Hi Warren,
I would suggest that your Road Racer was made between 1936 and 1941. The CCM chain ring (with the letters spelling CCM in the spider of the ring) came along in '36, as did the pencil seat stays. They were virtually identical (by observing catalogue illustrations and bikes around our fair city) up until production ceased for the war effort. Immediate post-war Flyers appeared identical to pre-war bikes but the old head badge (with the CCM script horozontal in relief) was change to a simple stamping with the vertical letters polished over a red background paint.
There were significant differences between Road Racer and Flyer. The Flyer was 531, while the Road Racer made of un-identified tubing (likely not even chromoly). The fork and seat tube on the Road Racer are extremely relaxed (guessing in the range of 68 degrees), while the Flyer has a similarly slack seat tube angle but a modern fork angle - they are noticeable not parallel even to a casual eye.
By the late-30's there was another model added above the Flyer called the "Professional Racer". The "Professional Racer" took on the specifications of the earlier track Flyer - wooden rims, Major Taylor stem, etc. - while the Flyer appeared to be down spec.'d or at least aimed more as a fixed gear road racing bike that wooden rims could be added to as an option.
Finally, there was a bike called a Doc Morton which were custom made racers built by an employee of CCM on his own time for riders he deemed worthy. My now deceased friend Ted Harper had a couple of these bikes that Doc Morton made for him in '35 and '36.
I had great fun with my own CCM Road Racer over a number of years of ownership - riding it in such places as Trexlertown, the Major Taylor Velodrome, as well as locally at the wooden Fonthill track and Delhi, even rode it on a 200km Brevet one year.
I've seen your bike, along with the many others that were displayed at John Engler's coffee shop last year. A nice machine!
Cheers,
Larry Strung
> Here in Canada, CCM distributed two dominant "performance" bikes over some
> forty years...the Track Flyer and the Road Racer. There were special
models
> and variations on both themes, especially the Flyer but for many years the
> two bikes were the same frame with differing components and forks.
>
> I have a pic of a Racer posted at
> http://www.tc-homes.com/
> It's from the 30's, contrary to the posting. The rims/tires and Major
> Taylor stem are not original.
>
> Neither the track bike NOR the road bike were drilled for brakes, front or
> rear. A Philco clamp-on rear brake was standard equipment on the Racer.
> This is a good thing, since it had a double-sided fixed/freewheel
hub...the
> same rear OR front brake was optional on the Flyer. These were very poor
> stoppers...traffic just wasn't an issue I guess.
>
> Warren Young
> Toronto
>
>
>
>
>
> Wes wrote...
>
> it was common to use a "track" bike for all
> >events. What I mean is that a track bike, modified with a single speed
> >freewheel and brakes, was often used for circuit road events. A friend of
> >mine bought a Frejus from a fellow in his eighties a couple of years ago
that
> >was set up like this. The seatstay bridge had not been drilled but
instead a
> >"sandwich" of two pieces of aluminum was bolted to the stays and drilled
to
> >accept the brake. He told us that many people racing in the old Colt Park
> >series in Hartford used track bikes modified thus. Anyone have any
> >recollections?