Daniel Sundance

I found this bike at a antique shop outside the city limits, not knowing much about Schwinn's, the owner claimed it was all original. Overall the bike looked good in person, paint looked solid, parts looked good, rust was at a minimal. What pushed me to buy it for $175 was my GF's recent purchase of her own 3-Speed Raleigh, and my recent 3-Speed project is still in the works. Was it a good deal? Bad idea?

Thanks!
Daniel.

Bianchigirll 

Are you happy with it? I think looks pretty schmool especially with that old analog speedo. If your happy it was a good deal.







What is that on the back of the seat? No not that basket the micro sissy bar or whatever.

Doohickie

A bit overpriced, but if it's what you want and it's in good running condition, it is worth every penny to you. All my miles so far this year have been on my 3-speed; there's something to be said for them. Also, it looks like the chainguard and fenders are perfect; that's not very common on Schwinns, which generally had the tar beaten out of them.

I'm pretty sure that's a handlebar basket mounted in the rear. I guess that with the front headlight it didn't work up there, so the previous owner mounted it in back. Should work fine back there, just don't overload it (probably won't take as much load as a rear rack).

Looks like a fun bike for around town.


If you need any help with the adjustment on the 3-speed shifter, let us know.

conradpdx

looks good, new gum walls, looks cleaned up and probably tuned up. Got some nice accessories, assuming they work too... not a bad price, not a great price. Pretty much in line what something like that would be priced at by the local flippers here.

Though one thing to keep in mind is that the shifter has obviously moved. This could effect the shifting. Really it's no big deal as long as you get all three gears, just might need to take some time to fine tune it at the adjusting barrel (if it skips in second tighten it up a touch, skips in third loosen it up a touch). Might want to make sure the shifter itself is tightened down too, if it slides even a little it can screw it up too.

frantik

that means you paid too much

photogravity

Hey Daniel. This looks like a nice, well kept bike... If you were able to afford the price, then it's worth it. The prime thing is that you like the bike and will ride it. I think it's a nice score and is reminiscent of the 1970 Schwinn Collegiate I have which I converted from a derailleur geared bike to a Sachs P5 5-speed bike. I've not rode it for a good while now, so it'll probably be finding a new home pretty soon.

Do you know what year your Traveler is? It looks to me like a early to mid-1960's model to me.


Schwinn Collegiate Lock 31 - 3 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr

Bianchigirll 

I didn't say that. I certainly wouldn't pay that but I am not in the market for a schwinn 3spd. Compared to most any other run of the mill 60yo bike that needs dusted off, tuned and new tires before you ride he did pretty good.

frantik

i was just teasing

Daniel Sundance

Thanks guys!
I seriously liked it, my first thought when seeing the bike was "this looks like a fun ride!" but I didn't get a chance to take it home with me (removed bike rack) and I didn't get a chance to look for the serial number to check the year it was made, she opens again on Tuesday so I'll check then. I was looking at the badge and it had clear tape around it, I'm guessing it fell off at some point, could it have been replaced?

rhenning

That bike looks familiar. Mine I bought at a bike swap here in WI for $50 but did have to put air in the tires. Roger

Savagewolf

As long as you are in the rough ballpark, there aren't bad bicycle deals if you are happy with what you've got. One of my favorite bikes is one that everyone said was too much and I thought it was a bit spendy too. It also now gets quite a few of my miles of riding and I love it.

Metacortex

That is a rare "Starburst" headbadge, which was used on Schwinn's high-end bikes for '61 through '63 only. It is plastic and was originally glued on with 3M weatherstrip adhesive. I would recommend re-attaching with silicone instead. Those badges alone regularly sell for upwards of $50 in good condition. You can see more information about them here.

The fenders on that Traveler were also made of stainless steel, so they will never rust. That model Traveler was discontinued after '66.

conradpdx

When it comes to prices you gotta remember we run a wide gambit of "riders" on this board. Die hard flippers to occasional riders, most people in between. One who flips bikes sees a price like this one and isn't thinking it's a deal, cause this is the price s/he's trying to get once they've done the work in fixing it up.

As one who flips as a hobby and not so much for the money I personally think that any good ridable name brand threespeed is worth (in terms of price) at least what current new big box store bikes are worth. Which puts a reasonable asking price for any good vintage in the $125-$250ish range. However, most good vintage bikes even at that price are a better value, since that $125-$250 dollars will likely last much longer and have less maintenance costs than any of the new big box bikes (I know full well that there are exceptions to this rule working both ways).

Could this bike been found for less? Sure, the shop which where you bought it at isn't selling it to break even. Is the possible potential $100- $50 bucks you'd save worth your time and energy searching for a better deal on the same or similiar model? If those tires are as new as they look , right there is about $30.00. Another $40+ if it's been tuned up and regreased (at a LBS). There is even a small market for some of those accessories if they work (I'd guess basket, speedo, and light is roughly another $40.00 - $50.00 on Ebay). Flippers (or at least I don't) don't usually count those accessories in the price when they buy. People bring them up, but I usually dismiss them saying "yeah if it works propperly", or you can get them new for $10.00 or something along those lines. But they do add some value in the end.

Or if you like compair the price to a movie for entertainment. Movie tickets are about $10 bucks for roughly 2 hours (not including popcorn and pop). If you ride the bike for 30 hours you've at least broke even with movie prices. Only 15 hours if toss in the popcorn and candy. Even less if you include the costs in time and money in the traveling to the theater and back. With this logic you can easily see that it's a very cheap price for your entertainment dollar. Though really I think it says more about how over priced movies are.

As for the headbadge, it could have fallen off. I've noticed that the badges on older Schwinns seem to vanish and/or fade more than other brands. Don't know why, but it seems pretty consistant from my limited experiences.

ilikebikes

The Schwinn Speedo is worth an easy $60 or more, the headlight is worth at least $30 or more to the right person, the Sturmey Archer hub used to be worth 60 used, havn't picked one up in a while but I'm sure its not to much lower if not higher as its a great hub. I figure the bike itself being in such great shape would be worth at the very least $100, if it were mine I'd ask near 150 for the bike without the light and Speedo. So I say you did good. Liking it as much as you do makes it an even better buy. Enjoy! shes a beauty.

Daniel Sundance

I was looking at other Schwinn Traveler's and most of the front fender's have a tip at the end of it, looking at mine it's seems like they've been replaced.

Metacortex

You may be right, the original front fender had a fin as you can see in the '62 Traveler dealer catalog page here. A magnet won't stick to stainless steel fenders.

Daniel Sundance

I'm not planning to flip this bike but I understand what your saying, everyone values things differently depending on what they intend to use it for, in my case I guess I can call it a deal if it didn't hurt my soul when I paid for it!

sailorbenjamin

If it's your size it's a great bike. I had a later Breeze that's a really similar bike. I really liked the ride quality, better than the Raleighs. It was too small so I sold it and I've been on the lookout for a bigger one. They don't show up very often.

Daniel Sundance

When I bought my GF her 3-Speed Raleigh the owner actually had a breeze but it was a women's bike. If he hadn't sold it I would've got that one for her, it was black and she wanted to put cream tires on it, look liked this

sailorbenjamin

Yeah, mine was like that but with chrome fenders and the black and white seat. It was sharp. Funny tire size, though.
Hey, OP, you know that Schwinn 26x1 3/8" tires are different from English 26x1 3/8" tires, right?

okane

If you plan on riding it at all, strip it down, clean and re grease all the bearings. I bought a bike like yours in near mint condition and found all the grease to be hardened and useless. Just added some oil to the rear wheel and it now rides like a champ.

Daniel Sundance

Really? what makes them different?

sailorbenjamin

Well, the long answer is here;
https://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html
It's only a 7mm difference but it sometimes means that you have to order the tires rather than buying them from the local guy. They don't seem to cost more.
While you're there check out this link, and all the others at this sight;
https://sheldonbrown.com/sturmey-archer.html