maddog34

ok, I've taken in a large collection of NOS tires... some are Schwinn size 20"... they won't work on regular 20", I've discovered... there are some 26" tires that seem too large for regular 26" rims too... are they "Schwinn specific" size also? or are they just poorly made tires? Also, there is a semi-nice looking Schwinn Varsity in the pile of stuff I took in... are any of the parts on it "Schwinn specific"? are the varsity wheels of a regular size, or are they "Schwinn specific" also?... what about the derailleurs and brakes, etc.?
Were 22" wheels "Schwinn specific" also?... there's about twenty of the 22" tires in the load too... and a 22" rear, coaster brake wheel...
sorry for the multitude of questions... I've never owned a Schwinn, except for a 5 speedFastback when I was just a pup.

CliffordK

Here is a list of tire sizes.
Tire Sizing Systems

In the past, tire sizes were the approximate outer diameter of the tire, and not the rim. So different tire widths would have different sizes. There were several 26" sizes.

EXCEPT 27" which was generally standardized.

Now, there are several dominant rim sizes, generally marked with metric fractional sizes, so a 29er MTB tire will fit on a 700c road rim, if the rim is wide enough.

Perhaps 24" tires are the only ones that haven't quite been standardized yet between "Road" and "MTB/BMX" versions, although I think there are a couple of different 650 tires out there???

Jeff Wills

From https://www.sheldonbrown.com/chicago-schwinns.html:

"In general, U. S.-made Schwinns take oddball Schwinn size tires, with the exception of 630 mm/27 inch, which is standard. Good mathematics doesn't always help you when it comes to bicycle tires. For example, most "middleweight" Schwinns take 26 x 1 3/4 tires, which are hard to find, not 26 x 1.75 as used on other brands. You might think that these are the same, but they are not.
The 26 x 1.75 size is the normal I.S.O. 559 mm size used on most mountain bikes; the 26 x 1 3/4 (I.S.O. 571 mm) is not interchangeable with any normal tire of similar width, although its bead circumference is the same as the "650C" size used on some high performance 26" wheel bicycles.
Designating the width with a fraction instead of a decimal usually signifies a straight-sided rim, not a hook-edge rim. The rim/tire diameter is also slightly different. Let the tire buyer beware! There are similar problems with other Schwinn tire sizes. The most common difficulty is that the Schwinn 26 x 1 3/8 (I. S.O. 597 mm) interchanges with the British 26 x 1 1/4, not the British 26 x 1 3/8 (I. S.O. 590 mm)."

IMO, the Schwinn tires are pretty good quality, but if they've been sitting for a couple decades there's a chance they've dry-rotted. I would find some Schwinn rims and inflate the tires to maximum pressure before selling them.

maddog34

thank you for the response... I also got several old school steel rims in the deal... i'll dig through them soon, then test the tires... the tires APPEAR ok, but that may be deceptive... no cracks noted in the ones I've taken a close look at, but you never know! there was a lot of stuff loaded up that day..... the nuts/bolts/fittings will take several winter days to sort and organize...

Jeff Wills

Whereabouts in Oregon are you? I spent enough time in a Schwinn shop to identify old parts by eye. It might be fun on a rainy winter weekend.