27"? Lobdel Single-Tube Rim

I picked up some Single-tube rims at the swap meet in Turlock last month. One of the rims, a chrome Lobdel rim is an odd size. I can't find any mention of this size in my old catalogs. It has an outside diameter of 23 and 15/16 inches, which makes it about an inch bigger than the old American 26 inch size and an inch smaller than the old American 28 inch (700C) size. Does anyone know what this rim might be for? Is it an old 27 inch size?

1895 Monarch Catalog

In my quest to discover who made the mystery frame that I wrote about in December,  another collector suggested that the frame might be a Monarch. So I located an 1895 Monarch catalog. I have scanned the catalog and added it to the catalog archive.

It seems like my frame may be a model # 9

My frame has a skinny top tube, 3/4" OD, and a normal downtube, 1" OD. It also has a built-in lower head cup. The Model # 9 in the catalog looks like it has a skinny top tube and built-in lower head cup. The other models appear to have normal 1" top tubes and remove-able lower head cups. It is difficult to tell for sure from the catalog pictures and details. So to confirm that it is a 1895 Monarch Model # 9, I need to find someone that has one.

1972 Bottecchia Catalog

There was a discussion about 1970 Bottecchias on Classic Rendezvous today, which reminded me that I have a 1972 Bottecchia catalog, so I scanned it and added it to the catalog archive at fattiretrading.com