They are calling it a Schwinn.
Early 1900's value?
- Thread starter CRASH
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Don't know about the value, but it's most likely not a Schwinn. It looks more like an iver Johnson frame to me, and also it has the wrong sprocket.
If you purchase it do us all a favor and delete that 70's generator off'n it? Lol
Ccd
If you purchase it do us all a favor and delete that 70's generator off'n it? Lol
Ccd
That's a Schwinn Stingray. you can tell by the monark chainring. 
28" wood wheels and singletubes would indicate a pre 1933 bike. that thing is pretty awesome for being so complete. grab it if you can.
28" wood wheels and singletubes would indicate a pre 1933 bike. that thing is pretty awesome for being so complete. grab it if you can.
I have almost the same bike. Mine has a Chief headtube emblem. I believe it was a Mead made bike from about 1922, very much like the Ranger. Mead was based in Chicago. Mine has an early 3 speed hub but no cable or shifter. Wood rims. Single tube tires which are petrified and unrollable due to sitting on the tires for decades and decades. Internal lugs, more like tabs really. Hair thin rusted spokes.
Value? A couple hundred at most. No point in restoring these. Best as a museum piece as is. Just clean it and put it on display somewhere. Use a display stand the keeps the weight off the tires.
Tires are the big problem. The single tube tires are surely shot. If they did hold air, the carcass would break up under any load. Some restorers were using semi-pneumatic tubing for show. But those aren't really rideable. Last "new" tires I heard of were made 30 years ago by a retired couple.
Most of these old bikes have plain steel spokes which were thin to start with and have rusted even thinner over the 100 years. Installing new spokes would sure look out of place. Trying to ride on them is a disaster waiting to happen.
Wood rims have dried out and would be far more brittle now. The glue is probably crystallized now and will let loose.
Any bearing cones or cups that are worn out would be impossible to find replacements for. A lot of steel from that era wasn't quality steel and wasn't properly heat treated or ground smooth so they are probably shot.
I have seen few couple redos. Newer wheels (that solves many of the problems), chain, clean and re-grease all the bearings. I've seen some with faked wood grain paint on modern rims. others just put on anything to make it rideable. Even with the new wheels they rode as lousy as a wallymart magna.
Rick
Value? A couple hundred at most. No point in restoring these. Best as a museum piece as is. Just clean it and put it on display somewhere. Use a display stand the keeps the weight off the tires.
Tires are the big problem. The single tube tires are surely shot. If they did hold air, the carcass would break up under any load. Some restorers were using semi-pneumatic tubing for show. But those aren't really rideable. Last "new" tires I heard of were made 30 years ago by a retired couple.
Most of these old bikes have plain steel spokes which were thin to start with and have rusted even thinner over the 100 years. Installing new spokes would sure look out of place. Trying to ride on them is a disaster waiting to happen.
Wood rims have dried out and would be far more brittle now. The glue is probably crystallized now and will let loose.
Any bearing cones or cups that are worn out would be impossible to find replacements for. A lot of steel from that era wasn't quality steel and wasn't properly heat treated or ground smooth so they are probably shot.
I have seen few couple redos. Newer wheels (that solves many of the problems), chain, clean and re-grease all the bearings. I've seen some with faked wood grain paint on modern rims. others just put on anything to make it rideable. Even with the new wheels they rode as lousy as a wallymart magna.
Rick
charliechaindrive said:
yeah, 1970s Hunt Wilde grips, looks like 1970s 3 speed tires and rims. 74 license plate is cool but would be better on a 1974 bike. Repaint. I'd leave the paint alone.
There were dozens if not hundreds of bike companies that sold "Truss" frames. Iver Johnson did lots of ads around 1900 featuring the design and claiming super strength like a rail road bridge. Schwinn did a few over the years with their latest being the 1954 Welterweight bike.
rick
I've seen the ad for this bike somewhere, is it in Texas? Don't they want a pretty penny for it?
Johnny
Johnny
Most bike companies, including Schwinn, had some version of the truss frame. I guess Iver Johnson didn't patent it, or at least not soon enough. I checked the badge registry in my NBJ book, and it only shows 'Royal' as a Snyder badge, makers of Rollfast. -Adam
