1947 Schwinn New World 2-speed?
 

A friend of mine obtained this bike recently cleaning out a garage. He thinks it is rare and valuable. I have tried a lot of google searches and can't find any info about the bike. I did find out that there was a fire at the Chicago plant in Aug 1947 and all of the serial number records were lost. Does anyone know anything about this model?

I have found some old catalogs online but none of them have pictures or ads about this particular model.


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An awesome specimen in really good condition. September of 48 according to this:

http://www.angelfire.com/rant/allday...innCodes2.html

New World (1940-1952) Schwinn’s line of lightweights. Frank W. had hoped to reinvigorate the adult market with a bicycle that was practical for transportation (since most bikes of the era were heavy, durable toys for children). But the fad never materialized due in no small part to the continued growth of the automobile industry and WWII. When the world was a little more ready for a lightweight American touring bike, the New World was re-christened World Traveler and finally just Traveler.

New World (1940-1952) Schwinn’s line of lightweights. Frank W. had hoped to reinvigorate the adult market with a bicycle that was practical for transportation (since most bikes of the era were heavy, durable toys for children). But the fad never materialized due in no small part to the continued growth of the automobile industry and WWII. When the world was a little more ready for a lightweight American touring bike, the New World was re-christened World Traveler and finally just Traveler.


The Schwinn Paramount, Superior and New World were built by hand in a separate area of the Chicago factory called the "handbuild shop." The Paramount, with its lugged frame of Reynolds or Accles and Pollock tubing, was the top of the line. The Superior and New World were the second line of Schwinn bicycles, with in a more intermediate price range. Unlike the Paramount, however, Superior and New World framesets were not lugged but fillet brazed of seamless chrome molybdenum tubing. (The author does not know why lugs were not used for these frames. Perhaps in those days manufacturing lugs was more expensive than hand brazing.)

And, a thread here:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...winn-New-World

'47 sounds about right. Check for a date code on the rear hub. I bet it's a 3 speed, the N stands for "normal", not "neutral". Funny to see a Sturmey Archer hub on a Schwinn this early. I'd expect a New Departure.
They're pretty rare but they're not as valuable as the balloon tire Schwinns. I guess they're obscure or they don't stand out in a crowd or something. Here's a good article on the history of them;
http://sheldonbrown.com/schwinn-braze.html
What size are the tires, exactly (BTW, 26x1 3/8 Schwinn tires are different from 26x1 3/8 English tires and 26x1.375 tires) They'll probably be labeled 590mm 597mm or 599mm somewhere really small.
Is your friend thinking of selling it? The folks at www.thecabe.com are knowledgable about old Schwinns, though they mostly like the fat tires.

Here's a thread on fillet brazed Varsities (not to be confused with Electroforged Varsities) with some good general info on the FB Schwinns in general;
http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showthr...4-1954-Varsity

Looks like Schwinn shut down their forums section. There were some good people there. Some have gravitated here. You might want to register and post your pictures. I'm sure they would love seeing it.

http://www.schwinnbikeforum.com/

Thanks!

Schwinn was advertising the availability of SA-equipped three-speed models by 1939 or so. Because of the war I'm not sure if they really were able to get a significant quantity of British hubs until some years after the conflict. Of course, the hub on this bike could always be a non original, later addition - Schwinn offered retrofit three-speed wheels in their accessory and parts catalogs. What's the date on the hub?

That one is earlier than 1947. By 1947 the kickstand was welded to the frame; this type of kickstand was a pre-war feature. The brake levers are clearly not original. I would assume the Sturmey Archer quadrant shifter, however, is original. It is a 3-speed shifter, by the way; the speeds are L-N-H for low, normal, and high respectively. What are the markings on the rear hub?

I had one with a Sturmey Archer 3-speed hub dated 0 (1940); it had the same graphics and the same kickstand as this one. Mine had a cottered crank, though, which means it was a different model or model year (the cottered crank takes a different BB shell).

Pastor Bob has a New World of similar vintage to this one, with this type of crank, so a better match; and will no doubt weigh in before long.

The pics make it hard to tell if it is pre war or not. If the kickstand is bolt on or not, is it an integral seat post clamp, do the fenders have wire style fender braces,would be a few things to check. The quadrant shifter was basically a pre war item but could be seen in early post war bikes as any stock available was used to make these bikes. Also the rims may be marked stainless.

My '39-40 New World, with rear facing dropouts, was found as just a frameset with a severely bent and curvy fork.

I actually fitted it with a BB from my '80 Schwinn Twinn Sport (square taper BB in a one piece shell, not an adapter). My crank is a '70s Campagnolo Nuovo Record crankset, 42 tooth chainring and my custom made chain guard.

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...CampyCrank.jpg

My hope is to give it a makeover sometime later this winter into spring, fitting it with the fenders RHM provided, upright bars, and a few custom touches. It needs paint or powdercoat. Nothing is original on mine except the frame, not even the fork. As it currently sits (except PhotoGravity has the Milremo stem which he is planning to send to Ozneddy in Australia).

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...Mar19Ride3.jpg

Nice bike!

Mine is a "new departure" 2-speed.

http://www.jims59.com/vintageschwinn...9_Traveler.jpg

I'd guess that this one is closer to 1940-41. Bolt on kickstand, clamp on chainguard, wire fender braces, and integrated seat clamp are all prewar features of these bikes. If the crank arms are original to the bike, they will have AS&Co stamped on them and a date code. You'll have to pull the cranks from the bike to read this.

The type of crank depended on what you ordered. I have a prewar New World with the 3 piece crank and you could order the New World with a ashtabula crank.

Like pakman says, one-piece cranks were an option. Here are the 1940 dealer catalog pages for the New World W3MFC with freewheel hub (the photo doesn't show the 3-speed W3MSC), the New World Coaster Brake model, and the Racer.

The OP's bike is gorgeous.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d7...rld3-Speed.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d7...asterBrake.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d7...WorldRacer.jpg

Stan, while it is hard to tell on the 3 Speed and Coaster Brake New Worlds, the Racer definitely has forward facing rear drops. It would seem as if my rear facing drops places it as a 1939. Was there a 1938 New World?

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...122010SAFW.jpg

Very interesting observation, Bob.

I don't have a picture of a '38 New World, so I'm not sure there was one. However, the 1939 consumer catalog shows a New World "Lightweight Tourist" with rear facing dropouts like yours.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d7...s/1939_b03.jpg

I think 1939 was the first year, but don't hold me to that. The early catalog that I have (and that is up on Tom Findley's site) shows the rear facing dropouts clearly.

PB's front fork came from a '39 ladies' NW that had rear facing DOs (and a cracked frame).

Bob

http://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1.../1939_nw03.jpg

This is a slightly modified 1941 New World that I own that came with a 3 piece Superior crankset on it. It is a bit of a club racer now. Mine has front facing drop outs. Roger