my bike was stolen....but there is some good news
 

:(
Hello all!!

This is my first post on this site... Looking to get some feedback on a situation.
Okay here's the sad story in short:

My cruiser was stolen outside of my house... however, the fools left behind their Schwinn S-20 full suspension mountain bike with a broken spoke.
After reading some stuff on the web, it appears there are plenty of knockoffs from what used to be the original Schwinn model. I was wondering how to tell whats a cheap copy, and what may be an original?
I am wanting to tune this said bike up and sell it so I can get another cruiser.
Any help would be most appreciated. I find a huge range of prices for a used S-20, but I have been outta the mountain bike loop for a few years now, and wouldn't be able to confirm with any confidence what this thing is, exactly.


Thanks!!
Spencer

I'm no expert on Schwinn S-20's, but I'm going to guess that if it was left behind, it's no prize. You may be able to use it for what you are hoping, though.

I have a Schwinn S-30 from the late 90's - the $999 MSRP version, not the $200 Wal-mart version. You should be able to tell just by looking at components. The S-30 had reasonable components, nothing great, but at least Shimano STX RC and some other Shimano parts, Rock Shox Judy XC fork, stuff that a $200 Wal-mart bike wouldn't have.

Take a look at the components on the bike, get some model numbers from them if you can, and post them on here - people should quickly be able to tell you if the bike is crap or not.

my bike was stolen from my house a month or two ago. it sucked. sorry to hear about your sad situation. i can't help with advise about your schwinn but i found my bike in a pawn shop about 2 weeks after it was stolen. so i guess my advise to you is to check out your local pawn shops.

Spencer,

There is a chance that the bike they left was stolen from someone else. You may want to find the original owner. Just my $.02.

That's what I was thinking. You may bring trouble on yourself trying to sell.

indeed
 

thanks everyone for the words of wisdom.
i hadn't even thought about the possible victims before me.
this thing is in pretty good shape and has a lot of shimano parts.
how would anyone prove they are the owner i wonder.

-spencer

Look on the top of the BB for a small sticker that says pacific bicycles. If you see that its trash. I've seen that model at target though. Probably junk.

it might be pre pacific -

http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Bike/product_18790.shtml

Most of the s-20's I am seeing on mtbr reviews look pretty decent...

pics to be sure.

I was thinking you saved money on your car insurance by switching to geico.

Serial number.

thanks everyone! word here is that its crap. just won't carry 30 tecates like my faithful cruiser did. but heres some pics for fun... i will now be attending the weekly swap meet where cruisers have been know to turn up.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h7...poo1/bike7.jpg

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h7...poo1/bike6.jpg

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h7...poo1/bike5.jpg

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h7...poo1/bike4.jpg

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h7...poo1/bike3.jpg

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h7...poo1/bike2.jpg

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h7...poo1/bike1.jpg

whoa! hold on a second man. it turns out that you have a legit schwinn on your hands. the rock shox rear shock and the avid brake lever (Good stuff) prove it--its an older model, but back in its day it was a nice bike.

+1
keep that if you can