unworthy1

Just "testing the waters", or "priming the pump", or (to be honest) trying to build up a commercial frenzy
I've come across a fillet-brazed Schwinn, the kind made from plain-gauge 4130 cro-moly tubing ala the Super Sport, and I'll soon clean it up a little (it's a filthy mess) and offer it for sale.
Pics will follow.
This turns out to be a Super Sport of another color...metallic Scarlet red and only made in limited numbers in one year: 1979.

Does this generate any interest amongst the Schwinn cognoscenti?

Scooper

Well, I'm interested enough to see pictures. I know that for the 1978 model year Schwinn built up a number of fillet-brazed frames that had been made a few years earlier and sold them as Superiors, but I don't believe they were Super Sport frames since the BB shells were for three piece cotterless cranks instead of Ashtabulas. One of the colors was Flamboyant Red.

What's the serial number?

RaleighSport

Nope, I'm looking for a 1980 Super Sport made in november.. even have a specific day in mind

Scooper

Uh, I think you'll find that one is lugged, not fillet brazed.

Metacortex

That would be a Sport Limited. It was the last of the fillet-brazed models, made from left over Super Sport frames. That would definitely generate interest, how much would depend on originality and condition.

Scooper

Damn. I forgot all about that one.

fender1

If it is a 23" frame, I moght want the frame, fork & headeset.

RaleighSport

You are correct sir, but still an SS. Nice bike btw.

Metacortex

They came in 22", 24" or 26" sizes. For example the one pictured here is 22" and the one pictured here is 26".

reggieob

I'd be very interested in seeing some photos - wondering how exactly it differs from the 78 Superior?

Salubrious

I think you will find that that is a Sports Tourer frame, not a Super Sport. The difference is the SS had an Ashtabula crank while the ST employed a 3-piece crank.

andyfloyd

Pics or it didnt happen!

Metacortex

The '77 Sport Limited was almost identical to the '77 Superior. They had the same wheels (same hubs, rims, spokes), freewheel, spoke protector, front and rear derailleurs, brakes, brake levers, handlebars, stem, pedals, seatpost and saddle.

They differed only in the frame (mainly the bottom bracket), crank set and shifters. The Sport Limited had a fillet-brazed Super Sport frame with a large bottom bracket (designed for a one-piece crank) and a built-in kickstand. The fork was fully painted with a separate chrome cap on the crown. The crankset was a Schwinn LeTour (Takagi made) 3-piece alloy crank installed via a relatively heavy Schwinn conversion spindle and one-piece crank style races, bearings and pressed-in cups. It also had the Schwinn Twin-Stik stem shifters.

By comparison the Superior had a fillet-brazed frame with a standard 68mm wide 3-piece crank bottom bracket and a chainstay brace instead of the built-in kickstand mount. The fork was fully chromed under the paint, with crown and the last 6" of the legs left as unpainted chrome. The crankset was a higher end Nervar 3-piece crank installed via a standard 117mm Nervar spindle, bearings and English (1.37" x 24 TPI) threaded cups. Finally it had Huret ratcheting downtube shifters.

Where they did differ the '78 Superior was, well... superior to the '79 Sport Limited. <g> However the Sport Limited has its limited production status as potentially adding to its collector value.

I'd also like to see photos!

Lascauxcaveman 

There was a one of the fillet brazed Superior frame sets on the Seattle CL about a year ago. I think he was asking $125? It sounded interesting but at 23", too small for me get up at and go look at.

unworthy1

OK, I see there's some interest, and some knowledge...I will be loading pics in a little while (Photobucket is not user-friendly) of the "Before" condition.
I'm not going to do too much to it besides cleaning and some judicious oxalic acid soaking, but this isn't in the greatest condition (left out in a damp shed from the looks of it) but it IS pretty much original.
Yep, it's a Sport Limited and I measured it as 21", but depends on where you consider the top to be...I guess it can be called 22".
One or 2 nice surprises: the saddle has a nylon shell under the crapped-out vinyl which is in OK shape, looks like a BMX or Unicanitor plastic saddle...everything that might have been stuck (seatpost, stem, pedals) wasn't! The only things that are really toast (besides the vanished decals) is the chain and cable housing...

unworthy1

Pix of it in "rough-n-rusty" condition as found...





More pics in this album, plus I'll be updating with the cleaned-up "after" pics when available....
https://s179.photobucket.com/user/unw...20Limited%2079

Metacortex

Interesting, I'd love to document the frame date (first two digits of the headtube serial no.) and bike assembly date (headbadge no.). From what I see on the badge that bike was assembled on the 255th day of 1977, or Monday Sept. 12, 1977. If that badge is original (and it certainly looks like it is) then the story that these were '79 only models seems to be incorrect. From what I can see the front derailleur looks like a GT-285, which was used only in '77 as well.

The frame will most likely be dated to '73 or earlier, please post those numbers (and confirm the badge number) if you can.

unworthy1

I read the head BADGE number as 2557 (and I'm pretty sure this is the original badge)...the steerer has only Tange markings on it, nothing from Schwinn that I can see.
Where is the other head TUBE number you mention?

Metacortex

The frame serial number will be on the base of the headtube as seen in the left part of this photo (note that it may be in the center or even on the LH side of the tube, despite what the text says):



If you have removed the fork, it should also have a date stamp on the steerer tube as seen on this fork (4J = Oct. '74):



Many of the other parts on that bike will be date coded as well, including the freewheel, brake levers, and shifters.

unworthy1

I'll take a close look tomorrow night and report back (the bike's across town from me at present).
I certainly didn't see any serial number on the DO, but didn't examine the head tube that carefully.

pastorbobnlnh 

What kind of dropouts does it have? They looked to be the forged Huret type used on the Superior and the Sports Tourer. They don't look like the early '70s Super Sport stamped variety.



EDIT: Now that I look again I think I'm wrong about the Huret dropout.

unworthy1

I am not so sure what the difference is when it comes to Schwinns: there is no "Huret" stamp like I have seen on forged Huret DOs with a hanger, these look to my eye to be stamped from thick plate, have no name stamped on 'em and have NO RD hanger.

I should add that I did a cursory look at date codes on components as I was stripping it down and saw a variety of dates from (going from memory) around '73 to '77, but didn't see anything from '79 that got my attention.

I'll look sharp and shoot more pics tomorrow...

Thanks for your interest and contributions!

Metacortex

Those are definitely the stamped dropouts as used on the Super Sport frame, which is why the derailleur is hung with a claw adapter. The forged Huret dropouts were used only on the Superior that year (another frame difference I forgot to mention earlier).

These were '77 models so they would not be the last fillet-brazed Schwinn. If anybody else has one of these, please post the badge and frame numbers!

jeirvine 

I have a 77-ish Superior frame that is unfortunately missing the badge, and has had the head tube serial sanded off. I'll check the steerer tube date stamp if you like.

Metacortex

A sanded off serial no. usually indicates the bike had been stolen at least once in the past. In that case you can approximate the model year by dating any of the other original components such as the fork, freewheel, hubs, rims, etc.

In this case I'm looking for frame, badge, and any other numbers from Sport Limited models to verify the date these bikes were actually made.