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1930s? Alex Kay "The OK" Track Bike
The Alex Kay Cycle Co. was listed in the manufacturer section of the Toronto City Directory from around 1900 to 1947. I recently picked up this track bike or road racer. At the bottom of the head tube decal you can make out 320 Queen Street East. It has racing bars and saddle, Major Taylor stem, and fixie hub, but the angles of the seat and head tube are not very steep like a racer, it weighs in a little heavy, and has mounts for fenders. I've been told that the fender mounts mean nothing because back in the day guys would take their fenders off for the track and put them back on for road training.
Any insight into this bike is welcome. Is there anything about the frame or components that indicate a year or a decade? The steel rims are not original because they are too small for the frame. I don't know if the hubs are original to this bike or came with the small rims. Strangely, the spoke nipples are really long like they came out of wood rims. What do you make of the forward drop-outs - did they have those in the '30s? Does anyone recognize the chainring? - British make perhaps?
-Brian R.
Photos to come:
photos:
Brian
Joe has a KAY chain ring
Nice find Brian
Brian, check out this post from 2012.
http://www.vintageccm.com/content/southam-kay-bicycles-toronto
Here is something.
There is one feature that is a big clue to both age and intended use. That is the white paint on the stays. Circa 1936, it become law to include a white tip on the end of the rear mudguard, as a safety feature. Road bicycles manufactured without fenders had their seat stays painted white. Track bicycles were not intended for road use and did not have to comply with this requirement. Furthermore, a track bicycle would use rear fork ends as opposed to dropouts and would not have mudguard eyelets. It would also be more likely to employ a drive system with 1" pitch, while a road model would use 1/2" pitch.
The crankset appears to a Williams and, if so, will have date codes on the back of the crankarms and chainrings.
Basically, what you have is the equivalent of a circa 1936-1941 CCM Road Racer. I suspect it was originally intended for a flip-flop hub, as the rear droputs make the gear change easier and would be superfluous on a fixed gear or roadster model.
Congratulations on your new acquisition. Enjoy!
Thank you for all the replies. I had read about that patent in another thread on this site but it's great to see the actual patent. So, Kay and Southam invented the double top tube! I wonder if they were ever able to capture some income from their patent.
And thanks T-Mar for your analysis, and especially for the tip on the Williams date code. I agree that it's best described as a road racer, and I will report on the date code once I have a chance to check.
It has a Williams stamp and a 1934 date code on the chainring. I'm thinking it's probable the bike was built and sold for the 1935 model year, right?
The white stays don't appear in the 1935 CCM catalogue but are present in the 1936 literature. I'd expect that a small company like Kay would not implement any changes involving extra cost until mandated. However, I had forgotten to take into account that the 1935 CCM catalogue may have been printed in late 1934 to be availlable for the lucrative Christmas season and that the law may actually have taken effect during 1935. So, I'd say that 1935 is the earliest model year for the bicycle. It would not be unusal tofind a 1934 crank on a 1935 bicycle, especially if ithe crank was manufactured late in 1934. However, I doubt either Williams or Kay practiced stock rotation, so it's possible that the bicycle is even later than a 1935 model. If this were my bicycle, I'd call it a 1935-1936 model, with a smaller possibility of even being a 1937 or later model.
I was thinking the same thing, that it could also be a 1936 model. Thanks again T-Mar. It's nice to know the age of a bike. Not knowing the year is a little like having an unknown bike without a badge.
great bike, nice find
did you ever ask Gus Salmon to try to duplicate this decal? he would need specific pictures and measurement from the bike owner in order to pull it off
it would be good to have this rare badge on file before Gus decides to call it quit .....
do you have a 30's CCM Road Racer? did you ever compare them side by side? I looked at my '36, '37, and '39 RR and the frame geometry looks different .... but hard to tell without having them side-by-side
the rear triangle on your bike is really small (chain stays are short), bringing the rear wheel very close to the down tube .... good indication of a made for the track bike ... something like a 6 day racer
I think your rear hub is a Chater Lea track hub, I have the same hub on one of my track bikes .... mine is skip tooth but it's an earlier bike
https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/thinnest-tire-for-velocity-blunt-35-70...
some nice 6 day pictures on this tread
I think that bike is too heavy to be a 6 day racer. Plus it has mounting points for fenders at the dropouts and bottom of the fork. Maybe for road racing? I won't be able to do a side-by-side comparison until the summer because I moved and had to put bikes in storage. I know the CCM seat stays are thinner than these.
I don't think those hubs are original because they are laced into 26" rims, and the rear stays look like they were bent inwards for this narrow hub. I now have a 28" CCM Flyer wheelset on it and they fit & look perfect for it.
could be only a RR .... still very nice bike
about the decal, did you ever contact Gus to get it reproduce, I would be interested in two for my badge collection and hopefully for my unknown bike if it checks out to be a Kay
what saddle is on your Kay? looks like a very skinny Brooks saddle, like the B17 Sprinter or the wider Narrow
does it have oval cut-outs in the rear for a tool pouch?
The frame was made by Phillips, England
Roadworthy, I'm very interested in your comment. I've long suspected that Canadian companies self-described as manufacturers were stretching the truth and would be more accurately described as assemblers. SCP had a much, much larger factory than Alex Kay (whose shop is now an Italian restaurant) and I have a 1930s frame with an SCP beaver badge that is identical to a Phillips frame I have. I've also been suspicious of some Hyslop frames that look exactly like frames made by Emblem in Angola (Buffalo) NY. And I have an early 1920s Berlin Racycle whose frame was clearly made by the Davis Sewing Machine Co. in Dayton, OH.
The crankset on my "The OK" racer was made by Williams in the UK, and it would not surprise me at all of the frame was made by Phillips as you stated, but please share how you recognize this frame as a Phillips. I would love to know. Photo(s) would be great if you have a Phillips frame with features common to both of them.
-Brian R.
In the case of Kay, "bicycle manufacturer" is not a self described term. They were classified as a bicycle manufacturer by the government of Canada during the period in question. While I don't know the official criteria for such a classification, Kay would appear to have contributed at least some Canadian content such as assembly, as Canadian companies known to have their bicycles contract manufactured, either domestically or in foreign countries, were not classified as manufacturers.