Lets see your Balloon Tire Bikes

[Luddite]

AN IDEA FOR THAT SURPLUS BALLOONER

I found this whilst looking for something totally unrelated, and thought some of you fellow cycle enthusiast loungers may appreciate it.

If you have a spare bicycle and an old lawnmower why not build yourself a Whizzer?

I have all the ingredients for this, but couldn't bring myself to cut up one of my Schwinns!

 

[KilroyCD]

I've seen that done before, most recently with a 5hp Briggs & Stratton on an old Monark bike. It was a slightly different set up than the one you showed. Unfortunately both installations require extensive frame modifications that render the bike impossible to reconvert to stock, so you'd definitely want to try it with a frame of little or no collector value.

 

[PrinceHarming]

I have a bike, its not old, but it has a retro look. I haven't found the right auntique bike yet.

 

[KilroyCD]

I have a bike, its not old, but it has a retro look. I haven't found the right auntique bike yet.

Oh, the antiques are definitely out there, and aren't hard to find. I see you're from western Mass. If you're not far from Copake (NY) you might want to check out the Antique Bicycle Auction on April 12, or the swap meet there the day before. http://www.copakeauction.com/bicycles/bicycle-home.html
There aren't all that many bikes consigned yet, but as it gets closer there'll be a boatload of them.

 

[pgoat]

Hello, here is a pic of my '63 Schwinn.

After new tires.

:eusa_clap
LOVE It!:eusa_clap

 

[pgoat]

I knew I'd eventually find some bike people here*!

I'll post pics of my own balloon bike here soon but meanwhile - KilroyCD - maybe you can help me (*Who knew there'd be such a knowledgable expert here!!). I am trying to help an archival colleague restore this old Columbia WWI era Model 0 chainless (Shaft drive). I got a Brooks sprung saddle for it off ebay (No idea what originally was on there - maybe a Pope? - but the Brooksie I got is in equally weathered shape and visually matches what is shown in Columbia catalogs of the era). The two other issues are:

1) Someone replaced one of the Original Pope pedals with a generic rat trap metal model. Any ideas who might have a Pope pedal like this to match the one on the drive side? (I need the other side, so assuming Left-handed threads; not sure what tpi these old peds used, but the rat trap looks fairly modern, as in post-WWII).

2) The tires are pretty messed up. We want to display the bike at a historic house in Upstate NY but the tires are fairly rotted. Sheldon Brown told me this size is probably nowhere to be found (If SB says that, it's not a good sign).

I haven't had a chance to measure them in person, but I think this is the size they are (from Harris Cyclery site):

26 x 1.25, x 1.375 599 mm

Bead seat: 1881 mm 74.1 inches

"Very Rare U.S. size, 1940s and older. Not available."

 

[pgoat]

here's some pics of the Columbia Chainless

Check out the rear shock and front leaf spring!

 

[KilroyCD]

You have a nice antique Columbia there. It's surprising (to me anyway) to see that it's a 26" tire you're looking for as I thought the 28"x 1 1/2" tire was pretty well standard for the era. But I admit that the pre-balloon tire era is one I know far less about. I'd measure your rims if I were you. If you actually need the 28" tire you'll probably have better luck finding those. They aren't made of unobtainium. Memory Lane Classics has them: http://www.memorylane-classics.com/
I'd need to see the Brooks saddle to say whether it would be suitable. I'm more inclined to say it would need a long-spring Lobdell, Mesinger or Troxel saddle. There's a slightly earlier shaft drive Columbia on eBay right now, and the seat you need should look much like the one on this bike: http://cgi.ebay.com/1900-Pope-Colum...yZ156524QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Some earlier models used a hairpin style saddle. Memory Lane has those as well. It might bear looking at.
I'm anxious to see the ballooner sometime!

 

[pgoat]

Kilroy, thanks so much.

I do have to drive up there and measure it myself eventually, and I hope it is the more readily available size. Thanks so much for the link!

That is a cool bike on ebay! - dunno if they'll get $800, tho....

The brooks I got (can't recall the model #) looks like that in front; It doesn't have the hanging weighted thingies at rear.

I want to add I was very impressed with your restorations - you must have a fine stable of old ballooners. When we had a house and garage I had anywhere from 6 to 12 bikes at at time, but in an apartment, 2 or 3 (apiece - that's 5 in all between the wife and I) is more or less the limit. Someday we hope to have more elbow room again...

finally don't get too excited about my ballooner - it was a KHS modern cro-mo retro paint thing with MTB geometry from the mid 90s. Tho I did have a few oldtimers too, including a Royal Enfield. I used these to shop (the Royal had large Wald baskets fore & aft and could haul several weeks of groceries or topsoil for our garden with ease!) and commute (the KHS had alloy rims and 1" wide 90 psi tires). Eventually my knees gave me an ultimatum, and for the last few years they only let me pedal bikes with a derailleur......oh, well.....

I'll post pics anyway if I can remember to scan them. Thanks again and I'll post pics of the Columbia too if I can get it together!

 

[KilroyCD]

The brooks I got (can't recall the model #) looks like that in front; It doesn't have the hanging weighted thingies at rear.

I want to add I was very impressed with your restorations - you must have a fine stable of old ballooners.

The hanging weighted thingies are actually springs, they are just tightly coiled at the bottom. That's a version of the long-spring style I had referred to.
Thanks for the kind words about my restorations. I wish I could say that the Columbia Superb on page 1 was one of my restorations, but it isn't. Being a reissue of that model, that bike is a new build bike, having been made in 1998. The one bike I'm proudest of my work on is the one I restored for one of my very best friends (and fellow Lounger) Samantha (aka retrogirl1941).
As far as my stable of bikes is concerned, at last count I have 27 bikes. As I only have a one-car garage, two bikes live in my dining room!

 

[Luddite]

Not a Ballooner......

....... but I thought I'd post a picture anyway!

This is a Raleigh Rodeo, which I rebuilt for my son Pip in the style of a balloon tyre bike. The stock bike has high rise bars and banana seat - it was Raleigh's Stingray competitor before they cam eup with the Chopper. I had to retube the frame, shorten some forks and a chainguard to fit, and built up a set of English 20 inch wheels to get the coaster brake. He takes it along to the car/bike shows I attend, and relishes the attention it gets!

 

[retrogirl1941]

I don't think Kilroycd has posted the before and after photos of my bike(and I never pass up a chance to show it off!)

Before:

After:

Samantha

 

[KilroyCD]

I don't think Kilroycd has posted the before and after photos of my bike(and I never pass up a chance to show it off!)

Before:

After:

Samantha

Sam, I did post "after" shots, but none of the "before" shots. Thanks for posting it.

 

[KilroyCD]

....... but I thought I'd post a picture anyway!

This is a Raleigh Rodeo, which I rebuilt for my son Pip in the style of a balloon tyre bike. The stock bike has high rise bars and banana seat - it was Raleigh's Stingray competitor before they cam eup with the Chopper. I had to retube the frame, shorten some forks and a chainguard to fit, and built up a set of English 20 inch wheels to get the coaster brake. He takes it along to the car/bike shows I attend, and relishes the attention it gets!

Very nice work, indeed! When you said you had to retube the frame, what exactly did that entail? Not being familiar with the Rodeo model, I don't know how the stock version compares to yours.

 

[Luddite]

Very nice work, indeed! When you said you had to retube the frame, what exactly did that entail? Not being familiar with the Rodeo model, I don't know how the stock version compares to yours.

Stock Rodeo.....

The bike had been sitting under a dripping outhouse roof for around thirty years. Where the gearstick had been, the water had gathered and dripped down onto the tubes below, rotting them and the truss tube clean through and partially through that nice curvy downtube. The seat tube was rusted solid inside the frame, likewise the steerer in the headstock. The forks had rusted through at their upper ends. It was a bit of a project!

The steerer tube I split with a sawblade, hammered to get a gap, then wound it in on itself with a big pair of pliers - like opening a sardine can. The Rodeo had a longer steerer tube than other Raleigh childrens' bicycles, so I had to get an old shopper bike and take a few inches out of the middle of the steerer to get the right length. The shopper also donated the alloy guards, which I shortened, wired and flared to suit the bike. The seatpost was reamed out, and the inside of the tube cleaned up with tiny wire brushes on a thin flexible extension. The frame was a bigger problem. The tubing is not the same size as other Raleigh tubing, so I found some straight tubing of the appropriate diameter and wall thickness (part of an auto seat frame!) bent it to the correct curvature - an S-bend on the front downtube - and spliced the repair sections into the remaining sound tubing, using bronze weld to save stressing the soft-brazed lugs. The upper tubes are an odd diameter, so I had to make the tubing before bending, by using rollers and handworking; these were then bent and spliced in. The chainguard is from a 26-inch Raleigh and is shortened and reprofiled to fit the 20-inch frame. The paint is metalflake blue with glitter lacquer and satin topcoat. The wheels are English 20 inch - I had a big problem getting the rims! I laced them with stainless spokes to NOS Shimano hubs. The chain, sprockets, bottom bracket, stem, seatpost and cranks are stuff I had lying around. The bars and whitewalls came from the local cycle store! I'll change the pedals when I can find some 'nice' ones!

This is the first time I've listed out all the work I did, looking at it, it's a long list, and it seems a lot of effort just because Pip wanted a 'cool' bike to go with the Hotwheels saddle he had!

 

[gpwpat]

I am in the marked for a baloon bike. I have no idea how to find a real classic. so I have been looking at new bikes. fell in love with this electra. it will probably be in my hands once I get the cash saved.

but they have the same frame in a hot rod version with a pinup.

so I like the vince. but I also like hotrods and pinups. damn. sex appeal. don't know which way to go.

I wish I could find a real wwii bike to go with my wwii jeep.

 

[KilroyCD]

Stock Rodeo.....

The bike had been sitting under a dripping outhouse roof for around thirty years. Where the gearstick had been, the water had gathered and dripped down onto the tubes below, rotting them and the truss tube clean through and partially through that nice curvy downtube. The seat tube was rusted solid inside the frame, likewise the steerer in the headstock. The forks had rusted through at their upper ends. It was a bit of a project!

The steerer tube I split with a sawblade, hammered to get a gap, then wound it in on itself with a big pair of pliers - like opening a sardine can. The Rodeo had a longer steerer tube than other Raleigh childrens' bicycles, so I had to get an old shopper bike and take a few inches out of the middle of the steerer to get the right length. The shopper also donated the alloy guards, which I shortened, wired and flared to suit the bike. The seatpost was reamed out, and the inside of the tube cleaned up with tiny wire brushes on a thin flexible extension. The frame was a bigger problem. The tubing is not the same size as other Raleigh tubing, so I found some straight tubing of the appropriate diameter and wall thickness (part of an auto seat frame!) bent it to the correct curvature - an S-bend on the front downtube - and spliced the repair sections into the remaining sound tubing, using bronze weld to save stressing the soft-brazed lugs. The upper tubes are an odd diameter, so I had to make the tubing before bending, by using rollers and handworking; these were then bent and spliced in. The chainguard is from a 26-inch Raleigh and is shortened and reprofiled to fit the 20-inch frame. The paint is metalflake blue with glitter lacquer and satin topcoat. The wheels are English 20 inch - I had a big problem getting the rims! I laced them with stainless spokes to NOS Shimano hubs. The chain, sprockets, bottom bracket, stem, seatpost and cranks are stuff I had lying around. The bars and whitewalls came from the local cycle store! I'll change the pedals when I can find some 'nice' ones!

This is the first time I've listed out all the work I did, looking at it, it's a long list, and it seems a lot of effort just because Pip wanted a 'cool' bike to go with the Hotwheels saddle he had!

Bravo! That's an incredible amount of work, far above any I've undertaken with any of my restorations. My hat is off to you, as I would have tried to source another frame before attempting anything as ambitious as retubing a frame. But perhaps it's also because I don't have the facilities for such an endeavour.

 

[KilroyCD]

I am in the marked for a baloon bike. I have no idea how to find a real classic. so I have been looking at new bikes. fell in love with this electra. it will probably be in my hands once I get the cash saved.

but they have the same frame in a hot rod version with a pinup.

so I like the vince. but I also like hotrods and pinups. damn. sex appeal. don't know which way to go.

I wish I could find a real wwii bike to go with my wwii jeep.

The Electra you're looking at is a sharp bike, and although it's modern it's nice to see stylish ballooners are still being made. You say that you're looking for a real WWII bike to go with your WWII Jeep. I can try to point you in the right direction. First, let's identify the actual US military-issue WWII bikes. Two manufacturers had the contract for US military bikes. They were Columbia and Huffman (which became Huffy around 1949 or so). Columbia made three models for the military, a standard men's model based on their F9 model, a woman's model based on the F10 model, and the Paratooper folding model based on the Compax. All were ballooners, despite the civilian Compax originally being fitted with narrower lightweight tires.
Huffman made both men's and woman's models, and were very similar to the Columbias. All parts were interchangeable between the two brands, but the Columbias were fitted with peaked fenders, while the Huffmans had rounded fenders. Huffman did not produce the Paratrooper model. Although these bikes are still to be found, the values have been climbing. I can't honestly tell you a current market price on any but the Paratrooper (and civilian Compax). The military Para will typically bring $400 plus (depending on condition), while the civilian Compax regulary exceeds $200 in good condition. It''s not difficult to convert a Compax to a pseudo-military, and I'm sure many Paras I've seen are indeed that.
The men's and woman's ballooners are both based on civilian models, so finding a suitable frame to make a pseudo military won't be hard if that's what you're looking to do. In fact, one of the bikes in my restoration queue is a Huffman. If it's not an actual military (I have yet to clean the gunk off the serial number to find out) it will become a replica military. It's the same frame style as the prewar "Airflyte" model, so that can be one to look for.
Here's a link on military bikes that might be useful: http://www.theliberator.be/militarybicycles.htm
As far as finding the bikes is concerned, eBay is the standard answer I give. You can find just about anything there. But seeing that you're from California, you may want to check out some of the bicycle swap meets that go on there. There's a Yahoo Group that pertains to ballooners, and swap meet info regularly pops up there: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BalloonTireBicycles
The main thing with that group is to sift through all the inside jokes and jabs at some of the group members, as the core of the group are some old-time collectors that are way too familiar with each other and their foibles. In otherwords, they bust on each other a lot! If I can be of any other help, just let me know.

 

[BigSleep]

Here is my 53 Schwinn.

My friend Louie GAVE it to me.
I pinstriped his 53 Plymouth for free and he wanted to do something nice for me.
What a great friend.

It even has vintage 1950s saddle bags.
Is this thing cool or what!?!

 

[KilroyCD]

That's a VERY nice bike! It's a DX frame with the Phantom-style fenders and front light. Louie must be a very good friend, because that bike is not only gorgeous, it's rather valuable. I don't know Schwinn prices as I try not to collect them (too many already do, driving the prices waaaayyyy up), but if it isn't a recent restoration and still in original paint, it could easily be worth over 1k.