Barn Find

or should I say floorboard discovery...

As Found

The Crossframe bicycle that I have acquired and hope to restore was discovered in a cellar under the floorboards of a cottage in France.  The machine dates from around 1888 to 1892 and has had a somewhat chequered career.

My best guess is that sometime between the wars the owner decided to upgrade from a solid tyres to a pneumatic tyres and enlisted the help of the local blacksmith and the remains of another somewhat more recent machine.

Most of  the conversion was simply a case of  replacing parts - wheels, handlebars, saddle pedals etc. but the front wheel and brake created a problem.  I now believe the front wheel originally was 30" dia  i.e. larger than the 28" donar wheel (this will become clear later) and as a result the donar stirrup brake would not fit. To the blacksmith the solution would be simple - cut of the old fork blades and weld on ones frm the donar machine - job done....

Well thats a start more later