The Monark Silver King Co. of Chicago, IL started producing bicycles in 1934. Their first bicycles were all aluminum and while aluminum bicycles had been produced starting in the 1890’s it was not until Monark began producing aluminum bikes that they became commercially successful.

In 1938 Monark began making steel framed bikes and their top-of-the-line steel bikes utilized a twin bar construction for the frame. With the bar underneath the tank Monark referred to these as “Super Frame” or “Five Bars”. The Five Bars, as most collectors call them, were made from 1938 until 1941 with minor changes to equipment and paint schemes/colors but the basic bicycle remained unchanged. This Five Bar is a fairly obscure model that utilized two Delta “Warner” lights as headlights. These lights were normally sold with red lenses for use as taillights which makes this arrangement very unusual. The painted horn button is not a mistake. All Five Bars from 1938-40 had the horn welded in the tank and the button was painted. The Model GT495 did not feature the signature Monark “No-Slip” stem but used a standard Wald #3 stem instead. It did, however, utilize the unique ‘butterfly’ stand found on many aluminum and steel prewar Monarks. Owner: Shawn Sweeney