# "Yankee" Bicycle, anybody seen one of these?



## bikerboy (Jan 13, 2004)

This thing is very odd and not much info on them except for this little tidbit:

http://ustimes.com/Bicycle/

I picked this one up today from my local Craigslist. The guy bought it new in 1991 and it was just collecting dust.

Things of interest are the expanding chainring system with 9 speeds. It uses a nifty handlebar lever mounted on the bottom side of a Dia-Compe lever. That website has a pretty good description of how it works

It also has this weird band brake that runs through a channel on the side of the rim. It is actually quite effective from what I can tell.

The other thing that is odd are te 24" wheels. I suspect the size was limited to this due to the weird brake cable hanger that is smack in the way of the rear wheel. Due to the brake channel and the cable hanger, you are limited to a pretty narrow tire. It was a bummer that the original rear is split open since it is kind of hard to find a 24x1.5 tire these days. I will likely swap the front tire over to the back wheel and install a slightly larger 1.75 up front since there is plenty o' room.

I cant wait to ride it and see how it works.


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## nuck_chorris (Jun 6, 2008)

im confused


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## Flystagg (Nov 14, 2006)

Is that a mountain bike? It sure is odd, if nothing else that chain tentioner looks pretty nice. I dont see a front brake.


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## bikerboy (Jan 13, 2004)

Flystagg said:


> Is that a mountain bike? It sure is odd, if nothing else that chain tentioner looks pretty nice. I dont see a front brake.


Nope, not a mountain bike. It was intended as a comfort/cruiser/recreation bike. I couldn't think of anywhere else to post this. I figured some folks would be interested in the technology used on the bike. It was made around 1991, so fits the VRC timeline at least.


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## banks (Feb 2, 2004)

I've worked on a few of them shifting single chainring bikes. They are neat. Kinda like the landrider bikes of today; sold over the phone to retirees.


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## MendonCycleSmith (Feb 10, 2005)

banks said:


> I've worked on a few of them shifting single chainring bikes. They are neat. Kinda like the landrider bikes of today; sold over the phone to retirees.


Care to explain how they function? I'm not getting it from the pics, feeling a bit thick this AM too


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## fastale (Jul 2, 2007)

There has to be a lot of drag from that brake mechanism. 

The original hammerschmidt?


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## banks (Feb 2, 2004)

The chain rungs on sections of chainring that moves inwards & outwards from the cable pull.


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## MendonCycleSmith (Feb 10, 2005)

banks said:


> The chain rungs on sections of chainring that moves inwards & outwards from the cable pull.


Hello Rube Goldberg!

Thanks, that helps


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## manida (Feb 5, 2008)

I dig the BMX bars/stem


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## muddybuddy (Jan 31, 2007)

Seems like another case of adding complexity to a simple machine to fix a problem that didn't exist.


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## bikerboy (Jan 13, 2004)

fastale said:


> There has to be a lot of drag from that brake mechanism.
> 
> The original hammerschmidt?


You would think, but not really. It just makes a little noise from the cable riding in that channel.


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## bikerboy (Jan 13, 2004)

muddybuddy said:


> Seems like another case of adding complexity to a simple machine to fix a problem that didn't exist.


I agree completely. It is an interesting piece of bicycle history for sure.


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## charnita (Aug 12, 2018)

I saw your inquiry on your Yankee bicycle posted SOME YEARS AGO. Here it is 2018 and I will add my 2 cents worth. Around 1985 a man designed the 9 speed shifter mech. and the rim band clamp brake and got a patent on both of them. He also used both of these on his line of bikes on the east coast somewhere and called them YANKEE CRUISERS. you have the mans version. Around 1990 NORDI TRACT bought the line of bikes and renamed them as FITNESS BIKES to go with their equipment line. I think Nordi Tract only produce them for 2 years and QUIT THE LINE OF BIKES. I have the NORDI TRACT LADIES version and I did a lot of research on the bikes and found the patents on-line and drawings of the two items. Very interesting and a lot of time on the internet. I am retired so have a lot of free time.This is my very first time to post anything on this website and you may not even get this reply to your Yankee question but someone else may run across one of these bikes and find this post interesting. CAUTION !!! the parts for these bikes are hard to come by, so treat them with care. Charnita


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