What kind of Schwinn do I have here?
 

Well, my fellow bicycle crazed lunatics, I have recently come into possession of a very strange Schwinn frame and fork. It is a small frame size, maybe too small for me at 5'8'? But I cannot find it in any of the Schwinn catalogs. I believe it is from 1986-1988 because of the under-the-chainstay mounted U-brake.

It also has an obscenely long wheel base, about two inches longer than my Voyaguer 11.8. It is made of True Temper Chrome-Moly, it does not say whether it is butted, so I think it is straight gauge, it has a 26.6 seatpost. It is fairly light though, and the craftsmanship on it is pretty good.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...617001128a.jpg

Here is the tubing sticker

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...617001129a.jpg

And the nice bottle boss braze on things.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...0617001130.jpg

Rear Dropouts.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...617001129b.jpg

Front Dropouts.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...617001129c.jpg

Seat Lug; investment cast, I believe.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...617001130a.jpg

U-brake boss.

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...617001130b.jpg

The decals say Schwinn Alure, however I was unable to find any such bike in any of the online catalogs. Thanks for your time.

Scroll down the screen on this site. The bike is identical to yours. Its a MTB. Headbadge may well have the Schwinn date code on it:

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=307130

I see, thanks Thrifty Bill.

So how did this rank among the other Schwinn mountain bikes of the period? And would it be worth building up with modern components?

Bump...

the model name is on the TT : Alure :)

Well, I was more wondering where this was placed in the Schwinn line-up, and if it is worth building...

Pretty low, but the tubing is chromoly and it might be worth building. FYI these sell on the CL for $50-100 depending on the market and condition (google: "Schwinn Alure" and look at CL listings), so if you starting with a bare frame, unless you have a donor bike around, you might do better.

Thanks E, thats kind of what I expected, but I just wanted to make sure. I may go take a gander at the local thrift stores and get me a couple of cheap ole' MTBs.

And because the paint is in simply awful condition, and it's not worth anything, I'll paint it myself. Maybe blue with black lugs and a gray head-tube...

If its 4130 true temper, it was probably not at the top. However, it probably wasn't at the bottom either. I'd say it is mid-level, worth building up if it suits your purpose and you can use it. The decals are bizarrrrre, but I would date it as a 1986/7 bastard.

Yeah, I think the decals look rather feminine, and the name; it does not seem to suit my extreme masculinity.

I think it was from '88 (maybe '89 as well). They also had a pink, step-through, Allure.

This decal style was used on other MTBs that year (Cimmaron, High Sierra, Sierra, etc.).

Check the headbadge for the date code. First three digits are ordinal day of the year and the last is the last digit of the year. '0118' would be the 11th day of 1988.

Bob

Below is the 1989 catalog page featuring the Alure, which was a mid-range ATB in the line-up that year. By '89, the rear cantilever brake bosses had been moved to the seat stays. Note that the Alure is described as "Engineered to make riding comfortable for the performance minded woman cyclist."

The 1989 ATB specifications page is 1 MB, so it's too big to post. However you can download it HERE.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d7...89atb11med.jpg

Thanks Bob and Scooper... I now see that it is a womans frame, I may not be building it up and riding it...

Oh Noe! your manhood might fall off and your man card revolked!:roflmao2::p:D:lol::D

I know... Do you have any idea how much that man-card means to me?

But on top of that it is too small for me.