Ok old bike buffs

[Basil]

What is this? (PS: Partial Credit given if you're partly right).

 

[Gliderman8]

With all those springs it must have been ridden on some very rough terrain. I can faintly make out a name decal on the down tube. Vic…. Something

 

[BobHaskell]

internet search, a German bicycle used during WW1

Herrenrad Victoria with Spring Wheels ​

 

[NutmegCT]

That is fascinating! Never knew about those spring wheel bicycles. Thanks for posting.

Looks like the idea was used on cars at about the same time:

A German Protos, with spring wheels.

 

[waltesefalcon]

The orginal run flats.

 

[charlie74]

Original airless... Funny how old tech becomes new again. They must have been pretty heavy!

 

[NutmegCT]

Speaking of airless ...

 

[Basil]

Looks like the idea was used on cars at about the same time:

WWI era - rubber shortage.

 

[Basil]

That is fascinating! Never knew about those spring wheel bicycles. Thanks for posting.

Notice the hole for an air valve on the inner rim.

 

[gonzo]

Noisy? Very interested in knowing if this is a WWI or WWII vintage bike. Perhaps Italian?

 

[Basil]

Noisy? Very interested in knowing if this is a WWI or WWII vintage bike. Perhaps Italian?

WW1, German

 

[maynard]

Don't know, but the gear by the pedals looks like Schwinn.

 

[Basil]

Don't know, but the gear by the pedals looks like Schwinn.

Sure does.

 

[YakkoWarner]

My father had a vintage Schwinn with a battery powered horn in the false fuel tank (similar to the one seen in the picture above), so that too would lend credence to it being a vintage Schwinn

 

[waltesefalcon]

It's a 1905 Herrenrad Victoria model 12. The Gewehr 98 was a big tip to tracking it down. It turns out the spring wheels were a result of rubber shortages during the First World War.

1905 Herrenrad Victoria with Spring Wheels (used in WW1) – The Online Bicycle Museum

1905 Herrenrad Victoria with Spring Wheels (used in WW1)

onlinebicyclemuseum.co.uk

 

[DrEntropy]

The Gewehr 98 was a big tip to tracking it down.

First thing I saw. Era specific.

And the crank gear pattern seemed familiar, Schwinn came to mind but the German one has too many "circles" to it.

 

[waltesefalcon]

First thing I saw. Era specific.

And the crank gear pattern seemed familiar, Schwinn came to mind but the German one has too many "circles" to it.

Yeah the crank gear kinda looks like a Schwinn gear with five circles instead of four. The thing that actually set me back on IDing it was the plate on the front tube. I could make it "Vic" and decided the name of the bike must be "Victory" and that kept bringing me back to a 40s model Schwinn called the Victory. It wasn't until I dropped looking for a bike with "Vic" in the name and started focusing on the rifle that made me look for "WWI German Military Bicycles" that I found it.

 

[NutmegCT]

Maybe I'm missing something, but didn't Bob Haskell's post on Sunday identify the bike?

 

[Basil]

Maybe I'm missing something, but didn't Bob Haskell's post on Sunday identify the bike?

Yes but sometimes it's easy to miss what others post. Happens to me all the time.

 

[waltesefalcon]

Yes but sometimes it's easy to miss what others post. Happens to me all the time.

Yup, I totally missed it. I saw the original post and Tom's post, then started looking for the answer.