Skidstar Therapy

[BH74]

The frame number and features would suggest mid to late 1960's. May be one of the last of the pressed end frame era? Does it have 27 or 28" wheels? Most of the 'Skidstars' had 3 speed gears. The single speed coaster versions were usually labelled 'Roadstar', as far as I know and as far as I remember. Are they Japanese rims? The roadster bars are meant to be 'up'.
Is there a date on the shop cards?
Maybe some poor kid got this for Christmas, but was not allowed to ride it because he misbehaved?
Or, Santa left it in the shed and the kid never found it?
The mind boggles.
Great find.
Warren

Thanks Warren,
It has 27" x 1-3/8 Araya Japan rims, and Komet Super 161 single speed & Silver Star tyres.
I would imagine this was one of the models made in Japan?
The Austral brand seat is made in Japan as well as the cranks, unsure of the brand of crank though.
You are spot on with the bars being upside down too.
There is no visible date on the shop card unfortunately.

That's one bad kid, or Santa or both.

[bicyclepassion]

The frame would have been made in Australia, and fitted with imported parts. They kept making the frames for the basic models in Australia until the mid 1980's, and closed the frame making line officially in 1987.
Warren

[BH74]

The frame would have been made in Australia, and fitted with imported parts. They kept making the frames for the basic models in Australia until the mid 1980's, and closed the frame making line officially in 1987.
Warren

Handy Info Warren. Thanks again.
In your valued opinion, would you say this is a skidstar frame with roadstar parts, (Bars and singlespeed) or otherwise?
Is there any value in keeping this unridden?

[bicyclepassion]

I think they had a bunch of frames going down the line that day with skidstar decals on the top bar, and just had one order for coaster brake, so they maybe just built one single speed that day, your one. The skidstar and roadstar frames were exactly the same except for that decal.
I dont think there is any value in not riding it, or that it will be more valuable in years to come because it has not been ridden. If it was immaculate, maybe, but it is far from immaculate. I for one have them in better condition, that have been ridden regularly.
In my opinion, there is nothing sadder than a bike that is not ridden. Enjoy it!
You might pedal past the poor kid that it was meant for, and he will call out, "hey, that's my bike!"
(He wont be a kid though, he will be about 60)
Warren

[BH74]

Beautiful!! thanks for the info Warren. I will be enjoying the ride. Now, time to dust her off again.

[Mikey2hands]

I'm a bit late to this Skidstar thread but thought I would share mine.

I've been looking for a Skidstar for about 8 years and finally found this barn find on Gumtree.
The wheels were shot but I salvaged the Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub and saved it for another day. I stripped it down and rebuilt it too which was fun.

New 700c wheels with a Sturmey Archer 5 speed hub, new seat, brakes and Gov'ner handle bars and cranks and it rides beautifully. I also swapped the bottom bracket axle from cotter pin to square taper. It has a really comfy riding position and is a real head turner.

[Derny Driver]

Wow Mikey, that is a great job. I love skidstars and your one would be my dream bike. I love it!!

[maccayak]

Love the bike Mikey. Any chance of a bit of a build up spiel. I love the way the frame patina is original.

[bighux]

Any chance you could share what size Spindle you went for Mikey?

[maccayak]

I bought a standard original skidstar last week for parts but it is better than the project bike. Actually just put air in the tyres and she goes fine, even changes gears ok, so another coffee bike. This one has smooth wall steel rims, my other has textured wall steel rims. I don't think the wheels were changed but it is nearly 50 years old so you never know. Both are original 67 model bikes going by the SA rear wheel, was it feasible that both style rims were used? Just curious!

Cheers Geoff

[hiflange]

Not a Skidstar but a Boans Bluebird. Boans were a Perth department store that closed in the 80's. They marketed some pretty ordinary bikes bearing the Boans Bluebird name for many years. I guess this is a knockoff. I haven't looked closely at a proper Skidstar for a while but I think this frame varies from them in that it doesn't have the Chainguard stay in the chainstay, the fronts of the twin curved tubes don't have pressed in ends and the top tube looks like it has a long flat absent on the Skidstars. I guess from the serial number it might be October '76 build. Long term project...

[maccayak]

I bought a standard original skidstar last week for parts but it is better than the project bike. Actually just put air in the tyres and she goes fine, even changes gears ok, so another coffee bike. This one has smooth wall steel rims, my other has textured wall steel rims. I don't think the wheels were changed but it is nearly 50 years old so you never know. Both are original 67 model bikes going by the SA rear wheel, was it feasible that both style rims were used? Just curious!

Thought I would ad a photo of my standard skidstar. I need a MS star if anyone has one. Plan is just to clean, preserve and ride.
Cheers Geoff

[maccayak]

I picked up a ladies road star today as a parts bike to fix up a skidstar, mainly bought if for the chain guard but other parts will be handy. Anyway it came with an old leather tool bag, still with tools and an old puncture repair kit. It is branded "star approved". Is this a genuine Malvern Star accessory? It is old and its genuine leather and pretty hard. I thought some leather seat conditioner might help bring it back. If its not genuine, I wont bother.

[maccayak]

I bought a couple of early to mid 70's standard Skidstars over the weekend and surprisingly the serial numbers were only 34 apart. Made we wonder if they were made on the same day? At least they may have been made in the same week. I thought it was cool they were so close.

[Skidstar Mk2]

Hello, I am new to the forum, I have a Mk2 Skidstar, and was wondering if anyone knew where I could get a complete rear wheel or S/A rear hub. I have been looking on eBay for rear hubs but I am not sure what years the MK2's were made???
Regards
Jason

[maccayak]

Hi Jason, I find it easier to buy a whole ladies bike for the parts I need, such as wheels etc. There are also plenty of gents roadster bikes on ebay with SA wheels. You could try the retro bike market place on Facebook and put in a wanted request.

Cheers Geoff

[koen]

Since I finally got around to fixing up the Speedwell GTS, I thought I should post a couple of pictures. Alot of the old parts came up well, as did the paintwork before I applied new decals. The old GTS decals flaked off so I could keep the colour and some patina of the bike. The new parts were handlebars, new old front hub, old alloy 27" rims, seatpost and seat. The alloy rims brake much better than chrome.
Big question now is whether to keep or sell?

[ambernataliep]

here's another since we're in the mood

Do you know what paint code is on the bike?

[DaveP]

New here and just adding to an old thread. I have an Olympic version of a Skidstar, had it sitting in the shed for 8 or so years and the time has come to restore it! It is yellow, blue and white seat, still has all the original OLympic stickers on it, 27" rims 36 spoke on front and 40 spoke on rear with a Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub. It has the shifter on the handlebars rather than a T-Bar. Has cotter pinned crank with no serial under the crank, in fact I have not been able to find a serial anywhere. I have a few pictures but have not worked out to upload them just yet. It seems to be absolutely complete, chrome is quite rusty but the frame is good with surface rust only.

I would think looking at the bike it would be maybe b/w '69 and '73 but any hints as to how to date it would be great. Most of the chrome could be redone but may be easier to source a better 27" 40 spoke rear rim and have it relaced into the Sturmey hub, and a complete 27" front wheel in good condition as the chrome on the front hub is peeling badly. Any help appreciated so I can get this back riding again.

Not my first resto as I do already have a few old bikes including several restored or original 70's Dragsters (20" long frame plus others and some kid's 16"), a Chopper, an immaculate Repco Traveller racer from the 80's and a 1995 Cannondale Super V mountain bike. Might be my most difficult resto yet though!