Schwinn American

[Lbush]

Picked this up beside a dumpster, number shows it to be a 54

 

[Pondo]

Wow, great score!

 

[twojs.bike]

What is the story with those front brakes? That is new to me.

 

[Lbush]

What is the story with those front brakes? That is new to me.

I don’t have a clue? Everything looks original , nothing rigged
Only Schwinn I have

 

[twojs.bike]

I would love to see some more pictures of that. Looks like some sort of rod brakes.

 

[twojs.bike]

I’m sure someone knows what they are. Searching the web and this is all I can find.

https://kamway.com/products/brake-a...6e08cd7450cbbdddc64c6cf2e8891f6d48747c6d56d2c

 

[twojs.bike]

Actually that isn’t a match. Beats me. I will sit quietly and wait for someone that actually knows what they are talking about to chime in.

 

[Da Gas Man]

I actually do not know what I'm talking about, but it looks like a bolt on aftermarket item to me.

 

[Pondo]

What is the story with those front brakes? That is new to me.

Those are early Schwinn accessory bolt on cantilever brakes. They were popular klunker upgrade brakes from what I understand but may have had the tendency to slip a little and not be super strong brakes. The better upgrade for early downhill race klunkers was adding braze-on canti mounts to the fork of choice when cantis became more widely available. Drum brakes were popular, of course, but heavy. If you can find a set of these Schwinn accessory canti brakes they can be quite expensive.

Early Breezer with braze-on canti brake mounts

 

[Lbush]

I would love to see some more pictures of that. Looks like some sort of rod brakes.

I work weird hours,here are some pics

 

[twojs.bike]

Wow!!

 

[twojs.bike]

I want a pair of those something bad! What are they called?

 

[Lbush]

I want a pair of those something bad! What are they called?

No idea,All I can find listed just says front hand brake

 

[Wildcat]

Not much wear on those brake blocks, and the paint looks good. Schwinn paint from then really holds up. I've seen those brakes listed in the accessories portion of the Schwinn ads.

 

[Lbush]

Not much wear on those brake blocks, and the paint looks good. Schwinn paint from then really holds up. I've seen those brakes listed in the accessories portion of the Schwinn ads.

It’s in good shape,I’m going to do some cleaning on it this weekend

 

[Wildcat]

You probably have one of the first Americans. They came out in 55, but the new Schwinn models were available before the new year. This shows the front brake was standard for your bike.

https://bikehistory.org/bikes/american/

 

[Da Gas Man]

Dumpster find score! I see the Schwinn script on them now. Very nice original parts.

 

[idiotboy]

not only are the brakes super cool but the Bendix 2 speed is awesome too !

 

[Pondo]

One of those brakes sold for $110 on the CABE a couple of years ago. Probably worth more now.

https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/schwinn-cantilever-fork-mount-front-brake-blade-version.210854/