iowaschwinn

Hello,

(My apologies in advance as I'm a newbie & lack basic bicycle mechanical knowledge..and common sense ) )

I recently purchased a 1992 Schwinn Frontier for $95 & absolutely love it as it's my 1st "real bike". I decked it out w/ racks, lights, bells, whistles, new tires, tool kits, panniers, etc...& got some Shimano 530 clip pedals & Nashbar sandals, had the rims trued - it's been absolutely awesome!

I've been trying to educate myself about this bike - when buying new tires it turns out it has 650b rims (26 x 1 1/2), w/ the European code of 44-584 on the tires), which I've learned are actually 27.5" tires. I've also learned it pretty much has entry level 12 speed Shimano shifters (attached is the 1992 spec sheet).

So, as maybe luck would have it, I just bought a 1992 Hurricane off of Craigslist for $50. Everything is great on it besides the old bent rims & old tires. It has nicer shifters and 18 gears.

My question is if I can swap out components and/or tires on these two? The frames seam identical, but the Hurricane runs true 26" wheels & the Frontier runs the 27.5". Ideally I'd like to throw the Frontier tires on the Hurricane as I really like the 27.5 tires and tubes w/ rims that were just trued, + that would be easier then changing over everything else (if that would be even possible).

I hope this makes a shred of sense, attached are the specs of each bike, & thank you very much for your time and expertise!
-Erik

higgins617

I don't mean to doubt you since you have the bike not me, but every Frontier I've come across has ran 26ers. So I may not know of model variation, or maybe someone mounted different wheels. But it is very likely you'd be able to swap parts across similar bikes from the same time period. Of course pictures of your bikes would help too. I'm intrigued

noobinsf 

If you want to swap wheels, I would guess that's unlikely to present any issues, other than having to make a minor up/down adjustment to the brake pads. If you want to swap tires however, that will not work. True 26" and 650b are not the same size, so you can't just put tires for one on the rim of another. As always, though, pics are always very helpful if you're seeking advice.

iowaschwinn

Thanks for your prompt replies & interest - as luck would have it, the bikes are actually the exactly same bikes in the Schwinn ad I attached- but I'll take pictures of both of them tomorrow though, especially the wheels and tires - thanks again!

Bianchigirll 

How did you determine the size of the tire wheel? Did you look it up on line or did you look at the tires on the bike when you bought it? I suspect it has standard 26" mountain bike rims/tires which are 559. The tires your talking about are on older French bikes.

Hence forth swapping wheels should be OK

Check out this chart, the second one and double check the tire size on the sidewall of the tire on the frontier.

Tire Sizing Systems

iowaschwinn

Aattached are some pics. The closeup of the rim is the front rim of the Frontier, sorry it's hard to read - it says "26 x 1 1/2 650b", also on the original tire the ISO is 44-584. On the 2 front wheel photo the Hurricane is in front, Frontier in back - it's hard to tell but the Frontier is larger then the Hurricane. FYI on the Hurricane front rim it says "26 x 1.75" ((couldn't find ISO on Hurricane tire but it is 26" x 2.0)

I hope this helps & thanks again for your expertise!