Bicycle Institute of America Mystery Racer

If patina is the primary value of an antique, this bicycle is valuable both for the stories it tells, and the stories it has thus far chosen to keep to itself. Who made it? I don't know. How old is it? I can only guess. One look at this bike and this much is clear: it has been ridden. There is a decal on the headtube that reads "Bicycle Institute of America," with the image of a 1930s or 40s double bar balloon-tire bike. (With my limited photographic skills, to date I have not been able to capture a clear image of said bike, nor have I been able to find much information on the Bicycle Institute of America, which was active in the 1950s, and was supposedly still in existence as late as the 1990s). I received this bike as a frame with a Chater Lea crank, and have built it as a three-speed 1950s British club bicycle.

I love everything about this bike, from the crudely hand-painted gold lugs to the worn blue paint and the mish-mash of transfers (Ted Ernst has identified the olympic rings and cyclist as a Puch transfer). This beauty was probably found in California and later brought to the midwest by the late great Nolan Bay. Thanks to James Allen for sending it my way.