1912 CCM?
I bought this old house painted bike this spring. I saw it had a wood rim on the front and a skip tooth Williams crank with a CCM steel rear rim and New Departure rear hub. It was not the nicest bike but iot looked like pre 20's. I started looking for a clue to the year of the bike and manufacturer. First is the crank, Williams are date coded. I pulled of the crank arms and chainring and was surprised, A for a date code, 1912/1913 the first year they made cranks. Also Patent and what looks like a u next to it. Another clue to a pre 20's bike is the bolts under the bottom bracket going into the BB shell. I took the cottered BB apart and found an axle with CCM stamped in it. The wood rim is a clincher but has a steel lining inside where the tire seals to it. I don't remember seeing a CCM rim with this inside. The fork has holes for the axle, not the later slot style. The bike also had a long spring seat in usable shape. I don't have a pic right now.
Any ideas on what this could be. No other markings that I see. Serial number is 83923. Anyone with a 1912/1913 CCM catalogue.\
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m104/oldy57/Rat%20Rod%20Bike/IMG-20120827-02217.jpg
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Someone at one time laid a beating on the BB bearing cups. When I tried taking them out they were just snug, almost loose. The headset was nice and easy to loosen as was the seat post and stem. Nice to not have to use heat and blunt force.
The bike is probably a" Road King", very similar to this one of mine http://s917.photobucket.com/albums/ad20/dobie45/ROAD%20KING%20ca%201910/
The similarities start with the hole in the top tube near the head (for affixing a fork stop on fenderless bikes); I haven't seen this on CCM built frames;
the fenders are the same ; not CCM (I could be corrected); this type could be purchased as an after market item, as a lot of bikes were sold new without fenders
the lugs are the same at the head and BB, a different configuration from early CCMs
same seat stay configuration with what appears to be a curved Xbar unlike the straight Xbar on the CCMs;
has Williams crankset; whereas early CCMs used the CCM Model T (or one of its derivatives) or CCM built Hercules. Although in the older CCM catalogues you will see that Williams cranks were advertised.
ND hubs would not have been original equipment although CCM sold them as accessories. Is the hub a ND Model A? or B; knowing this would certainly assist in determining the year;
the wheels are the same as on mine wood with the metal liner;
I don't know about the front forks, they certainly look CCM.
IMO, it looks strikingly similiar to my Road King, but who knows for sure, it may have "morphed" into this configuration with the replacement of parts over time, although it looks pretty original.
Hope this helps, Cheers, Wayne