Rockhopperst4
Retro Newbie
A while ago I bought a 1939-1945 Phillips Military Roadster. Its complete but at some stage in its life its been painted gloss black all over (and I mean all over!). I've stripped it down to replace bearings etc and I'm also going to repaint it.
It would be more use to me as a civilian bike as I do a bit of 1940's re-enacting as a civvy so I was planning on repainting it black with all the shiny bits. I've stripped the frame and there is no trace of its original green paint apart from inside the head stock. Okay so far!
I've now stripped the black paint off the brakes which revealed the original green underneath. And under the green its just mild steel, no trace of chrome, so if I was going to use it as a civvy bike I couldn't have shiny bits (unless I got them chromed).
One final point is that the very few pictures of these bikes on the net show that they were fitted with some kind of hub gear with a lever on the top tube. My bike has got a single speed wheel but there are marks on the frame where a lever and the cable pulley may have been mounted.
I know I will have almost no chance of finding the bits to restore the gears!
What to do guys? Restore it to how it was or do it as a civvy bike? Or maybe as some kind of hybrid. Would a civvy in the 1940's ever be seen riding a military bicycle (maybe if he was an air raid warden)?
It would be more use to me as a civilian bike as I do a bit of 1940's re-enacting as a civvy so I was planning on repainting it black with all the shiny bits. I've stripped the frame and there is no trace of its original green paint apart from inside the head stock. Okay so far!
I've now stripped the black paint off the brakes which revealed the original green underneath. And under the green its just mild steel, no trace of chrome, so if I was going to use it as a civvy bike I couldn't have shiny bits (unless I got them chromed).
One final point is that the very few pictures of these bikes on the net show that they were fitted with some kind of hub gear with a lever on the top tube. My bike has got a single speed wheel but there are marks on the frame where a lever and the cable pulley may have been mounted.
I know I will have almost no chance of finding the bits to restore the gears!
What to do guys? Restore it to how it was or do it as a civvy bike? Or maybe as some kind of hybrid. Would a civvy in the 1940's ever be seen riding a military bicycle (maybe if he was an air raid warden)?