Vintage Canadian Bicycle: Nice Lines, Dubious Quality

Vintage Canadian looper bike, no brand nor model, est circa 1950s. Photo by Don Tai

A neighbour here in Canada gave me this bicycle. She had started riding this when she was 8 years old, and the bicycle was well used and handed down at that time, so this bicycle could be over 70 years old.

This bicycle is a “loop bike”, for its classic swooping top bar, single speed with a coaster hub, a reverse pedal brake. The bike runs on 800c, 28×1.5″ tires. Vintage it is, with a slew of problems. Overall I do like the look, but the ride is pretty bad and somewhat scary. For cruising around in a flat are this might be Ok.

This bicycle has no identifying brand, model or other markings, making identification difficult. It does look like the underside of the bike is a darker shade of blue than the top side, but this might just be faded paint from sun exposure. I see no other colour of paint underneath.

Unique to the bike is that the frame seems to be bolted together in numerous places. I don’t know the reason for this. The top and bottom of the down tube, and top and bottom of the seat stays all have bolts.

The frame is very flexible, resulting is a wobbly ride. I would not want to go fast on this bicycle. Since this bike is all steel, it also weights a lot.

Under the seat is embossed “TE 29914”. Could this stand for “Timothy Eaton”, as in Eaton’s? I can only guess. The hub is stamped with “40-14”. This thread says there are 40 spokes with 14 gauge spokes. My hub is not stamped Perry.

It is a 40 spoke wheel and the serial number is 36885 stamped on the non-drive side of the seat clamp/lug…

“All Perry hubs feature a “xx-yy” stamp on the shell which designates the number of holes and spoke gauge for that shell (in this case 36-13).”source

Issues:

• Pedals bent: Both pedals, cottered, which do not match, are bent, so when pedaling your feet tilt left and right.
• Cranks hit the frame: The ends of the cranks, where the pedals screw in, hit the frame on both sides. The paint is completely scratched off on both sides.
• Steering not smooth: The steering tube seems to be missing some bearings, resulting in odd handling
• Front Forks are tight: You need to flex the front forks apart a lot in order to remove the front wheel.
• Rear fender missing a support near the rear rack: This is minor.
• Cannot remove the handlebars: Frustratingly, I could not remove the handlebars. I needed to remove them in order to access the steering tube bearings. The top bolt of the handlebars can unscrew, but, as I found out, the nut within the steering tube can and does rotate in all directions (left/right/up/down), making the reinsertion of the handlebar bolt very problematic. I had to remove the front wheel and fender, using a long and thin object, manually flatten the but, then insert a larger flat ended object (end of a cold chisel) to support the bolt (held within the steering tube), while I try to thread the handlebar bolt into the nut. This took me 3 extra hours. Once I did get the handlebar bolt reengaged into the nut I decided I had enough.
• Handlebar moves, cannot tighten: The handlebar is pretty tight, but can shift. The bolt cannot sufficiently tighten to prevent this.
• Rear hub does not spin freely, needs servicing: I might do this in the future. I did not see how to do this.
• Bottom bracket hole: The bottom bracket seems to have a hole on top, possibly for oiling, but this lets water into the bottom bracket. I see no drain hole at the bottom. Maybe there is a missing cap?
  

  Vintage Canadian looper bike, no brand nor model, est circa 1950s. Photo by Don Tai

  

  Vintage Canadian looper bike, no brand nor model, est circa 1950s. Photo by Don Tai

  

  Vintage Canadian looper bike, no brand nor model, est circa 1950s. Front view, no brand, model or other ID. Photo by Don Tai

  

  Vintage Canadian looper bike, no brand nor model, est circa 1950s. Head tube, note the downtube frame bolt. Photo by Don Tai

  

  Vintage Canadian looper bike, no brand nor model, est circa 1950s. Handlebars have problems tightening sufficiently, but they are stiff. Photo by Don Tai

  

  Vintage Canadian looper bike, no brand nor model, est circa 1950s. Bottom bracket, left side. Note the rust spot on the left chainstay, where the left crank arm hits the frame. Ditto for the left side. Photo by Don Tai

  

  Vintage Canadian looper bike, no brand nor model, est circa 1950s. Bottom bracket, right side. Note the rust spot on the right chainstay, where the right crank arm hits the frame. Pedals are bent and do not match. Photo by Don Tai

  

  Vintage Canadian looper bike, no brand nor model, est circa 1950s. Rear hub. Note the bolt for therear seat stays. The frame has micro adjusters to prevent the wheel from creeping forward and slackening the chain. Photo by Don Tai

  

  Vintage Canadian looper bike, no brand nor model, est circa 1950s. Tires are 800c 28×1.5, Made in Canada for Canadian Tire Corporation. Ironic? Photo by Don Tai

  

  Vintage Canadian looper bike, no brand nor model, est circa 1950s. Tires are 800c 28×1.5, Made in Canada for Canadian Tire. Ironic? Photo by Don Tai

  

  Vintage Canadian looper bike, no brand nor model, est circa 1950s. Tires are 800c 28×1.5, Made in Canada for Canadian Tire. Ironic? Super-Lastic 72-4074. Photo by Don Tai

  

  Vintage Canadian looper bike, no brand nor model, est circa 1950s. Bottom bracket. Note the hole on near the chainring, possibly for grease. Photo by Don Tai

  

  Vintage Canadian looper bike, no brand nor model, est circa 1950s. Seat tube, just under the seat is TE29914, Photo by Don Tai

  

  Vintage Canadian looper bike, no brand nor model, est circa 1950s. Rear hub has the marking 40-14. Photo by Don Tai

  Possible links:
  Rebirth of a Vintage Canadian Bicycle

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