Recent content by axeman88

Kids are really hard on their toys. All the coolest stuff I had as a little kid, I either broke, or some bigger kid took it away from me and I never saw it again. The only stuff that survived, was the stuff that I didn't much like, which never got played with, or taken out of the house. I was...

I don't know how reliable this source is, but it appears to be based on original Schwinn catalogs. https://bikehistory.org/bikes/stingray/ They are showing '65 as the first year that the 2 speed Auto Hub was offered. For this year, they don't say whether it's the Red, Yellow, or Blue band...

Here's some info: https://www.schwinnbikeforum.com/index.php?topic=5979.0 This source says the rear on a '64 was 18T, but I have seen Stingray wheels with 19T on them as well. https://bikehistory.org/bikes/stingray/ Seems like a lot of Stingrays had Bendix blue band ( high speed) 2 speed...

This is just an Ebay thing, ... in my opinion, it has nothing to do with "vintage" or "antique" or bicycles or vehicles. In every category, for just about every imaginable object, it's possible to find examples priced at 10x or 50x or 100x of the market price. Why would somebody pay $2300 for...

Bicycle Heaven is selling a 14T / 28T 5 speed freewheel as being appropriate for use on Stingrays: https://www.bicycleheaven.org/products/bicycle-cluster-gear-cog-fit-schwinn-other-5-10-speed That looks about right to me, compared with this image of a '74 5 speed: I always use wheel size in...

If it is 410 sized (1/2" pitch, 1/8" wide inside) chain that was used on the garage door, it should fit MOST single speeds, except not those that might have been set up with 3/32" width chain, or some heavy duty bikes that might be using wider chain, or older bikes with skip tooth sprockets, or...

Thanks for your confidence and the likes of you other gentlemen. Let me make clear that I'm coming at this from 98% theory, and that my model is very crude. I took the ends of the arcs off the outside of the side walls, for example, with no accounting for wall thickness, and the rim is shown...

Considering that the largest rim size recommended for 2" 559 tires is something like 25mm, and 80mm is more than 3 times that recommended max, I don't think your 2" tire is going to be very happy on a 3.15" (80mm) wide rim. As you know, 80 mm rims are designed to carry tires wider than 4.2"...

I'd put an engine or motor on it. I tried pedaling one of those OCC stingrays around the block once and it was almost impossible, like riding a kiddy tricycle, knees hitting elbows, ... too short a distance between the seat and crank. I'm 6'1", but my buddy, who owns the bike and is 5'8" had...

Thanks for sharing the experience. I learned something valuable - reinforce the neck with the mating nut before applying internal force. Maybe a heavy duty hose clamp as well. Seems like even that fancy Park tool might distort the stem if the ID of the clamp wasn't well matched to the OD of...

For reference, the tiny, USB rechargeable, Lithium powered headlight that I bought last year claims 700 lumens. It has decent output, and high / low / and flash modes. The rechargeable battery is rated at 1200 mAh. I think think this is sufficient light for me to feel seen, but I imagine...

That's a good question! Never even thought it through to the voltage issue. Seems like most 48V led bulbs are made with huge A26 Edison screw bases, or have too little light output to be a good headlight. I did find a couple that might be in the ballpark...

I think those "bottle" style generators we used back in the day are notoriously inefficient. They sure added a lot of drag. A favorite trick when I was a kid was to get in a race with somebody who had one of those mounted on their bike, pull up close enough to push the button that engaged...

The lithium batteries are not cheap, that's for sure. For a project that is still sitting on a basement shelf, I spent ~$160 for a generic looking 48V, 10Ah lithium pack, accepting the fact that I'd have to come up with my own packaging. (Lots of folks will just put it in a duffle back...

Hi @Cmdr Ronald, Sorry, I don't recall where I found them. After years of sitting in front of the magic box, I'm good at finding stuff, but RE-finding it, ... that's another story, which is why I think the cut and pasted pictures are better than a clickable links. The picture will stay HERE...