Nostalgic vs. Antiquarian Views on the Vintage Bicycle Hobby

 

Occasionally I am asked about collecting old bicycles made many years before I was born. The questioning usually proceeds along the lines of, "What connection do you have to such old bikes?" or "Why bother with bikes that are so old?", or "Do you collect bikes from when you were a kid?". 

These kinds of questions are reasonable, especially from someone outside the vintage bicycle hobby. It may appear strange to collect something that far pre-dates me or my involvement with cycling.

The answer lies in the debate between people in the hobby who are involved from a sense of nostalgia, versus those who are involved from an antiquarian sense. The nostalgic reaches back to a time when he or she was young. The antiquarian approaches has an eye toward a broader history, the bike evoking a particular historic period and all the related circumstances.

 

The nostalgic usually has a deep personal connection to what he or she collects. He or she collects the really expensive bikes that he or she could not afford (or that his or her parents could not afford) way back when. Or he collects bikes he saw in ads as a kid, but was too small to ride at the time. Or perhaps he seeks bikes he owned as a child, trying to grasp something from a time when things were simpler in his life [the famous "rosebud" scene from Citizen Kane comes to mind]. 

 

Sometimes nostalgic collectors have a scholarly approach to collecting, but this is often secondary to the "throwback" element of a time from an earlier period in the collector's life.

 

The antiquarian seeks out bikes that are much older than he or she is. Antiquarians look for old bikes  evoking a particular style or which symbolize a historic period. They wish to preserve and ride bikes as a form of respect to earlier times and to maintain an older history. Often, the antiquarian has a scholarly approach, researching the construction methods, companies, people, and histories of that earlier time.

 

This is not to say that collectors are necessarily all one thing or the other. Often, collectors have some mixture of nostalgia and antiquarian appreciation. But my experience is that most collectors tend to be more one than the other, or at least they lean toward one of the two camps.

I lean more toward the antiquarian camp. I grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, well after the bikes I collect became "obsolete". I appreciate the historical significance of old utility and sporting bikes, particularly those made in the US and England. I enjoy learning about how the bikes were made, what the company history was, how the bikes were used, and the roles they played in society. I love seeing a nice, but well-used old bike that did real work "back in the day" and now is a well-preserved gem. I do have at least a little nostalgia in me though - the most important bike to me is my grandfather's 1936 Schwinn Henderson. It has a deep family connection for me that I would not trade for anything else.

Cleaning Up Kickstand Damage - Steel Bike Frames

A kickstand can be a convenient accessory on a bike. They can allow the bike to be parked in a wider variety of places, and can help steady the bike when parked. Many bikes do not require a kickstand, and some bikes particularly should not have kickstands at all. But many old-school, steel utility and commuter bikes have kickstands or came with them when new.

 

With the kickstand comes the potential for damage to the frame. Most kickstands are of the center-mount type, meaning they clamp onto the bottom bracket by pinching the chain stays right behind the bottom bracket shell. This often leads to damage if the jaws of the stand clamp are over-tightened and if a rubber liner is not used to pad the chain stay tubes.

A note on damage: many times the damage to a bike frame from a kickstand is cosmetic. But sometimes it is so severe as to make the frame unsafe to ride. This is true where there are very deep cuts across the chain stay tubes, where cracks in the tubes radiate from the damage, or where the tubes start to disconnect from the bottom bracket. In those cases DO NOT ride the bike. Instead, take the bike to competent frame builder for inspection. Also, do not ride aluminum or carbon fiber frames that have been damaged due to a kickstand (many of those frames will not even have provision for a clamp-on type kickstand).

 

Let's take a look at repairing some cosmetic kickstand damage on a steel frame Schwinn New World bike from 1941. The culprit is the Miller Kickstand.

The Miller model kickstand was popular in the 1940s, one of the early center-mount kickstands to gain wide popularity in the USA. As popular as it was, the Miller stand had a flaw: the jaws used to secure stand to the bike were thin and could leave cuts across the chain stay tubes. The cuts in my New World frame were not overly deep. They were cosmetic in nature.

I start with JB Weld epoxy. I mix it according to the directions on the package.

I work layers of JB Weld into the cuts until they are built up slightly above the surface of the tubing. Then I let it cure for several days. Because I'm layering the JB Weld, I want to give it some extra time to cure before sanding.

At this point, I have some blobs of JB Weld on the chain stay tubes. Now it is time to sand them down. I mask off the area around the JB Weld with masking tape.

Sanding is done parallel to the direction of the tubes (running along the tubes, not across them). I start with 220 grit and then finish off with 400 grit sandpaper. I work carefully to try to maintain the shape of the tube, so that I have a relatively smooth, round surface when I'm done. This is done by eye, but with some care, a satisfactory result is obtained.

Final painting is done with an oil-based paint. Do NOT use an acetone-based paint (e.g., automotive paint) because it will soften the epoxy. An oil-based paint works fine on the epoxy. 

The result will be a relative smooth, even finish that eliminates the cosmetic damage from a kickstand. This method cannot repair structural damage, which requires a frame builder to address. But using epoxy, you can repair unsightly cosmetic damage from a vintage steel frame and reach a decent result.

Season's Greetings to All - 2024

 

It is hard to believe we are only five days from Christmas. This time of year, the days are short and the weather is pretty cold around here. I am working occasionally at my indoor "shop", which is a spare room in the upstairs of my house. The bikes are all stored away for the winter.

Around this time every year, I send out my Christmas/holiday type cards. My personal favorites are cards based on the artwork of William S. Rice. William S. Rice was an early 20th century wood cut artist  originally from Pennsylvania, but who worked his most productive years based in northern California. He made some beautiful "arts and crafts" style artwork of the mountain west prior to WWII. I'm especially fond of his works in the 1920s and 30s. 

 

Pomegranate Cards makes a wonderful pack of winter/holiday cards based on the works of William Rice. These are my "go-to" cards, which I've used for several years. They're almost a form of fine art on their own. 

 

I find they're the perfect remedy to the proliferation of internet-based, "do it yourself" type cards that people put together using collages of photos of themselves. The Pomegranate/Rice cards are simple and portray the beauty of winter in the western USA, including some wonderful areas of the National Parks. I'd rather that my cards portray the natural beauty of winter.

Packs of these cards are available again through retailers like Amazon, and bookstores like Barnes & Noble. 

 

Season's Greetings to all. May 2025 be a good year with health and success for you.