1898 Schwinn "The World"
12-06-18, 02:23 PM
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1898 Schwinn "The World"
Built in the third year of production. To my knowledge the oldest known men's Schwinn in existence. V/r Shawn
12-06-18, 02:37 PM
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There is hopefully a good story to go with it.
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12-06-18, 07:16 PM
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The bike was found by a collector a couple of years ago who was contacted by the widow of a guy who primarily collected Ford Model As. She said there were a few old bikes and asked if he would be interested. The badge was the only thing missing on this bike when he found it and he didn't really know what it was. He posted on the CABE and then offered it for sale I think on Memorial Day weekend. Fortunately traffic was light on the forum and I cut a deal for it. While I didn't think they were common I just assumed there had to be more than a few survivors. I contacted the Bicycle Museum of America (BMA) as well as all the Schwinn gurus. It seems pre-1900 Schwinns are rare. The most common models that survived are the tandem models. The BMA has a '96 girls, the '97 Schwinn family tandem, and I believe a project triplet. I've seen a couple other tandem frames but complete bikes are nearly non-existent. If anyone has other, pre-1900, Schwinns I would be very interested to see them. V/r Shawn
12-06-18, 07:19 PM
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I am not or never will be a schwinn fan. Even the paramounts don't do anything for me.
But this "Ol Girl" is something different. Tres cool. I Love it.
12-06-18, 07:33 PM
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Wow. 
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12-06-18, 08:04 PM
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So how's it ride?
12-06-18, 08:09 PM
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Oh man, I'll bet Richard Schwinn, principal at Waterford, great-grandson of Ignatz, and all-around Schwinn historian, would LUUURRRVVVE to learn about this bike. This bike would pretty-much close the "Define Rare" thread that opened up a few days ago.
Just check out the geometric patterns in that skip-tooth chainring.
Just check out the geometric patterns in that skip-tooth chainring.
12-06-18, 11:56 PM
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Give it a nice powder coat, some sweet lime-green deep Vs from velocity and you got yourself a nice fixie, bro.
/kidding
You've already got yourself a nice fixie, it seems. Unless that slender rear hub is a coaster brake? According to Wikipedia, they were invented that year.
/kidding
You've already got yourself a nice fixie, it seems. Unless that slender rear hub is a coaster brake? According to Wikipedia, they were invented that year.
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● 1971 Grandis SL ● 1972 Lambert Grand Prix frankenbike ● 1972 Raleigh Super Course fixie ● 1973 Nishiki Semi-Pro ● 1980 Apollo "Legnano" ● 1984 Peugeot Vagabond ● 1985 Shogun Prairie Breaker ● 1986 Merckx Super Corsa ● 1987 Schwinn Tempo ● 1988 Schwinn Voyageur ● 1989 Trek 400 ● 1989 Bottechia Team ADR replica ● 1990 Cannondale ST600 ● 1993 Technium RT600 ● 1996 Kona Lava Dome ●
● 1971 Grandis SL ● 1972 Lambert Grand Prix frankenbike ● 1972 Raleigh Super Course fixie ● 1973 Nishiki Semi-Pro ● 1980 Apollo "Legnano" ● 1984 Peugeot Vagabond ● 1985 Shogun Prairie Breaker ● 1986 Merckx Super Corsa ● 1987 Schwinn Tempo ● 1988 Schwinn Voyageur ● 1989 Trek 400 ● 1989 Bottechia Team ADR replica ● 1990 Cannondale ST600 ● 1993 Technium RT600 ● 1996 Kona Lava Dome ●
Last edited by Lascauxcaveman; 12-07-18 at 01:18 AM.
12-08-18, 07:08 AM
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Originally Posted by Lascauxcaveman
Give it a nice powder coat, some sweet lime-green deep Vs from velocity and you got yourself a nice fixie, bro.
/kidding
You've already got yourself a nice fixie, it seems. Unless that slender rear hub is a coaster brake? According to Wikipedia, they were invented that year.
/kidding
You've already got yourself a nice fixie, it seems. Unless that slender rear hub is a coaster brake? According to Wikipedia, they were invented that year.
12-08-18, 11:48 AM
#12
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Send some pics to Richard Schwinn. He'd get a kick out of it.
Restoration is obviously out of the question for such an old bike in such good condition but it's fun to imagine what that would look like if restored with new paint and refurbed parts.
Restoration is obviously out of the question for such an old bike in such good condition but it's fun to imagine what that would look like if restored with new paint and refurbed parts.
12-08-18, 12:17 PM
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Originally Posted by TenGrainBread
Send some pics to Richard Schwinn. He'd get a kick out of it.
Restoration is obviously out of the question for such an old bike in such good condition but it's fun to imagine what that would look like if restored with new paint and refurbed parts.
Restoration is obviously out of the question for such an old bike in such good condition but it's fun to imagine what that would look like if restored with new paint and refurbed parts.
12-08-18, 12:31 PM
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I bet if you just filled out the Contact form on Waterford's web site with the info, it would get to Richard. I've only met him once, he did a bicycle history talk at our historical museum many years ago. Impressed me as a very approachable guy.
