kknh3

I recently picked up a used Schwinn Passage touring bike. The head badge is stamped 3526, which I believe means it was made on the 352nd day of 1986.

It's a 15-speed with downtube levers and all the other components match the catalog page at:

1986 Passage

However, rather than being the midnight blue color listed for 1986, it's a medium gray color. I thought that maybe since it was produced so late in the year, it was possibly a 1987 model. However, I don't see a Passage in the 1987 literature.

It's not a big deal. I was just curious. Anyone have an information on this?

JBMCsr1

I don't have a particular reply to this other than I have a Schwinn Passage no. 3287 that is imperial rose in color and has vertical rear dropouts rather than the horizontal dropout that the '86 Passage usually has. The components on my bike, other than the shift levers, are exactly as the '86 catalog states. There obviously was some flexibility in the manufacturing.

Little Darwin

I have no definitive answer, but I would agree with your thought that with a date that late in the year, it would be more likely to be a 1987 model than a 1986 model.