styggno1

This was a nice weekend!

Met up with a man that during 45 years had stored a bicycle in his dry and dark attic. Now it was for sale and he decided I was the right buyer/caretaker of it.

It is a 1956 Crescent VM-racer, mod. 201 which was Crescents top of the line during this time. VM meaning World Championship. Fillet brazed with seamless 0,8 chrome molybdenum tubes. This one seems untouched and all parts correspond with what the catalogs state at the time. I have had a couple of these before but never one in this condition. It is also in my size!

It will get a cleaning, rubbing and some wax. Thanks to it being out of UV rays for such a long time I reckon the original colour will come thru nicely.

When I bought it the chain was put on wrong, the saddle and stem positions out of proportion and the handlebar and brakelevers - just not where I want them to be... and no tubes of course.




Some gentle loving later and with saddle and stem where I want (need) them =








At least 65 year old saddle in splendid condition!









As this one will see some use I will build a clincher wheelset. Mavic MA (non anodized) and 1957 Campagnolo 3-piece hubs with "open C" QR. I also happen to have a NOS SImplex front derailleur - not that it is needed but who knows...



This is going to be fun!

juvela

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thanks so much for sharing this wonderful find!

are frame tubes BSC dimension and paired with metric shell?

unusual to see factory placement of shift lever so low

does the Fauber chainset use BB threads, likely not i reckon...

lower pump peg one have not before seen

presume pedal thread is 1/2"

thanks for any information!

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Duke7777

Wow - cool bike in amazing condition! I had never seen a Crescent this early, and it's interesting to compare it with the 70s Pepita Special. I'm a fan of Crescents, as one was my first race bike back in the late 70s. I recently picked up another very nice one on the local Craigslist.

Narhay

Some evaporust and gentle brass brush could clean up some of the rust on that rear derailleur. Looks like it has gone to a good home.

T.W.O.

That is one beautiful bike! Thanks for sharing the pics. I would love to hear more about it as you finish your restoration and ride it.

styggno1

The tubes are an eclectic gathering of sizes. The seat and down tubes could be BSC at 28,85 both - with paint. But the top tube at 27,2 and headtube at 33,1 must be considered oversize compared to BSC. The BB shell is an old Scandinavian standard and large at 45,8 mm inner diameter. The Fabuer crankset - is using BB threads on this racer model. Pedals are 1/2. The pump peg has a mate in the other end of the downtube and can be seen in the "before" picture above. They are quite common on vintage Swedish bikes. Here is a close up.



It is actually easier than that - what looks like rust is a grease or oil residue. This is after I just rubbed the derailleur with my finger a little.



Without bottle holder, pump and toe clips it weighs in at:

KG


Pounds


Not bad considering a 60 cm frame, a Brooks B17 and a steel seatpost!

juvela

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thank you very much for the response and for all of this additional information

have your researches led you to learn anything regarding the tubing set employed to construct the frame?

am wondering, if given the date, it may have been a Mannesmann set...


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styggno1

Thank you for showing interest in obscure Swedish bicycles ;-)

To my knowledge the tubing is the same and from the same source as for Monarks racers at the time - i e UHB Strato 5 or Strahto 5 from Uddeholms Bruk, a seamless Chrome Molybden tubing, straight gauge 0,8 mm. The steel alloy originated from Uddeholms involvement with producing tubes for the Swedish J22 fighter aeroplane. Uddeholm is still around malking precision steel products and tooling.

juvela

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do you know in about what year MCB ceased using this tubing for racing models and began sourcing tubing for top racing model cycles from outside Sweden?

have seen some of the MCB utilitarian models with lugless construction. was their tubing sourced from Uddeholms as well or did it come from another foundry?


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styggno1

The "top racing model" Crescent 92320 and Monark 90320 with Reynolds 531 came in 1963 (not calender exact but you know - about). I do not know for sure but I do firmly believe the models that continued lugless were made with a lot lesser quality tubes than the old "aero-type" tubes. Otherwise they would have continued telling it in the advertising/catalogs. One funny thing is that Monark continued with their "Flygstål" decal for a while even if there were a Reynolds 531 decal also...

styggno1

Many museums in Sweden has digitalized their photographs and put them online. A treasure!

This picture is from the season start in 1959.



A close up shows that my plan for three piece Campagnolo hubs and open C QR: s was a good idea back then too. It has a Juy 51 derailleur and Simplex/Stronglight chainwheels but the frame and the rest is as mine.



1957



1956

styggno1

Mine being from 1956 I can only find examples of 55 and 57 catalogs (of course...). Pictures courtesy of "www.raketsport.com"

madscrambler

I am happy to see this thread and to see pictures of a Crescent with all components. No i am not trying to get my post count up i have one missing parts.

henu22

Hello,
and greetings from Finland!
I have this same bike, but not sure what is manufacturing year. I recently found this JUY-51 derailleur from eBay and also changed freewheel back to original size with 4 speed.
There was 5 speed and also newer derailleur from the 80's.
It is hard to tell which parts are original and which not because maybe there are some differences between years of manufacturing.
My grand dad also race with this bike during 60's and 70's so maybe there has been some changes during that time and that could also be a reason why there are different parts.

styggno1

Hi henu22,

Nice hearing from a close neighbour! My mother is Finnish - she moved here from Åland though so my Finnish is non-existent (for those of you not familiar with the Nordic countries - Finland has two official languages, Finnish and Swedish, even if the Swedish speaking part is dwindling in size).

Pre merger (Crescent/Monark) Crescent bikes can often be dated by the serial number. If it has this format (pic below) the first number gives the year of manufacture. In this case it is 1956.



The "N" stands for Nymans or Nymanverken/Nymans Verkstäder, the company that owned the Crescent brand before merging with Monark.

henu22

Hello
Thank you for your answer.
Nice to hear that your mother is from Åland. I'm from Turku (Åbo) so quite near if considering only mainland. My mother language is Swedish but it's a little rusty now a days so I think English is better especially in this forum.

Serial number of my bike has no letters in it. For some reason I wasn't able to post picture here...

But here it comes 3185046

Here are some parts which I have on my bike

Altenburger brakes (levers are Weinmann from 80's maybe) I might have original ones too but those were such a bad condition so I replaced those.

Simplex gears, JUY-51 derailleur (seems little different than yours, is your derailleur attached between frame and freewheel)

Atom freewheel 4 speed (frame spacing is 120mm so according to Sheldon Brown it indicates 5 speed and 114mm indicates 3 or 4 speeds)

Steering seems to be same, M Kint and ??? Eitan ???

Normann hub on rear and something else in front, letters F B and Made in Italy could be found there.

Weinmann rim in back and something else in front...

Lohmann saddle

I also have those pump pegs.

I have to find out how to post a pictures here.

styggno1

You need 10 posts I believe. Does your bike have similar/same decals as mine? The serial format makes me wonder if yours is not a bit later. When the companys mergered in 1960 the serial format changed. Let us converse until you can post pictures...

henu22

Yes, same decals.

There is one for sale in Steel Vintage Bikes which says year as 1950. I cannot post URL also because of that 10 post missing.

BUT

Frame is exactly as mine. Mine has same amount of wear also. This has also same type of serial number than mine. Your Frame seems to be in very good condition and not so much wear on paint.

styggno1

Aha!

That bike is older.
https://steel-vintage.com/crescent-v...ions-bike-1950

The dead give away is the lack of seatpost collar and the roller at the bottom bracket. They had a welded or brazed seatcollar up until the 1953 catalog when they got the loose collar that mine has.

Does yours have the same front fork as the one in the link? That is said to be a one year (give or take) design.

henu22

Yes, I have exactly the same front fork that is in the link. Orange color only in that design hole on top end. Yours front fork design is much cooler!

Also seat post is similar than in the link.

styggno1

Now we are getting somewhere - yours has a lower serial than the one on Steel Vintage Bikes. The fork is said to be a short run version. 1949-1950 is starting to sound realistic.

Here are some links to Swedish digital museum pictures. They are from 1951 and of very high quality. They can be enlarged to the point of actually seeing what equipment there are:

https://digitaltmuseum.org/021019678.../media?slide=0

https://digitaltmuseum.org/021019678...list-juni-1951

styggno1

This is how the fork looked like up until about 1948. This is said to be Harry Snells bike that he used to win the world championships on in 1948. Could be true but it does have world championship stripes... Those might have been added later or it is later bike... Anyhow -this is a the earlier front fork:



And here Harry in the Swedish championships in 1947 showing the fork crown and the earlier forks totaly different "stance". The earlier forks all had a more sharp bend to them.



And here the 1951 catalog showing the later crown type - the one my bike has.





Conclusion = The ones with your type of fork crown is a short run made around 1949-50. Congratulations on a nice bike!



.

henu22

Thanks for the photos!

That 1947 bike has Crescent text on that 45 degree pipe and I have it on parallel pipe. All other decals seems to be same.

henu22

That 1948 cycle also seems to have only one chainwheel

Fahrenheit531 

Such a cool bike.