Tricycle Fetish Blog

One of the most popular questions we receive is whether or not to restore a particular tricycle. We recently received the photo at the left of a vintage Colson tricycle, and the owner was wondering whether a restoration was in his best interest. This is a question that has no real specific yes or no, right or wrong answer, and depends on many factors including: intent for tricycle, age, maker, design/model, condition and budget. The first thing anyone with a tricycle has to realize is that nobody ever gets rich, or in fact, makes much money at all “flipping” a tricycle by restoring it an reselling it for more. Someone doing professional restorations can make some money doing them, but you won’t likely be able to sell a restored tricycle for much, if any, more than the cost of the tricycle and the restoration.

If you want to keep the tricycle for nostalgic or decorative reasons, it’s best to decide for yourself if you want to restore it. A lot of readers on our site want to restore their tricycle for their kids or grandchildren to actually ride. Others just want to use it as a decorative object. A professional restoration shouldn’t hurt the value of most tricycles, if you choose to have it restored to original condition.

When a tricycle is older and retains much of its original paint, it’s usually just left as it is. If it is really beat or rusty, then it might be better to do a restoration. You also can consider something short of a full-blown restoration project. With a bit of clean-up of the chrome and rust and the addition of parts such as grips and new tires, many old tricycles can be improved significantly in both their appearance and utility without having to remortgage your house to pay for the restoration.

Q: I have this tricycle. It has a metal badge on front with Mercury in large letters and murray ohio and other things that I will tell you about. could you please help me with info on when made, cost at time and value today? i would really like to know about it.

A: Your tricycle is a Mercury that was made circa 1930 by Murray Manufacturing. Murray made a number of different brands of tricycles, including the Mercury line. We don’t give values, but originally it probably cost around $15 retail. To find the exact year, you’d have to have the exact year’s catalog to match the size and paint scheme, and even then you wouldn’t know if the same style/model was made for more than that year.

We received the photo above of an early Taylor chain driven tricycle that has relatively small gauge tubing when compared to the later Taylor tricycles. The tricycle was probably made in the late 1920′s or early 1930′s.  The owner wants to know our thoughts on whether or not he should restore it. It’s really hard to tell from the photos whether it is rusty or just really dirty. If most of the original paint remains, you might want to leave it as is. If it’s mostly rusty, then it might be a nice project.

The problem that you’re probably going to run into with a tricycle like this is the pneumatic tires. They’re about impossible to find and extremely expensive if you can find them. If the tires are not in bad condition (doubtful, though from the pictures it’s hard to tell) you might be able to have a tire place fill them with the foam that they use in equipment tires. This would keep them looking original…but again, only if they are in pretty good shape right now.

Q: I have found a Murray tricycle that is in very good condition, there is a tag on the front fender that indicates that the tricycle is a Twin ZZ frame. The ends of the frame are open on the front and the rear. On the front there is still one of the clear plastic head lights in it and of course one is missing. On the rear it appears that there should be what I am assuming should be red plastic tail lights. These items are the only pieces missing from what is a unmolested tricycle. Where would you suggest searching to obtain these missing pieces and is this tricycle worth having restored to its original glory

A: Parts are probably going to be very hard to find for this tricycle. We’ll post this story and put a note on our Facebook page, maybe someone might have something. We’d normally say to get another parts tricycle and make one nice one, but your tricycle is pretty scarce.

As far as restoring it goes. A perfect restoration would increase the value, but likely not as much as you would spend in time and money doing the restoration. It looks to be in pretty nice condition as it is. Some cleaning,  Simichrome chrome polish and the missing plastic pieces would make it look a lot nicer. Often times people end up either finding something to work in place of the plastic caps, or making their own out of wood or some other material. While not original, if done right, this option will look better than having nothing there, and you can always take out those pieces if you find originals.

Q: WE WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF POSSIBLE THE YEAR AND MAKE. AND WE WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WOULD IT BE EXSPENSIVE TO RESTORE. ARE DO YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS ON WHO WE CAN GET TO RESTORE THE TRICK .IF IT POSSIBLE. WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.

A: You have a 1960′s Murray. Finding the exact year would probably be impossible, even if you had all of the Murray catalogs from the 1960′s, as this frame / fender design was probably used for several years and you would have no way of identifying the color scheme…as there is no color left.

I think this tricycle really falls into the category of “flower garden decoration.” Lots of people put old rusty tricycles in their flower beds for decoration…and in that case, the rustier the better.

The cost to restore something this far gone would be enormous, and that’s if it is even possible. Go to eBay and search for ‘Murray Tricycle’ and you will see what tricycles of similar ages are going for in better condition. If you really wanted a restoration project, it would be better to get one that wouldn’t result in sandblasting causing a hole in the frame.

Q: Here is what I have and am getting excited about restoring. I have no experience restoring anything other than old cars. I am pretty handy and have all the tools. With cars original low mileage verifiable cars sometimes are worth more than the restored versions. I am wondering if this is the same with these tricycles?

About 6 years ago while out of town I was staying at a hotel and wandered into an live auction of merry go round horses. Some were worth a bundle $20,000 and others (reproductions?) not so much. I was interested in the action and the lovely wood horses so I stuck around long enough to  I purchased a old tricycle shown in the pictures above for I think around $200 dollars. I am not looking to make any money from this purchase my current plan is to refinish the tricycle and eventually give it away when one of my Goddaughters when she has a child.

I have a couple of questions I am hoping you can help me with? Any idea of age and who made it? What type of material it is? Is it collectible and can I get new rubber for the wheels and or the foot pedals? All I know for sure is that It has stamped on the side MADE IN ENGLAND.  Would you be so kind as to share with me your opinion about how a restoration affects the value or future collectability ? As I said before I will not sell this but I do not want to do something stupid like ruin a good old tricycle. Everything shows some wear paint looks original and there is little rust. There is one cracked wood slat on the seat ( not sure of the wood type looks like a pine?).  Everything turns fine and it has a single wheel in the hoof to steer. There are two holes on either side of the horse’s mouth that likely contained reins (leather?) or some kind of bridle.

A: Your question is along the same lines as what we get asked constantly, which is basically….should I restore my old tricycle or leave it like it is. The simple answer is this: Do whatever you want to do.

If you like the old weathered look, leave it as it is. If you would like it to regain its original colors and look like a new toy, then restore it. If you want to paint it neon green with pink polka dots, do that. Whatever you choose should be based on what your intentions are for the tricycle and your personal preferences, and that is because you will never make money restoring a tricycle to resell. The time, effort and monetary costs will always exceed your selling price when you restore a toy tricycle. The only time when I can think of where restoring a tricycle would lead to a profit would be if you were restoring a very early adult tricycle from circa 1870 and the tricycle in question was badly damaged. In that case the restoration might  be worth it, but there you are talking about a tricycle worth tens of thousands of dollars.

This is not to say that you can’t increase or decrease the value of your tricycle depending on what you do to it. Just that the restoration process will cost more than what the finished product will gain in value, even if done perfectly. You could spend anywhere from $100 to several thousand dollars restoring this tricycle, yet the increase in value will likely be several hundred dollars at the most, no matter what you spend.

I am unsure of the maker. These types of surrey tricycles are usually hard to put a manufacturer on, and being that it was made in England makes it even harder. It seems as if a lot of these types of trikes were made by a company that specialized in making them, rather than by a large toy maker.

Judging by the photo, I’d say it was made around 1940′s. The horse looks to be made out of cast aluminum, as were many of this style, but it’s hard to tell with just a picture. You can find replacement tires and rubber in our online tricycle store, though I’m unsure of where you can find rubber for the pedals- you may have to improvise a bit there.

Q: Hello…I have come across a piece that I have no idea what it is!It’s about 4 inches, marked TRIKE HITCH and Pat Pend. Any ideas?

A: There have been numerous designs of tricycle hitches made for pulling little trailers and carts. Yours appears to be made for pulling a small wagon. The size that you stated makes it see like it would be too small for a normal sized wagon, such as a Radio Flyer.

Q:I recently bought a storage unit at an auction and found this GREAT tricycle inside. This is completely out of my realm of knowledge. I think it is a #450 Sky-King Velocipede. It looks like someone was going to restore it, as it is missing all the attached lights,chrome etc. I am looking for confirmation that this is what I think..it has a 12″ front wheel and 8″rear.Do you know what years this was available?  Also, of course, I am looking to sell it but I have a very limited selling base out of Spokane,WA. I would love for it to find a good home, I am assuming it is fairly rare since I can not find any originals for sale, only repos! I have more pictures too. Any info is helpful! Thank you! Darcy

A: You have indeed found a Junior Sky King. They were produced for a few years in the mid-late 1930′s. While it is a nice find, you now own an incomplete and rough tricycle. In addition to this problem, you also have the problem, as you mentioned, of there being a ton of reproductions out there. So this further limits the outlets for sale. Most would rather spend a hundred or two dollars on a working repro than spend the hundreds or thousands that it would take to restore an original.

That said, you shouldn’t have a problem unloading this tricycle, because it is desirable despite the condition. A few days on eBay or Craigs list will get rid of it for sure. Most antique stores will buy it too. Just don’t expect to get anywhere near the value of one in original condition.

Q: I have a FAIRY COLSON COMPANY vintage tricycle for sale and was wondering what the price might be for a tricycle like this. I traded some Lionel trains for it. I’m not a tricylce guy so if anyone could help me out with some info I would really appreciate it. I have it listed on Ebay with pictures. – thanks

A: We only give prices and appraisals to customers who purchase our online price guide, but I’ll give me opinion on your asking price (which I will not mention) and your Lionel deal. First, your price was not out of line. Finding these type of tricycles is difficult, finding them with original paint is nearly impossible. More luck than anything usually.

Your tricycle did not sell on eBay for the asking price. This is not unusual. For something to bring decent money on eBay it has to be something super rare and desirable. While your tricycle is nice, it isn’t the thing collectors are lining up to buy. People usually buy tricycles for the nostalgic value, and nobody alive today remembers their Colson Fairy from 1908 (or whenever).

A week is just not long enough exposure to try to sell a tricycle like this for a high retail price. Had your opening bid been set at 1/3 of that price, you’d probably have sold it. Most people who shop on eBay do so for convenience and/or deals.

As far as trading for Lionel trains goes…. The type of deal you got depends on what sort of trains you received in return. But in general, if you think you made out OK, then you probably did well. Lionel trains are always in demand and there are far more collectors of model railroad items than there are of antique tricycles. They take up much less space, you can still play with them if you’re 60 years old, they take up less space.

Q: Can the black AMF pedals be opened up to 7/16″? And do you have any 3/4″ id x 3 – 3 1/4″ black hand grips? Thanks, Dan

A: First of all I’d like to thank you for asking prior to purchasing the pedals. It seems that this is a common question, but usually gets asked after they buyer attempts the surgery.

The black AMF pedals that you’re referring to have a 3/8″ opening, so you would need to shave 1/16″ off the inside. This would require you to take 1/32″ off of the inside of the pedal. This should not be a problem on the ends, where the plastic is thicker, but poses a problem in the center where the plastic is much much thinner. Is it possible? Maybe, but probably not worth the effort and you run the risk of destroying a $35 set of pedals.

If you were hellbent on trying it, you would need a good drill press and a strong clamping system to hold the pedal just right.  This isn’t something you can just take a 7/16 drill bit, put it in your hand drill and hold the pedal with your other hand.

You really have two options that work better.  First, you could find the right size pedal. They are hard to find and just keep getting harder to find.  Or, you can reduce the size of your pedal axle.  This too won’t be an easy task, but the upside is that you should still have enough metal left to support pedaling by a small child. Also, the pedal axle will be hidden by the pedal, so it wouldn’t have to be pretty (ie. get out your grinder and go to town).

As far as the grips go, what you see in our online catalog is all we have at this time. Good luck.

Q: We are hoping someone can give us information regarding the tricycle in the photo, such as year and value.

A: Your tricycle is an American model from the Hettrick Manufacturing Company in Toledo as you stated in your email.  It is from circa 1950, give or take.  This model was produced for a number of years.  The wooden bed is a homemade addition.  Originally this tricycle would’ve had a pressed steel bed.  These are pretty popular, but not quite as popular as the Garton Delivery Cycle, which is basically the same type of tricycle. Sorry, we don’t give out values, but I will say that it does have some collector value, though you won’t be retiring from selling it. More info and pics of Hettrick tricycles.

Q: What year might this tricycle be? What might the tricycle be worth in its current condition and restored?

A: Your tricycle is from circa 1960, or thereabouts. We only give valuations to customers who’ve purchased our online price guide, but I will tell you that in restored condition, it would be worth significantly more.  The problem however, is that to get it to be worth more, you’d need to spend hundreds of dollars and massive amounts of time.  Also, it will probably be hard to sell it when restored for over the amount that you have in the tricycle and restoration.

We recently received pictures of this neat early Taylor tricycle that someone has restored to some degree somewhere along the way.  The tricycle has a embossed brass headbadge, leather springer saddle and unlike the later Taylors, it has a thinner gauge lugged tubular frame.  The tricycle has the handlebars and stem that are similar to the newer models, but without the headbadge, the handlebars might be the only clue as to the maker.

The tricycle looks to have been made circa 1920′s.  Though the trike doesn’t have the thick tubes that many like about the Taylor tricycles, this is a neat tricycle and a pretty scarce find.  View our Taylor manufacturer page for more info and pics of Taylor trikes.

Q: I have a velocipede similar to the oldest ones you have shown.No markings. All original. Everything works well.Steel wheels; original velvet on seat and wooden pedals…Think it was made around Pittsburgh or eastern Ohio.Colson of Elyria, Ohio was a popular manufacturer in this area. We are told that most children did not receive something like this; only wealthy families owned one of these. It’s a gem.What I know about it is it’s been in the family since about 1900.I am interested in finding someone or some organization who wants to collect it.There is a generous Finder’s Fee for assisting in brokering any such deal. Am also seeking a ballpark for a fair sale’s price.Thank you for taking a look. Any feedback you might have is welcomed.

Q: Your tricycle looks to be in pretty nice shape.  While we don’t give free appraisals or broker deals, we will post your message to our blog.  If anyone is interested, you can reply to our Tricyclefetish Facebook page.  You may also want to check out Copake Auctions in New York.  They have a yearly auction of antique and classics bicycles and velocipedes.

Q: I have my grandmother’s (I think) tricycle….the tag says it is a Colson Brownie. Can you tell me what year/era this tricycle would be from? It has wooden pedals, a leather seat, and it is very cool, but I don’t see much info on the web with this name….HELP!

A: Hmm?  That is a pretty rare tricycle…and it’s in pretty nice condition too.  It probably dates back to the teens.   They probably made that model for a number of years.  The wooden pedals are just blocks that were added to the pedals to help a child reach them better.  The price that you’re asking on Craig’s List is fair.  For anyone interested, here it is on Craig’s List.

Q: Good day, I’m building a penny farthing. I’m making my own spokes but the nipples present a problem. I do not see what the threaded diameter of your spokes are or nipples. Could you send this info? I was planing on using 1/8 in. stainless rod for the spokes.  Thank You, JT Grant

A: I suggest you contact your local bicycle shop for this information.  You’ll need a spoke threading tool, unless you have a tool that threads rods that are that small with the same thread size as used on spokes.  There is no reason to use the old type of nipples that come in one size (which I do not know off the top of my head).  There are a wide range of spoke sizes available now that are brand new and a fraction of the price of old nipples. Selection of different gauge spokes & nipples.

Q: I WOULD LOVE IT IF YOU COULD LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK, LEONIE.  (The email accompanying this request was in all capitals and quite long.  Basically it said that the owner bought it an an auction for the equivalent of $175 in British pounds….)

A: Your tricycle does appear to Victorian or Edwardian.  It most certainly was not as early as 1960 as you stated that it was advertised as.  You stated that you thought it to be old because of the leather saddle being cracked….this is a poor way of judging age of these types of tricycles.  Leather can easily be manipulated with chemicals to give it a cracked appearance.  Also the polish that you state was over everything might be an indication that it was faked.

To me, the wear looks appropriate for an old tricycle.  You didn’t really provide close-up pictures of the hubs, pedals, cranks etc., that would have been a better indicator that the body of the horse.    You seem to have gotten a really good deal on it if it is 100 years old.  I haven’t seen any other fakes with similar styles.  Not 100% sure, but it appears to be antique.  For more info on fake horses and real antiques, see our website.

Q: this is my murray, is it all origional? is the fender supposed to be a lighter color or is that just faded? I noticed that on a pic on the internet, the seat was black, is that replaced? I would like to restore it for fun.  I would like to know some basic things and where i could find some accurate info on the restoration on this trike.

A: The fender looks to be a different color, but the easiest way to know is to check the paint on the underside of the fender, it shouldn’t be faded.  The seat looks original, but they would have used different seats on slightly different models or years.  Here is an article about retiring your wheels.  As far as I know, there is no book or site devoted to how-to of restoration of tricycles.  There are books and sites about restoring classic bicycles – the same principles and techniques would apply to restoration of trikes.

Q: I bought a little Murrary trike the other day. Looks to be in really good shape. I was just wondering what year it is and what it is worth?  Thanks

A: Your tricycle was probably made in the early 1970′s or possibly even late 1960′s.  They made similar models for a number of years.  To pinpoint the exact year you would need to have the catalog from the exact year of that paint scheme.  As far as value goes…we don’t normally comment on values on this blog, but I will say that the value is severely diminished due to the home paint job that covers up much of the original paint.  The cost and effort to restore it to even just the original paint job would be great.