Your Schwinn Tire Sizes Frighten Me

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8ball

8ball

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I generally rustore heavy and middleweight Schwinns and fitting new tires on S2 and S7 rims still confuse me. This time I’m fixing up a lightweight... a 1961 Schwinn Racer (K136521). I need tires and hope you can help.

Its tires were shredded and I tossed them thinking all I needed was the 26" x 1 3/8” measurement to buy replacements.

Schwinn tire sizes remain a mystery to me. And I don't want to screw up buying the wrong tires.

What is the correct metric... (12-345) number... for these Schwinn wheels, please?

A source to buy these tires even better. I’m going to try and find gum-walls with an aggressive tread. Thanks in advance for your help.

1racer.jpg
2racer.jpg
3racer.jpg
 
They look like original wheels, they may have an S5 or S6 stamped on them somewhere. Wheels may have been changed out over the years, but a 61 racer would have come new with S5 or S6. Schwinn made theirs a little larger so you had to buy their tires, regular sizes won't fit over the rim. Here's a quote from greenephantom.com:

"26" Skinny wheel Schwinns, Racer, Breeze, Collegiate, etc

Schwinn Lightweights like the Breeze, Racer, and Collegiate used S-5 or S-6 rims, and are most often found in the 26" wheel size. (S-5 and S-6 26" rims are the same size, just the cosmetics are different.) These came with Schwinn-specific 26" x 1 3/8" tires with a Bead Seat Diameter (BSD) of 597mm. Non-Schwinn skinny wheel 26" bikes use a similar-looking but physically smaller wheel that takes a 590mm BSD tire. That 7mm makes all the difference between a tire that fits and a tire that doesn't. (It should be noted that lugged frame imported Schwinn "Collegiates" from the 80s used a standard non-Schwinn sized tire.)"
 
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I took a closer look at the Racer. Hopefully it's just a distorted photo, but the forks and frame look bent. The forks can be straightened but usually a frame bent near the head tube is a problem. The top tube and down tube a couple inches back from the head tube seem to have a slight bend, like the bike ran into something, and bent the forks also.
 
Hi Wildcat, thanks for your advice and comments. Yes, the fork was bent. I straightened it with some heat.

I would think there must be a '(12-345)' style tire size/number for a modern tire that will correspond to a Schwinn 26x1&3/8 S5 or S6 (as you indicated - thanks for info) rim...

... but if I understand you correctly, I need to be looking for 'Schwinn s5 s6 tires' and forget my '(12-345)' search?
 
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