Pre-WW2 BSA, something of a diamond in the rough I believe

[Frankenorange]

The hyphenated name is very much like American product naming.

I can imagine a travelling salesman, called Chuck , who has holes in the soles of his shoes, the collar of his shirt a little too worn and smelling slightly of hooch. Chuck has been drinking too much of this, since being laid off at the car plant, and it is all he can do to manage extolling the benefits of the Super-Ezee De-Light wool rug cleaner, day in and day out, to people who aren't really interested.
Chuck has stopped by a neat little house and a housewife , Mary, wearing an apron, is politely listening to the slightly broken looking salesman, casually smoking a Chesterfield from her secret stash ,she keeps at the back of a cupboard, with her other guilty pleasure, black music, that is all she has left from her previous life in Chicago, just audible in the background.
Annoyingly ; the scratch on her precious record, an unpleasant reminder of the last argument she had with her abusive boyfriend that led to her fleeing south, to live near her sister, was spoiling the moment for her. A break in the monotony, a conversation with someone who isn't family, the possibility of a new beginning. Maybe not with this guy, but maybe the next ?

 

[bikeworkshop]

The hyphenated name is very much like American product naming.

I can imagine a travelling salesman, called Chuck , who has holes in the soles of his shoes, the collar of his shirt a little too worn and smelling slightly of hooch. Chuck has been drinking too much of this, since being laid off at the car plant, and it is all he can do to manage extolling the benefits of the Super-Ezee De-Light wool rug cleaner, day in and day out, to people who aren't really interested.
Chuck has stopped by a neat little house and a housewife , Mary, wearing an apron, is politely listening to the slightly broken looking salesman, casually smoking a Chesterfield from her secret stash ,she keeps at the back of a cupboard, with her other guilty pleasure, black music, that is all she has left from her previous life in Chicago, just audible in the background.
Annoyingly ; the scratch on her precious record, an unpleasant reminder of the last argument she had with her abusive boyfriend that led to her fleeing south, to live near her sister, was spoiling the moment for her. A break in the monotony, a conversation with someone who isn't family, the possibility of a new beginning. Maybe not with this guy, but maybe the next ?

... and the next guy just happens to work for BSA in the art and copy department

 

[Mark Manley]

Small parts cleaner anyone?

 

[Mark Manley]

That's already turning out to be something magnificent. Love the black paint little detail in the crank recess.

[ why is it though like 99.9% of people here perfectly restore in about 0.1% of time compared to me What do you have breakfast? ]

Thanks you, I am not sure if that was original but they came like it and enhance the look I think.

 

[PhillB]

Some progress has been made, quite a lot actually, it has been resprayed and decals applied, for the time being I have settled for a head badge and seat tube badge along with an early Reynolds 531 decal, I am of the opinion it is a Super-Ezee De-Light due to the pump position which came with and without the signature on the down tube and might get one at a later date.
The handlebars and seatpost have been resprayed but most of the other parts are new to the bike but I believe more or less correct or appropriate, there is a nos BSA three speed hub which was an option at 21 Shillings, a very nice condition second hand crankset with a Reynolds chain and some Phillips pedals until I finish refurbishing the originals.
There was a good condition pair of Michelin tyres on the original wheels which I will eventually get some 26 x 11/4 rims for, the 26 x 13/8 only just clear the rear stays.

View attachment 988347

View attachment 988348

It's looking great!

 

[GregoryB]

Hello,
If you don't mind some input from an American bloke, I do have some knowledge of BSA bicycles, both prewar and postwar. I'm in my mid-60s but grew up with some BSA's in the family. My uncle (mother's older brother) worked in the 50's for the BSA west coast distributor in Oakland, Calif. And for prewar bikes, I have a '37 Opperman Special, a '38 Gold Vase and a '39 Gold Crest.

The Super-eeze DeLight is the only possible BSA model that could be what you have. But my best guess is that your frame was made by some other company that specialized in

 

[GregoryB]

Oops
Accidently sent my prior message before I had finished typing it up.
To continue what I was composing...

I think your frame was made by what would now days be called an artesian frame builder. A small company that specialized in hand-crafted lightweight bicycle frames. And there are some reasons why it doesn't match up to a BSA produced frame.
First, the lugs are much more ornate than anything I have seen before on any prewar BSA bicycle, including the Opperman models from '36 through '39. And no, the lugs do not exactly match the postwar Gold Column bikes. There's a black/chrome Gold Column in a museum not far from where I live, the Marin Museum of Bicycling, and I have previously advised them on updating the display signage for their bike.
Second, the rear drop outs appear to be the standard style made by Chater Lea and similar fittings makers of the time but not anything I've seen on a BSA frame of the 30's.
Third, the seat post size of 27.2mm is larger than that used by any prewar BSA bike that I know of. Both the '37 Opperman and the '39 Gold Crest bike that I have are made with straight gauge 531 tubes and take a 26.8mm seat post. The larger 27.2mm size seat post is what would be more commonly fitted to a frame made with double-butted 531 frame tubes.
Fourth, the weight of the frame is unusually light for a prewar bike and might actually be made with Kromo tubing from Accles & Pollock. The bare frame weights of my '37 Opperman and '39 Gold Crest are both nearly the same at approximately 4.80lbs or 2.1kg, and yet still much lighter than my '38 Gold Vase frame that weighs a hefty 5.97lbs or 2.7kg.
And lastly, some mention was made of it being a possible bespoke frame made to customer order. That would be more likely true for an artesian built frame at a specialty shop than for the BSA factory back then that was geared towards high quality standardized production. The only examples that I know of when BSA made custom bike frames in-house were the hybrid Gold Column/Gold Vase Special custom frames that Bob Maitland oversaw the production of for the BSA cycling team used in the 1952 Daily Express Tour of Britian race.
Any questions, and I'll do my best to answer.
Cheers!