1943 Roadmaster
Description   click for larger picture
The rarest production model in this room, this bicycle was made by Cleveland Welding of Cleveland, Ohio. During this period, if a bicycle sported the name Shelby, Elgin, JCHiggins or Western Auto its frame was made by Cleveland Welding. The Roadmaster name was later sold to Buick Motor Company, who registered the name. One year before this bicyle was produced, the federal government offered contracts to most bicycle manufacturers. It seems the same machines that made bicycle parts, could be used to make ordinances and munitions for the war effort during WWII. Cleveland Welding, worried about their customer base during the 1943 Christmas season and received permission with two caveats to produce a limited number of models. 1) Any bicycles produced must be made out of existing inventory. 2) All models must have black walled tires. (the last thing you want a Japanese Zero pilot to see from his cockpit, is the white stripe of your child's bicycle tire.) This model comes equipped with the "skip link" gear chain, 1 inch pitch between sprocket teeth. There was controversy in the industy whether to standardize the "skip link" or what was known as the "speed chain", with 1/2 inch pitch between sprocket teeth , the "speed chain" won!