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Few days ago I got as a present one very old bike frame which was almost completely stripped of paint few years ago and slight rust got on it on the surface. Only fork was in it’s original color, it was black with white or maybe golden pinstripes, headtube has some strange screw alike thing on right side.

Previous owner told me this,

Bike is from Germany, possible 1938. year, made by Mars brand. It has serial number stamped on seattube and it’s 675931

Here are few photos

enter image description here https://photos.app.goo.gl/H779DhGyi518jKyDA

https://photos.app.goo.gl/TY2g41ZEp2Ebv2hM7

https://photos.app.goo.gl/tHu8uxtTUHntW1528

https://photos.app.goo.gl/y4eoMgeFaRSzCn6T6

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Hz2ke4irysFj3M819

https://photos.app.goo.gl/kUFFzDkTJ4RZ1wBcA

https://photos.app.goo.gl/KhmdzJgbrPJ63FP38

https://photos.app.goo.gl/oaQsa1iwAMXQUdAF8

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2
  • It's pretty generic. There might be a few details with the fork or the seat stays that an expert might recognize, but for the most part it looks like any other bike built in the mid-1900s.
    – Daniel R Hicks
    May 2 at 22:18
  • Noted - it has a VERY short head tube. Back then metallurgy wasn't quite as good, so one way to make head tubes last longer was to make them physically longer. A short one is unusual.
    – Criggie ♦
    May 2 at 23:41

1 Answer 1

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It looks a lot like this 1954 Raleigh Superbe Roadster.

enter image description here
Link to original picture

enter image description here
Link to original picture

Key similarities:

  1. Tubular fork crown
  2. Bolted seat stays
  3. Pinched tubing rear dropout
  4. Similar lugs
  5. Similar bend in the rear stays at the brake bridge

I don't know how many years Raleigh used this frame design or on how many models for each year.

Here is a somewhat similar bike from 1909
enter image description here
There are many other old Raliegh's to look at on this site.

Here is a link to Raliegh catalogs back to 1939.

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6
  • The seat stays are quite similar - its of the right era. But the head tube is "normally long" on these. OP's one has a very short head tube.
    – Criggie ♦
    May 2 at 23:42
  • @Criggie wouldn't the head tube be proportionate in size to the frame?
    – David D
    May 3 at 0:28
  • On the Raleigh, it looks like the seatstays and chainstays are bolted together. That doesn't appear to be the case on op's frame.
    – Simon Lundberg
    May 3 at 11:31
  • @SimonLundberg if you look carefully at op's pics there are bolted chainstays.
    – David D
    May 3 at 11:45
  • 1
    @DavidD are you sure about that? I can't see a bolt here. photos.google.com/share/…
    – Simon Lundberg
    May 3 at 11:56

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