
People began to associate the American dimensions with these low-end bikes, and to forget that many high-quality machines had been made to these standards. When the 1970's bike boom brought large numbers of European (and later, Asian) bikes to the U.S., the older American dimensional tolerances went into retreat, and were increasingly relegated to department store bicycles, such as Huffy and Murray. These bicycles used different standards for bottom brackets and cranks, frame tube diameters, seatposts, pedals, headsets and handlebar stems. made bicycles, often of very high quality, were built to rather different standards than those that prevailed in the rest of the world. We stock repair parts to help keep yours on the road.įrom the WW I era to the 1970s, U.S. Parts for Older American Bicycles Bottom Brackets | Frame tube diameters | Seatposts | Pedals | Headsets | Stems Visit our Catalog for a more Contemporary Shopping Experience. Shot in both legs in the Pacific, he received two Bronze Stars.Parts for older American Bicycles Accessories The Barracuda had a chrome twin stick shift console and the Barracuda Beast featured a sports car steering wheel.īorn in Brooklyn on April 5, 1921, Ross attended Pratt Institute and enlisted in the Marines during World War II. The Marlin had a console mounted stick brake.

In 1968, Ross created bikes that were part of what was known as the muscle bike craze. Models included touring, cruiser, mountain, racing, wheelie and stationary exercise bicycles. Ross made about one million bikes annually by the late 1960s and by 1985 had sold 10 million under its name. Ross bicycles became the third largest seller after Schwinn and Huffy. The bicycles’ popularity overwhelmed the other products and the company turned to just making bikes.


Products were manufactured in Allentown, Pa. The company headquarters was in Rockaway Beach. and manufactured lawn mowers, wheel chairs and bicycles. Originally Ross Galvanizing Works, founded by Ross’s father, Albert, in 1940, coated the bottom of ships and galvanized pipes. Ross, who created the Ross Bicycle company, died on June 4 in Pembroke Pine, Fla.
