onewheeldrive

Hey guys, I have an old Schwinn World Voyageur made in 1973.

I would like to replace the headset because the former owner never lubed anything other than the chain. Problem is, I don't know if it is an ISO or JIS headset and I don't know which one to buy. I can't measure it with the tools I have.

Thanks everyone.

ogbigbird

do you need to replace the whole headset or just take it apart, clean it up and rebuild it. perhaps replace the bearings if they are pitted and races as well, and just repack. how bad is your headset? i've made unturnable headsets glide like hot butter across the frying pan on a cold december morning. sure you need to replace them. as well, you mention iso and jis headsets. ?. probably familure with what you are talking about, just not those abriviations.

TallRider

Most of the old Schwinn headsets are neither JIS or ISO, at least not to totally.
I have a few old Schwinns (see the bikes in my signature) and all have some non-standard components of their headsets. I've just carefully cleaned them, and where they had caged bearings I filled the headset cups up instead with loose bearings (esp. important on the bottom race) so that the bearings contact the race in different spots than when their spacing was controlled by the cage.

For the record, JIS and ISO are the two most common standards for 1" headsets. ISO is by far the most common size, JIS has 0.2mm smaller dimension for cup press-fit, and 0.6mm larger dimension for the crown race press-fit. The standards are detailed here.
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/cribsheet-headsets.html

redirekib

JIS Japanese Industrial Standard

ISO International Organization for Standardization

cincy_14

You need to inspect the current headset before you do anything else. If the races and cups don't look worn, you can get away with just new bearings and grease. They are probably 3/16", and make sure to get Grade 25 bearings. If the headset is trash, then a BMX headset shoild be a direct replacement. But make sure you measure first, a BMX headset fits a 32.5mm ID headtube.

TallRider

I'd be somewhat surprised if a BMX headset fits an old Schwinn. The Traveler and Le Tours I've worked with seemed to have a standard (for 1" threaded) headtube inside diameter, although I don't remember if it was 30.0 (JIS) or 30.2mm (ISO). Though the crown race size is funky.

But those bikes of mine are all late 70's or early 80's.

cincy_14 may be right about the head tube dimension - I seem to remember that my first road bike (a mid-70's Schwinn Continental) had very narrow main frame tubes, but the head tube seemed really thick in comparison. I don't remember it well though.

ogbigbird

thanks for clarifing the iso and jis abbreviations. i too had more than my share of old schwinns and never had any problems with findind parts for them.

well biked

I think it's probably an ISO headset, with a 26.4mm crown race, with a smaller inside diameter on the headset locknut, to match the .833" (21.15mm) stem. If you can re-use the original locknut, you should be able to use the other parts from a new headset.

The problem with a normal locknut is the hole is so big it leaves a significant gap around the smaller diameter Schwinn-sized stem.

I'm just guessing here, I've never worked on a Voyageur. I did find the catalog for the Voyageur II on Bob Hufford's site for the '74 model. Is this similar to the bike you have?

https://www.geocities.com/sldbconsume.../74ccpgi1.html

rhenning

World Voyagers were the first imported bikes sold by Schwinn. They didn't except for one small spot have the Schwinn name on them. Made in Japan by Panasonic. Tange headsets and basically full Dura Ace bikes. Yes I know the rear derailleur says Crane GS but that evolved into the first Dura Ace. Schwinn tagged GB bars and stem. I suspect JIS in sizing. In addition to the Voyager they also imported a World Traveler. The first two pictures are Voyagers and the third picture the one in the front is a Traveler. Roger