Leonard Serody’s 1940 Wastyn Special
This is Leonard Serody’s old racing bike, built in Chicago by master craftsman Oscar Wastyn.
A little bit about the bike:
Wastyn Specials were fantastic racing bikes revered for great handling and excellent build quality in the 1930’s and ‘40’s.
This bike was built at the same time that Oscar was constructing the Paramount line of racing bikes for Schwinn, so you may notice that some of the parts that adorn the Wastyn will be found on some similar vintage Schwinns in our collection, like a “Paramount” adjustable handlebar stem and Schwinn toe straps.
The crankset and hubs are from BSA (Birmingham Small Arms) and the saddle is a nice vintage Brooks B17 model.
Check out the Phillips rear brake! When we were cleaning up the bike we noticed a hole in the seatpost and a couple of crimp marks on the seatstays. These indicated that an add-on brake was bolted in place so that Leonard could more comfortably road race and tour on his bike.
The wheels needed rebuilding, and since wood was the carbon fiber of the era, that’s what we used here. Hickory wood rims from CB Italia. Great looking and not much different from what was original.
Now, a bit about the rider who owned this bike. This is Leonard Serody’s Wastyn Special. Leonard was captivated by bicycle racing during his teen years and raced in the Philadelphia area with his club, the Nicetown Wheelmen. In 1938, racing as a Junior, Leonard medaled at the American Bicycle League district championship.
Old bikes like this look like “track” bikes to us now, given the single gear and usual lack of rim brakes. The fixed gear was typically all a rider could use to slow down, regardless of where they were riding. Leonard probably went to the velodrome with his bike a few times, but mostly wanted to race and ride on the roads, hence the brake.
The photos that Leonard’s daughter Barbara shared with us show a teenage Leonard on a white bike. Same bike? Definitely not. It looks to us like Leonard grew a bit, and may have wanted a bigger frame or a faster ride. The white bike in the photos appears to be a smaller frame size and built a little less elegantly. Like bike racers for generations, Leonard upgraded to the latest and greatest.
From what we can gather, at some point in 1940 or ‘41 Leonard found himself in Chicago and the Wastyn bike shop on Fullerton avenue. He rolled out the doors with this chrome masterpiece. Roll is the operative word. Barbara tells a story of her father riding hundreds of miles on his bike, including a trip back to Philadelphia to visit the girl who would become his wife for 71 years.
Leonard gave up his bicycle for a B-25 Mitchell during the war years, serving as a pilot at the Warrant Officer rank in the Army Air Corps.
There was probably some pedaling when Leonard returned to Philadelphia, but like many of his generation, bike racing took a back seat to family and career once the war was over.