from Bicycling Magazine- Bicycle Exhibit

online here on Bicycling Magazine-

"Art Show celebrates Philadelphia, the city that loves bikes

When Lorie Mertes, Director at The Galleries at Moore moved to Philly in 2006, she was mesmerized. "I didn't grow up around bikes," the curator admits. "Everywhere I looked there were messengers, commuters, bike cops, college kids, club riders and roadies in team colors."

Some see a bike. She saw a design object with a visceral vibe. Her hunt for a vintage town cruiser led to VIA Bicycles on South Street where she met Curtis—owner, collector and "font of knowledge" on urban bike lore. She was hooked. With a curator's sensibility and keen eye, Mertes began canvassing the city, piecing together the story of a rich, eclectic and vibrant Philadelphia cycling community.

The result is BICYCLE: people + ideas in motion, a collection of art, design, fashion, video and community events that reveals Philly's love affair with two-wheeled travel. It's now showing at The Galleries at Moore. Admission is free and open to the public. Since getting to Philly might be a stretch for some Bicycling and Mountain Bike readers, we wanted to share a few highlights of the show online. —Liz Reap Carlson"

I guess I should have mentioned sooner, as it is over on tuesday October 13th. . .. sorry.

Early 1950s Schwinn Superior

A very nice Schwinn Superior showed up for sale at a recent bicycle swap meet. It had a 1951 Sturmey Archer 3 speed up with drum brake and front Sturmey Archer drum hub. A little strange with no rim brakes but anything was possible back then.

The bicycle was unsold, probably due to the $2000 price tag! Whoa, I guess you have to try. . .

Mondia Super Special

This Mondia Special came through the door at Via Bicycle a couple weeks ago. The original owner of the bicycle wanted to get the bicycle updated to start riding again. They wanted clincher wheels, double sided pedals and just a check over, to make sure everything was safe. We put on a set of used 700c wheels with a beefer tires, a set of pedals and adjusted the bicycle. After riding the bicycle for a bit, they realized that this go fast machine was not for them, to ride around the city. So we now have it.

Mondia was one of the most successful Swiss bicycle manufacturers. It is early 1970s(i have yet to check it's serial number with the list), with a 1971 Campagnolo Nuovo Record group, minus the brakes. We put the original Campagnolo high flange wheels and steel Record pedals back on. This bicycle has a light layer of grease/corrusion that will easily cleanup to make this bike a true concourse bicycle, as it is all original, unmolested.

more Mondia information here on the Classic Rendezvous list, and here is the serial number registry.

1941 Schwinn Paramount

This is one beautiful Schwinn Paramount. The history of this bicycle is listed below correspondence between the owner and Frank Schwinn, then President of Schwinn Bicycle. All of this provenance only makes this bicycle more special and coveted in the hobby of bicycle collecting. I heard someone offer a large amount for this bicycle there, and it was quickly shot down, as this bicycle was not for sale.

I guess the bicycle was chromed(or maybe even rechromed?) in the early 1970s and the newer decals were added then. The new brake pads were added even more recently. I wonder why the rear fender stays were attached to the eyelets on the dropouts rather than the eyelets on the chainstays. It is nice how it still has the early fork, headset and adjustable stem. Did you notice the double cable stop on the downtube, it is just a shifter, minus the shifters.

Headbadges - still attached to bicycles.

Below are some cool bicycle headbadges that were still attached to cool bicycles. These were taken at the last swap meet. I liked the wheeled wheel logo, very similar to the logo used by Campagnolo. The Gendron bicycle had a very interesting headbadge with a Star of David design. Gendron bicycles were made in the USA and in Canada, and were described as one of the largest US bicycle manafacturing company. It was the first I have ever heard of the company, they patented an early safety bicycle in 1891 and even later, in the late 1890s had a shaft drive bicycle.

Alvin Drysdale Ace bicycle

"Alvin Drysdale built lightweight bicycles in Manhattan,
working from the 1920s until the 1950s.
He made bikes with his own name, such as Drysdale Special,
and with other names including Alvin, Velox, and
possibly Ace and Red Devil, for "jobbers" or distributors
Jonas B. Oglaend Inc. and Otto C. Ling Co."

This Drysdale was for sale at the Trexlertown swap meet. it is a nice Ace with period correct parts.
There was just a Drysdale on Ebay that went for more the $700, and it was the lesser model, the Velox.

some other information on Drysdale.

Drysdale Velox that was recently on Ebay

Old Bicycle Swap meet in Trexlertown

Well arriving fresh at the crack of 6am(above photo taken later, when I arrived, it was an hour before sunrise), I was amongst my brethren of bicycle traders and collectors. Flashlights and lanterns in hand, brisk money was traded for rusty goods. Some of the best deals are made before the sun rises, and I have found, some of the worst transactions as well, as a potential buyer, eager to one up someone else, might not see the extent of rust or bent wheels, or worse. And all transactions are final.

There were lots of interesting bicycles and parts there. This swap meet caters more to the vintage bicycle, compared to the swap meet at the velodrome that is new lightweight stuff. There were piles of Schwinn Stingrays, and balloon tire bikes, and even quite a fair share of turn of the century bicycles with wooden wheels.

I personally like the chrome Schwinn Paramount, a 1941 model, that was retrofitted by Schwinn in 1971. There was an Alvin Drysdale Ace there for sale, some other vintage track rides, an early 1950s Claud Butler Jubilee, and various bits and bobs. I will add more pictures this week, identifying some of these bikes and much more.

The weather was perfect and the turnout was high.

a retrofitted 1941 Schwinn Paramount

Unidentifed track bike with a Schwinn Paramount Stem.

muscle bike galore

awesome selection of 1890s bicycles.