Schwinn Speedster Question
06-22-10 | 09:40 AM
#1
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Count Orlok Member
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From: St. Paul, MN
Bikes: Raleigh Sports, Raleigh Twenty, Raleigh Wyoming, Raleigh DL1, Schwinn Winter Bike
Schwinn Speedster Question
I normally ride English 3-sppeds, but this bicycle on my local Craigslist caught my eye:
The red color looks late '70s to me--anyone know? I looked at the online Schwinn catalogs, and I see a Speedster in that era. Also, the bike has calipers front and rear, but is listed as a singlespeed. It almost looks like a Sturmey-Archer axlenut on the rear hub, and there is a braze-on for a shiftwheel. Did some of the singlspeed model have caliper brakes and a braze-on?
I'm hopeful that it has an S-A hub, and is just missing the indicator chain. What do you Schwinn (or other) experts think?
The red color looks late '70s to me--anyone know? I looked at the online Schwinn catalogs, and I see a Speedster in that era. Also, the bike has calipers front and rear, but is listed as a singlespeed. It almost looks like a Sturmey-Archer axlenut on the rear hub, and there is a braze-on for a shiftwheel. Did some of the singlspeed model have caliper brakes and a braze-on?
I'm hopeful that it has an S-A hub, and is just missing the indicator chain. What do you Schwinn (or other) experts think?
06-22-10 | 11:02 AM
#2
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From: Rhode Island (an obscure suburb of Connecticut)
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Really looks 70's to me. Seems like by that time they were mostly 3 speed or coaster brake. There were some single speed freewheel bikes early on.
06-22-10 | 11:53 AM
#3
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From: Santa Rosa, California
Bikes: Waterford 953 RS-22, several Paramounts
Mid-seventies 3-speed Speedster in Flamboyant Red.
From the '75 consumer catalog:
https://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1...0/1975_12.html
From the '75 consumer catalog:
https://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1...0/1975_12.html
06-22-10 | 12:07 PM
#4
multimodal commuter
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From: NJ, NYC, LI
Bikes: 1940s Fothergill, 1959 Allegro Special, 1963? Claud Butler Olympic Sprint, Lambert 'Clubman', 1974 Fuji "the Ace", 1976 Holdsworth 650b conversion rando bike, 1983 Trek 720 tourer, 1984 Counterpoint Opus II, 1993 Basso Gap, 2010 Downtube 8h, and...
^Yup. I had a yellow one with coaster brake, looked just like that, I guess I got it in '73.
The two brakes and various Sturmey Archer clues suggest it's a three speed with the indicator, cable and shifter all missing. Not hard to replace.
The two brakes and various Sturmey Archer clues suggest it's a three speed with the indicator, cable and shifter all missing. Not hard to replace.
06-22-10 | 12:33 PM
#5
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Count Orlok Member
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From: St. Paul, MN
Bikes: Raleigh Sports, Raleigh Twenty, Raleigh Wyoming, Raleigh DL1, Schwinn Winter Bike
I'm guessing this is a 22" frame, so if the seller emails me back, I may go look at it tonight.
06-22-10 | 12:46 PM
#6
You gonna eat that?
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From: Fort Worth, Texas Church of Hopeful Uncertainty
Bikes: 1966 Raleigh DL-1 Tourist, 1973 Schwinn Varsity, 1983 Raleigh Marathon, 1994 Nishiki Sport XRS
Yep, looks like 22"
__________________
I stop for people / whose right of way I honor / but not for no one.
Originally Posted by bragi 
"However, it's never a good idea to overgeneralize."
I stop for people / whose right of way I honor / but not for no one.
Originally Posted by bragi "However, it's never a good idea to overgeneralize."
06-22-10 | 02:13 PM
#7
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We have a Schwinn Breeze from about the same era. Looks pretty much like the same bike except, of course, the Breeze is the lady's model. Three speed AW hub, 26 1-3/8 1-1/4" rims and Schwinn specific tires. It's a good bike. Not as "nimble" as a Sports, but those old Schwinns are tough. I've seen a couple in the area that had the 3-speed with coaster brakes, but the one you're looking at has both calipers, so it's unlikely to be a coaster, from what I know. Men's three speed bikes seem a little harder to sell in the Houston area, from what I'm told, but the lady's models seem to be in demand.
06-22-10 | 04:01 PM
#8
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From: Rhode Island (an obscure suburb of Connecticut)
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I had a Breeze for a while. I liked the way it rode. Different feel from a Raleigh but I don't think it was any heavier. I'd like to find a nice clean mens model at a decent price.
06-22-10 | 07:41 PM
#9
You gonna eat that?
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 14,917
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From: Fort Worth, Texas Church of Hopeful Uncertainty
Bikes: 1966 Raleigh DL-1 Tourist, 1973 Schwinn Varsity, 1983 Raleigh Marathon, 1994 Nishiki Sport XRS
I'd love to find a bike like that with the 2-speed kickback.... preferably from the 50s (to add another decade to the collection)
__________________
I stop for people / whose right of way I honor / but not for no one.
Originally Posted by bragi "However, it's never a good idea to overgeneralize."
I stop for people / whose right of way I honor / but not for no one.
Originally Posted by bragi "However, it's never a good idea to overgeneralize."
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