Schwinn Parts & Stuff Question

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kingplinker

kingplinker

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Hello all you Schwinn fans. I live near one of the largest Flea Markets around. "Canton, TX Trade Days". It happens every first Monday of every month and is this weekend. I always see many, many old bikes here. It's where I picked up Crodhopper frame for $5.00. Anyways, I always see a lot of Schwinn stuff, but it seems a little pricey for me, like $50.00 for rust bucket, etc. I hate to see them just sit there! I guess my question is What is a decent price range for Schwinn bikes, assuming lower is better, but what is fairly normal?

Fill in the blanks, assume these are fairly complete bikes, 26" I guess - just trying to get a starting point foundation type of thing here:

1.) Complete rust bucket, no paint visible, hubs, chain locked.

2.) Decent, but scratchy old paint, rolls a little, but maybe rims bent, etc.

3.) Better shape/best maybe, not restored, but put air in tires and wash it and it'll do.

Thanks, T.

OH! Where is that old Schwinn bicycle number code thing posted?
 
Thats Why I dislike Schwine not the bikes the people, Just because it says schwine they think its Gold and double the price
so this is what I do Iff the price is a little high..[iff its really high then the seller is HIGH!] barter I start at 15.00 lower iff its, say 50.00 or 70.00
either they will say, NO way or they will barter, it depends on how much YOU want it..and how much they want to sell :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :mrgreen:
and iff you get it cheaper,... you now have lunch money or more parts!!
 
1.) Complete rust bucket, no paint visible, hubs, chain locked.
$15-30 unless its got parts id hafta pay more for elsewhere

2.) Decent, but scratchy old paint, rolls a little, but maybe rims bent, etc.
$35-50 for a plane jane rider, extras (tank,lights,racks,speeds)might make me dig deeper

3.) Better shape/best maybe, not restored, but put air in tires and wash it and it'll do.
$80-200 id never pay more for a bike unless i can turn around and sell it, ive got sorta weird tastes in old bikes, id only pay 200 if it was somethin i really wanted.

thats just me tho
 
Mmmmm...Canton, yes, quite a place to find old bikes and other vintage goods. :wink:

My personal opinion (take it or leave it) is that the Schwinn bikes are superior in quality compared to the other brand of bikes made back in the day. I think this has something (not all) to do with the prices that they command. The quality of welds, chrome, paint and other materials is very very nice. This is also why they cost more to buy back in the 50s,60s and 70s than most of the other bikes.

I've paid $50-$200 for the Schwinns I have purchased...most have been in pretty nice shape, a couple in almost mint condition. Never have bought at Canton or any flea market though....mainly just Craigslist, Ebay or a bike swap meet.

I try not to let the purists bug me too much....it's all for fun anyway. :mrgreen:
 
Thank everyone for the great info & feedback so far! Much appreciated!

I only own ONE Schwinn, it's an old Barbie bike I got at garage sale for my daughter when she was younger. It's a very good bike, and my two boys run out of the house yelling & grabbing each other saying "I call the pink bike, I call the pink bike" (pretty funny). Out of all the bikes we have they want to ride this thing! So I assumed it's a quality/handles good/size thing. The bike is odd size though, I think 22 inch rims, hard to find tubes for it, I buy 24" & fold it over, but they don't last too long...
 
just so you dont do anything silly, i saw this today, this was tagged @ $1500.00 :shock: its a repaint with repop parts but he said it was "all original" :roll:

70applekrate.jpg
 
THE OBVIOUS STUFF

- the seat had a sticker 10/##/98 on it where the reflector bracket should be

- the odometer had a few hundred miles, there were NO chips on the frame anywhere, not even on the rear drop outs

- no seat tube decal or chainguard decal

- hand brake controls looked like they were swapped from a MTB

THE OTHER STUFF - i think i know but dont know for sure

- had screwed on fender braces, im pretty sure all the years were rivet'd on until the repops came along

- the bars are the fastback style, my 66 has the same "pull back" style on it but this is a 1970, they has a different style as far as what ive seen

- i also think the shifter knob is the wrong style too
 
Between reigonal and model differences, no way to really say. I'd say if it doesn't have balloon tires, you're not missing any colosal deals, that being said, I could sit here and geek out writing a huge dissertation on bargain hunting and price theory...

*chirp...*chirp....ahem...

Post 1955 the consumer bikes took a turn for the worse, the bell curve was much sharper on non-Schwinns, but Schwinn followed suit. Schwinns went from being an arguably maybe better bike to being THE better bike with few exceptions. Quality wise, pre 82, they are at least consistent, unlike their peers at the time that used to mish-mash surplus parts and make bikes out of metal a half-grade above pewter.
 
CCR said:
THE OBVIOUS STUFF

- the seat had a sticker 10/##/98 on it where the reflector bracket should be

- the odometer had a few hundred miles, there were NO chips on the frame anywhere, not even on the rear drop outs

- no seat tube decal or chainguard decal

- hand brake controls looked like they were swapped from a MTB

THE OTHER STUFF - i think i know but dont know for sure

- had screwed on fender braces, im pretty sure all the years were rivet'd on until the repops came along

- the bars are the fastback style, my 66 has the same "pull back" style on it but this is a 1970, they has a different style as far as what ive seen

- i also think the shifter knob is the wrong style too
Click to expand...
all fender braces were rivited,70 should have narrow bars,thats a 67 or 68 shifter and that also looks like the wrong stem but i cant tell from those pictures.and the reflector should be on the seat not the sissybar
 

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