2007 Schwinn Alloy SS

[FreddyS]

Found this really sweet bike this weekend in San Marcos, TX. It is an aluminum version of the 1955 Schwinn Cantilever Cruiser. My brother-in-law is building this bike up for a friend at work. Gonna put some black ape hangars, black springer forks, Fat Frank. 26. 2.35 cream tires, and maybe a vintage rear rack if we can find one. Got it at a very reasonable price.

 

[5speed]

kool bike,i like the newe bikes they are more user friendly

 

[FreddyS]

Thanks. Every now and then Schwinn will roll out an aluminum version of one of their old bicycles, but they are usually overbuilt with the tanks, fenders, and lights. This one is cool because it is kinda a simple bike with cool old skool lines to play with. It was a really good deal and the build will be easy. Still need to get around to the Spaceliner I bought a while back.

 

[Bicycle808]

Nice bike, but I don't see very much in common between that and any '55 Schwinns, aside from highly general details like the cantilever frame style (but the geometry and tubing diameter are off) and I guess those decals kinda mimic the paint jobs on some of the balloon bikes. But, there was no model called the "SS" (or "the Cantilever Cruiser", for that matter) in 1955; that color scheme wasn't offered, the 1.125" headset/stem, the TIG welds, the fork's shape & construction, even the chainguard is a little off (but comes closer than most other details.) By '55, they did have the 4-circle sprocket, and the sprocket on the 2007 model looks very similar, so there is that...
http://schwinncruisers.com/catalogs/1955.html
Again, nothing wrong with the bike, if you have the stomach for aluminum, but I think Pacific just pulled a year out of their butts for nostalgia's sake and used it as a marketing tool. This isn't a reproduction or "alloy version" of any bike made in 1955. This is just another canti frame, which various manufacturers have sold as "Schwinns" and as other marques since looooooong before I was born.

 

[FreddyS]

For sure it's a knock-off, but....the quality of the materials used to make this bike are actually pretty decent. To bad I will not be using the handle bars and front forks, but they are well made. I don't have access to an original 1955 cantilever frame so I can't speak to the specific measurements but the bike looks very much like the 1955 Schwinn American. The colors of course, are not the same, but the scheme is. What I found really cool about this bike is that it there is enough clearance from the frame and chain to put some really nice balloon tires on it without having to do any mods. Just dropped some black ape hangars on it to see how it would look and it will look sic with the black springer forks I have ordered.

 

[rrtbike]

Nothing wrong with that..... Hope you post more pics as you go!

 

[FreddyS]

I plan to post more pictures as I go along. We are painting the frame a matte yellow. The chain guard, crank, ape hangars and springer forks will be a matte black. Gonna use some wet sand paper on these parts to try and get primer and paint to stick. I did not do the Fat Franks after all. I ordered a black Kenda Flame 26 2x125 tire for front and a 3 inch version of this tire for the back.