Bastide Stayer

Louis Maltese’s 1928 Bastide Stayer

Louis Maltese's Bastide Stayer

Louis Maltese and Alf Letourneur, 1929

This bike was built for Louis Maltese, a professional track racer in the 1920s and 30s.

Louis and this bike could be seen competing in motorpaced events all around the east coast during that time.  Tucked in behind a motorcycle driver, Lou and his Bastide raced at speeds of forty, fifty, and even sixty miles an hour.  The Newark, Nutley, and Coney Island velodromes were home turf.

A big gear for high speeds

Saddle and post with turnbuckle brace

Louis was the director of the American Bicycle League (bike racing’s governing body) for many years, he was an early member of the Century Road Club (America’s oldest cycling club, founded in 1898), and he worked for decades promoting bike races (including the 1960, ’64, ’68, and ’72 Olympic trials).  Mr. Maltese was inducted posthumously into the bicycling hall of fame in 1992.

Great machining on these old pedals

That's an oil port at the center of the hub

This track bike is a “Stayer” (also known as a “Steher” or a “Gangmaker” depending on your nationality). A bike that was built to be ridden behind a derny or motorcycle driver in motorpaced events. The reversed fork and smaller front wheel makes the bike handle like a shopping cart, it just wants to go straight ahead.  A roller bar on the back of the motorcycle keeps bad things from happening if the front wheel of the bike bumps it.  This is important, since the speeds involved in most motorpaced events average around fifty miles an hour.

1920s Motorpace helmet

Bastide front end reenforcements

The rider is positioned far forward on a bike like this, and you can see that this Bastide has reinforcements to keep the bike stable in that position.  The smaller front wheel has the added benefit of reducing the distance between the cyclist and his pacer, improving the aerodynamic drafting effect.