Long John F.A.Q.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I get a Long John?

The manufacturer of the "original" Long John, Everton Smith (owner of the brand S.C.O.) in Denmark, perished in 1997. Until 2003 or 2004 Monark Exercise in Sweden resumed building Long John bikes. But they quit production, too.

However, there are some ways to obtain a Long John:

• Get a used one. Occasionally there are Long Johns on Danish, Dutch or German online auctions (check out ebay.de, qxl.dk, dba.dk, marktplaats.nl). Be prepared to pay about 200 EUR for an old Long John in questionable condition.
  
  
• Buy a new one frome Esimex, a small Long John manufacturer in Northern Denmark. Frames differ slightly from the SCO type, and as far as I heard they also don´t meet SCO quality. But maybe it´s worth a try.
  
  
• If you´re not focused on traditional Long Johns you might want to have a look on modern bikes of similar style:
  
  Long Harry by pedalpower.de
  Cargobike by bakfiets.nl
  Long Haul by catoregon.org
  

UPDATE 2007/08: Velorbis LTD, a company based in Copenhagen, made a license agreement with Monark to produce a new batch of Long Johns. According to Velorbis the Long Johns will be equipped with 3-speed internal hubs by SRAM, rear coaster brake and frontal SRAM drum brake (driven by cable). Bikes sold in the UK are planned to have some Sturmey-Archer equipment (with rear freewheel hub, drum brakes rear and front). The new frames can be identified by the serial numbers starting with "W VEL...". See the Velorbis websites for additonal information:
velorbis.dk
velorbis.co.uk

UPDATE 2007/12: German Monark distributor USED is going to launch a limited anniversary edition (100 years of Monark) of the new Long John in spring 2008. The bike will be available with the standard 3-speed internal hub or with a 5-speed hub. Go and visit their homepage to learn more:
used-hq.de

Where can I get Long John spare parts?

If you need spare parts for a SCO or Monark Long John try to find a Monark distributor for your country. If you´re lucky they still have some spare parts on stock.

Germany: used-hq.de
Switzerland: vitelli.ch

Monark still produces a workbike called Truck or Baker´s Bike. Some of the parts (rims, mudguards, etc) will fit for SCO/Monark Long Johns.

What kind of tyres do I need for my SCO/Monark Long John?

Long Johns built until the early 1970s usually do have a 20" front wheel and a 26" or 24" rear wheel. Tyres for these diameters are (more or less) widely available. Within the 1970s SCO began to use 23" rims for the rear wheel. This odd size is still in use on newer Monark Long Johns. If your bike dealer is not able to deliver the right tyres visit a dealer specialized in motorcycles and scooters. Both 23" and 20" are sizes used on older mopeds, and the tyres used by SCO and Monark are actually moped tyres.

Here´s a list of available moped tyres for the sizes 2-16 (20x2) and 2-19 (23x2):

Tyre	Size 2-16 (20x2)	Size 2-19 (23x2)	Comment	Link
Hutchinson Vroom	X	X	original SCO/Monark equipment, dynamo/generator tread on both sides	Vroom at hutchinsontires.com
Continental KKS10	X	X	sturdy, no dynamo/generator tread	KKS10 at conti-online.de
Vredestein Sprint	X	X		Sprint at vredestein.com
Michelin VM 100	X	-		VM 100 at michelin.de
Michelin Rapido	-	X		Rapido at michelin.com

How old is my Long John? Who built it?

See this page for help.

What´s the difference between S.C.O., Smith & Co and Everton Smith?

Smith & Co was a bicycle company in Odense, Denmark. Among others, they owned the brand S.C.O. under which they sold the Long John and other bikes. In 1995 Smith & Co bought Everton, a Danish brand founded in 1950. The company changed its name to Everton Smith.

In 1997 the brand Everton was sold to Kildemoes, another Danish bicycle company. The rest of former Smith & Co perished, production of the Long John and other cargo bikes shifted to Monark in Sweden. Monark, like Kildemoes and many other formerly independent Scandinavian bicycle companies belongs to the Cycleurope group.

What is a "Little John"?

The Little John (or "Lille John" in Danish) was a shorter Version of the Long John. As far as I know it was built by SCO from the early 1980s until the early 1990s. With its step-through frame it is often considered to be the women´s version of the Long John. Information about Little Johns is hard to find and I´m not sure about the intention of this model. Maybe SCO aimed for use at postal delivery services where the Long John was too long, too heavy and too uncomfortable. However, the Little John never became as popular as the Long John.

SCO "Little John".

Little Johns are frequently confused with the baker´s bike built by SCO. The baker´s bike (also called "Truck" or "Short John") is still in production at Monark in Sweden.


SCO "Truck" aka "Baker´s bike" aka "Short John"

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