Hilary Stone wrote:
>
> Frame tubing diameters were pretty much standardised in Britain before
>WWI with 1in TT and 1 1/8in ST and DTs. After WWI Chater-Lea introduced (i
>think 1922) a lugset to build frames with a 7/8in TT and 1in DT and ST.
>Brampton followed suit soon afterwards. CL also supplied tubing to suit - I
>can look up the wall thicknesses if anyone is interested. These never proved
>very popular judging by the number of surviving bikes with 7/8in and 1in
>tubing ... unless they were a lot less reliable. By 1938 sets of tubing in
>this size combination were no longer available - in reality I think the idea
>had died a death by 1930.
Those thinner dimensions were the norm in the U.S., also from before WWI, generally with one-piece "Ashtabula" type bottom brackets.
That's what my 1916 Mead Ranger used (internally lugged/crucible brazed) though I believe most U.S. frames with these tubing diameters were welded construction.
The smaller diameter corresponded with thicker walls, for greater weldability.
Sheldon "http://sheldonbrown.org/ranger.html" Brown
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