1953 Schwinn Meteor?
06-24-17, 06:39 AM
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Cantankerous Old Fart
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1953 Schwinn Meteor?
A guy brought some bikes by the shop the other day.
In the mix was a near perfect 10 speed Free Spirit "Brittany" a pretty decent 21 speed Giant "Yukon" and a rather rough odd ball 15 speed MTB with friction shifters.
The Free Spirit only needs some polish. I already got the brakes & shifters tuned up. On the Giant, I replaced the pedals with some that I had lying around, cleaned up the handle bars and painted them with black semi-gloss engine enamel, got the trigger shifters working and adjusted the brakes. With some polishing it will look great.
The real gem though was the skip tooth Schwinn. It was built in mid year 1952 and it seems to be an early 1953 Meteor model as it still has the 1952 style chain guard.
Except for the skip tooth chain and none period correct tires, it's pretty much all there, but unfortunately, someone did a paint job on it, albeit a pretty nice job. The fenders were pretty banged up so that was probably why it got painted. Look like a good candidate for restoration.
I can probably get most, if not all of my $130 back on the Free Spirit and Giant, the 15 speed MTB will be a parts doner for another bike I got for free, so I have little or nothing in the Schwinn.
In the mix was a near perfect 10 speed Free Spirit "Brittany" a pretty decent 21 speed Giant "Yukon" and a rather rough odd ball 15 speed MTB with friction shifters.
The Free Spirit only needs some polish. I already got the brakes & shifters tuned up. On the Giant, I replaced the pedals with some that I had lying around, cleaned up the handle bars and painted them with black semi-gloss engine enamel, got the trigger shifters working and adjusted the brakes. With some polishing it will look great.
The real gem though was the skip tooth Schwinn. It was built in mid year 1952 and it seems to be an early 1953 Meteor model as it still has the 1952 style chain guard.
Except for the skip tooth chain and none period correct tires, it's pretty much all there, but unfortunately, someone did a paint job on it, albeit a pretty nice job. The fenders were pretty banged up so that was probably why it got painted. Look like a good candidate for restoration.
I can probably get most, if not all of my $130 back on the Free Spirit and Giant, the 15 speed MTB will be a parts doner for another bike I got for free, so I have little or nothing in the Schwinn.
Last edited by XCSKIBUM; 06-24-17 at 08:01 AM.
06-24-17, 09:57 PM
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The chainguard and deep fenders are just so high style.
These are before my time, are the tubes at the bottom bracket brazed in or already part of the "electroforged" concept? I don't see any flaring of the chainstays just beyond the " fillet " region.
These are before my time, are the tubes at the bottom bracket brazed in or already part of the "electroforged" concept? I don't see any flaring of the chainstays just beyond the " fillet " region.
06-25-17, 08:04 AM
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weapons-grade bolognium
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That would make a great grocery getter.
06-25-17, 09:11 AM
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XCSKIBUM, Any ex newspaper boy would love to have that in their fleet (me for one). Great find!
Brad
Brad
06-25-17, 12:41 PM
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Cantankerous Old Fart
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I'm going to get some 26 x 2.125 "Typhoon" whitewalls for it. Then I will be stylin'!
Last edited by XCSKIBUM; 06-25-17 at 04:09 PM.
