Vintage Bike - 80 years old

[Armagh]

Friend in Ireland asking if I can find a 'Dress Cord' for an 80 year old bike (something to do with mud-guards).

Can anyone help direct me to someone who would have this type of information.

 

[Cycleops]

It would appear this was a cord used to stop a long dress getting caught in the rear wheel. This isn't something you could buy off the shelf as a specific item as very few would now actually cycle in such attire so I think it may be a case of improvising something. It seems they were from silk cord according to this old ad. I imagine similar cord can still be found today maybe in a specialist haberdashery.

Quite how they attached I don't know but some research should yield an answer.

 

[roadrash]

never heard of dress cord , if you mean dress guard then plenty available on evil bay for under a tenner...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_...dress+guard.TRS0&_nkw=dress+guard&_sacat=7294

 

[mjr]

As I understand it, dress cord is just sturdy yarn laced back and forth between something fixed near the rear dropouts on each side, over the mudguard and back.

Cloth and plastic dress guards do similar jobs and are still sold by many sellers. You can even get ready-made bungee cord ones like https://www.laxzo.com/bicycle-rear-mud-guard-dress-shield-protector-road-bikes-26-28-16476-p.asp

 

[midlife]

I hated these when I worked in a bike shop and just had a Homer Simpson shudder