Classic & Vintage - Found left for dead

Here are a couple pics of a cool Schwinn I found today, left for dead behind a dumpster with a broken brake cable, bent rear rim and various other issues. It'd been there for days and I asked at the two businesses if it belonged to anyone. People at both places said they didn't know whose it was and I was welcome to take it before the trash man did.

I am interested in knowing a bit more about the bike. It has no name decals, just the Schwinn badge (with "1962" stamped on it) on the head tube and a gold Chicago cross decal on the seat tube just below the top tube. It seems to have most of the original components. Schwinn derailleurs and shifters, Dia-compe “Schwinn Approved” brakes and levers, I am not sure about the chrome forks or the Sakai handlebar. The rims are probably not original, the rear is a 26” steel with a Shimano 5 speed hub and the front is 27” aluminum Araya with a Maillard hub. I have no idea what the goofy looking saddle is.

It doesn't seem high end or anything, but it is my size and I intend to restore and ride it and would appreciate any background info I can get. :)

Nice find moose!

After some research at Sheldon Brown's site, it seems I have a '82 Continental. He has alot of info on the "Chicago Schwinns".

Edit: I originally miscalculated the year and corrected it above. Oddly I have found that the 1962 on the badge is a Japanese serial number which also dates the frame at 1982. But the presence of the serial number (ET519223) found stamped directly on the head tube makes it a Chicago frame. Probably not the original badge I guess.

Kewl. I like the nice retro handlebars. Is it common to pair a 27" and a 26" wheel or is that a "customization"?

customization
a lot of people do weird things to try and get the handlebars lower than the seat on a road bike
makes it hard to ride for someone not used it to too

the 82 Continental is one of the First Japanese Continentals, My 79 Continental is one of the Last U.S. builds
I'd say keep it Moose and enjoy

The frame is labled Chicago Schwinn. It also has a Serial # stamped on the headtube which, according to OldSchwinn.com (http://www.oldschwinn.com), makes it a Chicago built frame. Since the head badge is removable it's less credible.

At this point I am not sure it is a Continental because there is no name on it whatsoever…I mean no trace at all, that a decal was ever in the spot they normally put them. It doesn't look like a repaint, there is some remnant of gold stripe decals on the seat tube and the Schwinn Chicago cross.

I know this bike is not really special but I found it fun to dig into the history a bit. Don’t look now but I may have caught the “Vintage Bike” bug. I’ll soon be scooping every neighborhood garage sale for hidden treasures. :)

The frame is labled Chicago Schwinn. It also has a Serial # stamped on the headtube which, according to OldSchwinn.com (http://www.oldschwinn.com), makes it a Chicago built frame. Since the head badge is removable it's less credible.

At this point I am not sure it is a Continental because there is no name on it whatsoever…I mean no trace at all, that a decal was ever in the spot they normally put them. It doesn't look like a repaint, there is some remnant of gold stripe decals on the seat tube and the Schwinn Chicago cross.

I know this bike is not really special but I found it fun to dig into the history a bit. Don’t look now but I may have caught the “Vintage Bike” bug. I’ll soon be scooping every neighborhood garage sale for hidden treasures. :)

looked at the date code book and your right on it being a 1982 May infact
sorry I thought they were importing them like the higher class bikes then
I looked at old cataloge images till I found mine once I found the year

Assuming the tubular fork is original, the bike has to be either a Continental or a Super Sport. The latter has a fillet-brazed CrMo frame which is significantly lighter than the electroforged Conti frame, but looks almost identical, except for a few very subtle differences (tube taper, if I remember correctly -- help me here, Schwinn experts) near the seat cluster and bottom bracket. The Conti also came with heavy Schwinn tubular steel rims, whereas the Super Sport had aluminum rims.

I'm with John E on this one.

It has a USA Continental look with the heavy steel cranks, chainring, and chainring-guard.

The chrome forks AND the barrel type brake cable adjusters would make it a Continental rather than a Varsity.

The wheels are goofy, though. Steel 26" in the rear and what appears to be aluminum in the front - neither would be original on a Continental.

The big oval headbadge, if original, would be on a USA made Schwinn as the Japanese Schwinns only had the round headbadges.

If it has lugged frames, it is most likely Schwinn-Japan. If it is welded by the special Schwinn method (no lugs), then it is almost surely Schwinn.

My guess i

my Continental has the oval headbadge as well and Crome forks
I replaced my original rims with a set off a 78 Superior
http://techjd.ekn.net/Bike/Tech-bike-Small.jpg

Sheldon Brown has the definitive difference between the Super Sport and the Continental, that being the diameter of the seat tube. The fillet-brazed frames sport (pun intended) a larger diameter than that of the electro-forged. Mine being the thinner (1") makes it a Continental.