Hidden away in garages all over the world are beautiful bikes, barely used back in the day and never ridden today. Like my ex’s 1986 Pro Miyata that hung unused in my garage for years. Fortunately, many of these bikes find new lives in new homes with riders that cherish them. Like Erik, who I met one morning on Caltrain.
Erik’s bike caught my eye immediately with its classic lines and svelte steel tubing. It was his great-uncle’s bike from back in Sweden that he brought with him to San Francisco. Now set up for everyday use as a single speed with new handlebars, rear rack and fenders, I had to get a closer look.
Erik said this Världsmästarcykel Crescent was a 1951, but it doesn’t quite match the bike in that year’s catalog. Unlike the 1951, Erik’s bike’s fork and rear stays aren’t chrome and his has a nifty wheel lock that’s welded on. I searched the internet in vain for clues to its heritage and failed.
Can you help me solve this mystery? Is it likely to be before or after 1951? Did it originally have drop bars?
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- I love the racing touches: checkered flag and world champion stripes.
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- This frame is welded, not lugged. Is that a clue to its vintage?
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- I didn’t ask if the bell was original. I assume the bars are new.
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- I’ve never seen a tiny wheel lock like this one. The fenders are mounted where a rear brake once was.
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- There’s evidence that there was once a derailleur attached to the dropout.
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- Does the bottom bracket type give us any clues to the bike’s age?
Mr Crescent
December 28, 2012 at 8:10 am
Hi! I am from Sweden and have had my fair share of Crescents and other bikes. I would say that the bike is certainly not before 1974 since the lock (called blocklås – block lock) started being used somewhere around that time. It was the lock of choice for almost all bikes sold in Sweden during the 80′s.
It also seems that in the 50′s, the orange paint was reserved for the racers, which this bike isn’t with the block-lock, fenders and support (unless heavily modified to be less ‘racey’ but who would do that?).
Looking through the site you linked to for the 1951 catalogue, I found this:
An 1974 ad from Monark that invented the block lock:
http://www.raketsport.com/monarkc_%20002.jpg
Translated it means: Monark’s new block lock! New to the world!
Monark and Crescent were bike brands used by the Monark Crescent AB company, so it is likely they manufactured Crescents with block locks in 74 (or maybe a year or two after since they seem to have advertized it as a Monark invention and wanted to keep it brand-specific).
So there you go: at the very earliest:1974
Sean
February 20, 2013 at 3:47 pm
I have a similar ’68 Crescent. Based on the fact that the frame is welded and the fork crown is chrome, this looks like a lower-end, mid-1970′s “training” type Crescent. The frames were built from high-tensile gas pipe, then painted and decalled to look similar to the high-end Pepita Special which featured 531 Reynolds and Nervex/Dubois lugs.
Hope this helps!