John Foltz <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...
Quoted message said:Here's a better pic of a DeFelice. I don't know much about the bike, but the overall configuration
looks similar to a Ryan Vanguard, possibly with similar characteristics (better for touring than
speed work.) biketcba.orgdajohnson.htmlOpen ↗
The bike in this picture is their main model. The Ralston link is talking about a later, low cost
model called the Bitubular.
Yes, it was similar to a Vanguard.
There were two generations. The later generation had longer seat stays, and the USS bars were angled
upward. The seat fabric was taller too. That would be the one you would want.
The USS mount and pivot are bombproof; beautiful craftmanship. Linkage rod is solid and vibrates
some. Linkage ratio is not one-to-one; it is faster than that, so it takes some getting used to. The
seat lacked the horn of the Vanguard, so there is a tendency to slide forward in the seat. I used
some extra straps to give the seat a bit of a lip to counter that.
Fork was flat solid blades, like on an old Schwinn. Seemed to work ok.
Wheel sizes were 27" (630mm) and 20" (451mm). The cantilever mounts were set for these wheels. Not
sure what other sizes would work. There may be other "dimensional" issues with an historic bike like
this, such as dropout width.
Frames might have come in sizes, so they would want to know that it would fit.
I've got an original flyer if you need more info.
I rode one for many years/miles and my brother still has one.
johnriley1 (at) rogers.com