With the start of a new year, it is time to assess what needs to be done to properly complete projects in my workshop. It is good, at least once per year, to see how things are going and how to forge ahead into the new year.
1941 Schwinn Henderson New World: this project came from a well-known Pennsylvania bike shop that was cleaning out its old bike collection. It's a standard 21-inch men's frame, but unusual in having a Henderson-branded badge. This bike came with a post-war replacement fork and I plan to add a correct, earlier fork to the bike. Fillet brazed frame. Seller's photos below.
1940 Schwinn New World: this bike came as part of a parts/frames lot from a fellow collector who is well-regarded for his knowledge of Schwinn lightweights. It's another standard, 21-inch men's frame. I have the parts to build this frame up. I am considering running a set of aluminum 590mm (26 x 1 3/8) rims to broaden the choices of tires available for the bike, and to lighten the bike up a bit. It's a fillet brazed frame.
1950s Norman Invader: This is an interesting project - an unusual Norman road bike frame. The Norman brand certainly was in the US market after WWII, but it was not as large a player as Raleigh, Hercules, or Phillips. The color reminds me of my 1953 Raleigh Lenton. I have some parts for this bike, but have to still acquire a few. This frame is the old-style 22-inch "club" size. I have a 1949 Clubman in that same frame size. The Norman has Reynolds 531 main tubes.
1948 Raleigh Sports: this bike just came in - Facebook purchase. It's a nice, fairly early Raleigh in the US (Raleigh's return to the US market took place in the early 1930s - only about 15 years before this bike was made). What got my attention is how complete this bike is, how good the condition is, and the fact that it is a pre-1950 23-inch frame model.
Write-off: 1940 Raleigh. I bought a 1940 Raleigh Sports last year. The frame turned out to be bent in several places, including the main tubes. The top tube is noticeably bowed to one side. The rear triangle is bent. The rear triangle by itself would be fixable, but straightening the entire thing would be a challenge. It evidently suffered a strong front-end impact at some point. This project will not go forward - I'll be keeping the parts to service other bikes.
Selling-Off? I have to reduce my collection somewhat in the coming year. I like to keep the number of bikes manageable. I keep an Excel-type chart of my collection, which includes when bikes were acquired, serviced, and my own impression of each. When the chart gets long, I tend to look at selling one or more off. The hard part is deciding which ones go...
