1940s flatlander

A friend of mine has been cleaning out the house where she grew up. She found the bike she used to ride in the 1970s, which her mother had ridden in the 1940s.

The head badge says "Sterling. Built like a watch." The front fender says Columbia.

Given its age and state of corrosion, I could do very little unless I wanted -- and she wanted -- to risk getting drawn into the long slog and extended treasure hunt of restoration. So we aimed to replace the original tires, clean it up a bit, and leave most of its dings and patina intact.

Note the spacing of the chain pins:

The rear cog and chain ring have the widely spaced teeth typical for its time. By the time I got a bike like this new, in about 1962, they weren't doing this anymore. But my younger friend got her mother's hand-me-down. The bike served two generations of childhood. And now it will serve again as she rides it between two buildings where she works.

The New Departure brake:

I suppose New Departure implies that one has already had a Safe Arrival.

The tires were cracked, but I bet they would have held air. But rather than strand her on the far side of town with a flat, I found some modern Michelins that were the same size and a similar tread.

As I've observed before, old cheap stuff is more solidly built than new cheap stuff. And because the basic configuration of the bicycle was perfected well over 100 years ago, you can stick a person on one like this and off they go, pedaling happily.