold' on the downtube:



Blow-up of the headbadge, which looks like a 'K' in a circle. Kalkhoff is an obvious candidate, but so far I haven't found an exact match.

albrt 

Nice sleuthing! The Cologne bike in particular has a lot of similarities.

seypat

https://www.instagram.com/moselgold/

https://brewver.com/breweries/39865/...ilian-Hilsamer

non-fixie 

New headbadges are available on German ebay: Steuerkopfschild.

They are kinda cool in a cheapo way:

non-fixie 

Won't take you long to find the wine as well ...

BTW, the name 'Moselgold' may well refer to a Roman treasure that was dredged from the river in 1958 near the Luxembourg border.

VtwinVince

It's a very picturesque area, with the Fortress Ehrenbreitstein up on the hill, and the Deutsches Eck at the confluence of the two rivers. This was also the site of an infamous destruction of the equestrian statue of Wilhelm I by occupying French troops after the Great War.

juvela

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non-fixie prospectin' achieves nuggets!

that Koln example is a very close match to our subject machine

now we know fork blade bracket intended for a two-bolt dynamo mount

its looking like chainguard, mudguards and rack may all be Hebie products

this tedescan firm a maker of alloy mudguards, chainguards & propstands

note stamping on subject cycle chainguard




subject bicycle's steel rear rack may be a Hebie product also -





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non-fixie 

And we got kaiser Bill II, who started a new career chopping wood in the Dutch forests:

juvela

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RB1-luvr

Though there does appear to be a band called The Sturmey Archers. Soundcloud will not allow me to include the web address in my reply for some reason.

non-fixie 

Kaiser Bill II's batman was Sigurd von Ilsemann, next to the emperor in the picture. His notes on Wilhelm's stay in Holland were published and are considered a pretty interesting read. Not sure if they were ever translated into English, though.

juvela

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while not shown clearly in any of the images provided it is possible the bicycle's wheel lock may be a Hebie item as well...



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fabiofarelli

I hear a Jack Smith whisting.

non-fixie 

Ah, nice. We're back on course.

My conclusions so far:

• it is most probably a German bike
• OWK may have been the manufacturer, but more likely a shop brand
• Various clues point towards the Koblenz area as the brand's birth place
• the frame could have been built anytime between the early fifties and early eighties
• the spoke lock, if original, would suggest seventies
• the rear rack, if original, also suggests seventies

One clue I haven't been able to decipher so far is the picture of the building(s). What is it and where? At first sight it doesn't resemble anything in Koblenz.



The only thing I found that comes anywhere close is the old Prussian government building ....