Originally Posted by
dddd
The photos have me wondering if the very small frame size might have precluded using the original EF equipment for the BB joints, which appear to be welded.
Or might they have used up the supply of EF bb shells at that point, having sold equipment and/or space as they were "bringing the curtain down" on Varsity prod'n?
Maybe it was simply cheaper to use "plain" bb shells instead of socketed ones, with the cheap substitution being at least partially out of view?
Hey wait, does this bike even use the 1" diameter main tubing?
The fork itself was perhaps sourced from Japan at that point.
I think it's the same fork Murray used on their lug frame models. In the thread on the schwinnbike forum and elsewhere people have commented about the BB being different than usual for a Schwinn (so the EF BB was probably dropped on all sizes). My guess is that schwinn did not see the value in keeping/moving all of the EF equipment, and only kept the tooling necessary for making parts where both the look and the strength were important. Murray's crimped chainstays for instance weren't going to cut it on a Schwinn.
The bottom bracket does appear to be brazed in the typical Murray fashion. Murray did not weld frames until the late 80s, so the joints were internally brazed which accounts for the sharp, clean appearance of the joint from the outside.
This thread contains some more pictures and info about the Schwinn/Murray bikes:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...the-heck-is-it