# A Timeline of Tires...which tire where?



## ballooney (Dec 21, 2010)

I'm new to the CABE and am looking to get started with some tire questions.  Mainly, I'm asking what type of tire would be appropriate for a given bike in a given year.  I'm also interested in knowing a tire timeline such as what years were Schwinn Typhoon Cord tires produced..

Starting off with timelines, what years were the following produced (feel free to add other manufacturers as I surely don't know them all)?

Schwinn Typhoon Cord
Goodrich Silvertown
Goodyear
Allstate
Firestone

Next, what tire(s) would be appropriate for the following?

Schwinn:
'46 Straight Bar
'48 Straight Bar
'49 B6
'50 Panther
'53 Admiral
'55 Phantom
'59 Phantom

Roadmaster:
'48 Luxury Liner

Monark:
early 50's Super Cruiser
mid 50's Rocket

Columbia:
'37 

Shelby:
'38 Lindy

Any help/comments would be appreciated.
Kind Regards.


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## supper15fiets (Dec 22, 2010)

mmm...i tried this also a time ago but no reactions at all, i think that is also a different
thing to look for, there where contract between compagnies of bicycles and tire-compagnies....
and then when they where replaced who knows when, and then there where the small groceries that sell bicycles whit there own labels and local brand tires, difficult to trace that line, i only think that the well know brands like Schwinn,Columbia ect. are good to find out what sort of tires they used....
And then, there where many tire brands
firesone
Fisk
General
Gilette bears
Cornell Clippers
US Royals
and many more...


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## cyclingday (Dec 25, 2010)

Once Schwinn started producing its own tires, you can be pretty sure that they were specified on most bikes coming out of the factory.
 The Schwinn Typhoon cord first showed up as the Cyclone in 1940, so any heavywieght Schwinn made after that year would be legit with a pair of Typhoons on it.
 Besides, they were the best riding tires ever made, so, why would you want to ride on anything else?

As for the earlier prewar Schwinns. The catalogs state that they could be ordered with either Goodyear/Goodrich/ Gillette/ or U.S. Royals.
 Of these tires, the Goodyears were probably the best tire to go with.

For any other bike brands, You just have to look at where the bikes were originally sold  to detirmine which tire brand that they probably were equipped with when new.
Sears usually came with Allstates. Elgin/J.C. Higgins etc.
Firestones probably came with Firestones, and B.F. Goodrich sold bikes probably came with B.F. Goodrich Silvertowns etc. 

You get the idea.
 Of course there are no hard fast rules, and anything and everything was possible, so if you like the way the Allstates ride, and you wanted to put them on your Schwinn, I'm sure that there were a lot of kids who did just that.
Besides, if they were sold by Sears, they probably were way more affordable, and even came with a lifetime guarantee. Now how could you beat that?


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## ballooney (Dec 25, 2010)

Great knowledge!  Thanks for shedding some light on my questions--much appreciated.  Now knowing the Typhoon Cord timeline simplifies things or at least provides a narrower focus for Schwinns.  Your reference to the Sears catalog makes a lot of sense--whatever brands they carried in a given year would be a likely replacement tire for all ballooners made in prior years. 

Thanks again and have a Happy New Year.


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## cbailey (Feb 5, 2011)

Anyone know what a 1952 Panther with a BF Goodrich headbadge would have for original tires? Did Schwinn spec any BF Goodrich tires that long after the war or did they just stick with Typhoons? The bike was a stock 52 Panther in every other way besides the headbadge but the tire spec is a mystery to me.


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## cyclingday (Feb 6, 2011)

My guess is, since that bad boy was probably sold, sitting in the showroom of a Goodrich tire store, it was probably equipped with a set of Silvertowns.


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