Look on page 66 here above. I’m building a set of Stuzman wheels. I’ve posted photos of his wheels that I got. I haven’t started sanding them yet. Here are the photos reposted of his rims I got. Winter project.
Agh, that's where I saw them. Very nice. Those got me thinking about buying the local Victorian, but I don't have $1400 or a place to store it.
You have to be a little cautious buying a really old bike. Everything has to be there. The seat leather and tires can be missing but that’s it. If your missing a cog or an axle nut nothing made in the last 75 years or even less will fit. The threads are different. A new headset for a one inch steerer won’t fit. Usually there is a lot of wear in the bearing cups and you have to use them anyway. The pedals threads almost always are the same as now. Modern bottom bracket races, even for a single piece crank, won’t fit the crank threads. Doesn’t matter if it’s Schwinn or not, won’t fit the crank. $1400 is a little steep, but if all threaded bits are all there and it’s all original then it’s probably ok. Parts can‘t be rusted through. I have an old timer with a cracked bb race and can’t find one that threads on. I ride it anyway but the bb is a little loose. It also has some holes rusted through the handle bars on one side. A carbon fiber wrap fixed it. The other side has black tape so it looks balanced. The tolerances are incredibly precise, despite the age. Very likely the nickel plating will be gone and the seat post and seat clamp won’t get tight enough unless you use shims. This is the one with the cracked bb race and rust holes in handle bars.
A word of caution, I had an 1898 Mauser I used for deer hunting. The stock looked good but it broke with rough use. It was dry rotted and no tougher than poplar. I was in the army in the 1960s and our wood stocks were just about indestructible. These old rims could be a lot more fragile than they look. They will be seldom used and gently. I’ll build modern wood rims for general use. I just want to preserve what I can. I’m even going to use the original nipples.
The local one looks very complete (except for saddle leather) and in relatively good shape. thanks for the warning about Victorian era specifications - makes sense. I don't think it makes sense for me to take a run at it. I'd be better off getting an old 40's vintage rambler and klunkering it.
Looks like a winner, it’s in much better shape than what I started with. I would probably dismantle, clean, respoke the wheels, grease, replace the bar cork, and have the seat pan recovered. The paint is nice and aged, I’d leave that. It doesn’t look to have those 1 1/2 inch x 28 single tube tires so modern tubulars should fit. It’s probably worth the $1500. Two years ago you could find these for $500, five years ago $300. Count on a minimum of $1000 in repairs if you do it yourself, not counting any plating or painting. $300 seat cover on the original pan, $175+ tires, $40+ spokes, $25 rubberized cork sheet, $70 for wood wheel spoke nipples/washers and perhaps $250 for new rims if the old ones aren’t salvageable. This is assuming that the drive is not totally worn out. Looks good. Buy it and find a friend that will store it until you are in a position to work on it. You could dismantle it and store the pieces, perhaps even at different places. Someone has the wheels and someone else the frame. The bars and drive could be in a small box in you closet.
