# 1950's Schwinn Jaguar (ID Year?)



## dave429 (Dec 11, 2015)

Can anyone help me narrow down the year of this Jaguar and possible model since the name wore off the chain guard. Thanks!


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## dave429 (Dec 11, 2015)

BTW serial number is N51819


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## GTs58 (Dec 11, 2015)

dave429 said:


> BTW serial number is N51819




Looks like one of the first middleweight Jaguars. 10/01/1956 serial number so there is a good chance this one was a Christmas 56 intro for the new 1957 Jags.


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## spoker (Dec 11, 2015)

ya dont hardley see the 57 seats as they werent very sturdy,after that it was rivits,looks like eye stabber red dots as well,is there a small round hole in the side of the shifter where you can see what gear your in?


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## dave429 (Dec 11, 2015)

What do you mean by "eye stabber red dots"? Here are some pictures of the shifter.


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## island schwinn (Dec 11, 2015)

Eyestabbers are the pointed end brake levers versus ball end levers.


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## GTs58 (Dec 11, 2015)

Eye stabbers is what everyone calls the early Weinman brake levers since they are somewhat pointed on the end. The later 60's issue had ball ends.

Island beat me to it by three minutes. Guess I shouldn't eat while posting.


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## scooter_trasher (Dec 11, 2015)

I'm old enough to be retired and Ive never heard them called that, must be a out west thing, but ya learn something new every day, of course my old school butt can't figure how shiny customs ever got classified as rat rods, to me Rat means weathered rusty& neglected, kinda like the bikes so revered on this forum and Rod is hopped up or stripped of parts to gain performance , primer = in velvet as in work in progress, I see bikes on the Rat Rod forum that are full blown custom low-riders with seats so low you could not hope to peddle them with chrome & billet , routinely win rat rod  build-offs, with no Rat or Rod to them at all, times are changing.


GTs58 said:


> Eye stabbers is what everyone calls the early Weinman brake levers since they are somewhat pointed on the end. The later 60's issue had ball ends.
> 
> Island beat me to it by three minutes. Guess I shouldn't eat while posting.


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## GTs58 (Dec 11, 2015)

scooter_trasher said:


> I'm old enough to be retired and Ive never heard them called that, must be a out west thing, but ya learn something new every day, of course my old school butt can't figure how shiny customs ever got classified as rat rods, to me Rat means weathered rusty& neglected, kinda like the bikes so revered on this forum and Rod is hopped up or stripped of parts to gain performance , primer = in velvet as in work in progress, I see bikes on the Rat Rod forum that are full blown custom low-riders with seats so low you could not hope to peddle them with chrome & billet , routinely win rat rod  build-offs, with no Rat or Rod to them at all, times are changing.




I'm 60 + years old and those levers have been called that ever since I can remember. I think it was in 1958 when a little Michigan boy named Timmy crashed his three speed Tiger poking his eye out on the lever. 

Now calling a balloon tire bike a heavyweight is something I've never heard until I joined a bike forum.


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## scooter_trasher (Dec 11, 2015)

Ralph Nader must have named them and I forgot to read his book, when I was growing up we called balloon tired bikes JUNK, go figure


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## dave429 (Dec 11, 2015)

Yeah "eye stabbers" is one I hadn't heard either! Learn something new everyday!


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## spoker (Dec 11, 2015)

that shifter with the plastic cover is newer,the original one might have failed,i thinkthe brake lever ends were changed when they stopped razor end stingray fenders and started rolling the edge over,sounds nadarish 2 me,remember what he did to the covair?


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## dave429 (Dec 12, 2015)

Yeah, You might be right regarding the shifter. I guess I wouldn't be able to tell the difference in that and an original one. I'm just surprised the 3 speed still works!


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## spoker (Dec 12, 2015)

the sa 3speed is one of my fav hubs,very low coast still plentiful on lightweights for around $25,get a coaster ,lace it in your wheel hook up the shifter and away u go!


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## scooter_trasher (Dec 12, 2015)

don't forget the spokes ,hand break, the change in fender mount , the S/A with coaster brakes were junk at best, and never to be trusted without backup brakes


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## spoker (Dec 12, 2015)

doesnt sound like your a fan of SA hubs what hub do u use in your builds?


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## scooter_trasher (Dec 12, 2015)

I love S/A hubs , I just don't like the rep their coaster brake models have, they have weak brakes and no breaks when in false neutral, that's why experts like Sheldon Brown advise not to use the TCW without hand brakes for backup, the regular three speeds are fine, if you like the TCW fine, but I can't see being able to just lace $25 hub into a wheel without any added expense like SPOKES and backup brakes for safety, I have an S/A in a Dunlap wheel I would love to lace into my s2, but with the price of spokes and the added trouble of changing the fender strut on the frame and painting ,to accept hand brakes, or Jerry Rigging an L- bracket for the calipers,  I'm better off spending the money on a kick-back already laced up
http://sheldonbrown.com/sturmey-archer/tcw.html


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## spoker (Dec 13, 2015)

Sheldon Who?


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## scooter_trasher (Dec 13, 2015)

spoker said:


> Sheldon Who?



Sheldon Brown (bicycle mechanic)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sheldon Brown
SheldonBrown.jpeg
Sheldon Brown, icebiking
Born 	July 14, 1944
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Died 	February 4, 2008 (aged 63)
Newton, Massachusetts, USA
Cause of death 	Heart attack
Residence 	Newtonville, Massachusetts
Nationality 	American
Other names 	Christopher Joyce (nom de plume);[1] Carapace Completed Umber (alter ego)[2]
Occupation 	bicycle shop employee
Employer 	Harris Cyclery
Home town 	Marblehead, Massachusetts
Spouse(s) 	Harriet Fell
Children 	Tova and George
Parent(s) 	George Matson Brown and Madalyn Joyce Brown
Website 	http://www.sheldonbrown.com/
Notes
[1]

Sheldon Brown (July 14, 1944 – February 4, 2008) was a noted American bicycle mechanic, technical expert and author.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9] He contributed to print and online sources related to bicycling and bicycle mechanics, and The Times of London described his knowledge of bicycles as "encyclopaedic".[10]

Contents

    1 Background
        1.1 Online
        1.2 Print publications, awards, and citations
    2 References
    3 External links

Background

Brown was the parts manager, webmaster and technical consultant of Harris Cyclery,[5] a bike shop in West Newton, Massachusetts, as well as a noted enthusiast[5] of vintage and classic bicycles in addition to cycling in general. Brown maintained webpages highlighting a broad range of cycling subjects, including Raleigh and English three-speed bicycles,[11] Sturmey-Archer hubs,[12] tandems,[13] and fixed-gear bicycles.[14] He repaired cameras,[3] and was an amateur photographer and his site features his photographic work.[15]

Brown maintained an English-French cycling dictionary and had lived and cycled in France and wrote on his family's travels in France.[16]

After developing nerve deterioration over the last years of his life, Brown lost his ability to ride an upright bicycle[1] and continued riding with a recumbent tricycle.[17] In August 2007, Brown was diagnosed with primary progressive multiple sclerosis. He died on February 4, 2008 in Newton, Massachusetts,[18] after a heart attack.[4][10][19]
Online

Brown's website, developed with Harris Cyclery, includes a deeply knowledgeable and accessible database of technical bicycle information. In particular a wide selection of knowledge of common bicycles from the second half of the 20th century that use non-standard parts. The site remains current as of September 2014—the commercial pages are maintained and updated by Harris Cyclery employees,[20] and the informational pages by his widow, Harriet Fell, and his friend John Allen, "a nationally recognized bicycling expert who helped found the Cambridge Bicycle Committee."[21][22] Brown maintained the site's glossary of bicycling terminology, online guide to wheelbuilding, as well as the mirror sites of the technical work of Damon Rinard,[23] Jobst Brandt,[24] and others.[25] Brown had also participated in online cycling forums such as rec.bicycles.tech newsgroup and bikeforums.net.[3]

Brown was a proponent of fixed-gear, single-speed bicycles for ordinary street use.[26] Brown developed a method to determine and compare bicycle gear ratios with Galen Evans and Osman Isvan. For any combination of front chainring, rear cog, wheel size and crank length, his method results in a number that Brown terms the "gain ratio".[27] Also, Brown expressed personal opinions on chain cleaning, lubrication and wear,[28] a source of controversy in the field of bicycle maintenance.[28][29]

In addition wide array of bike mechanics and repair articles, Brown's website also contains sections on family cycling,[30] touring,[31] a bike humor section,[32] as well as essays and fiction[33] about cycling. His humorous online articles frequently appeared on April 1.
Print publications, awards, and citations

Brown was a contributing writer for Bike World magazine (USA)[34] and for Bicycling magazine (USA),[34] and then for the trade magazine American Bicyclist.[34] Brown wrote the "Mechanical Advantage" column for Adventure Cyclist, the magazine of the Adventure Cycling Association,[34][35] "from 1997 through 2007."[36]

In October 2003, Brown was awarded a certificate of commendation for his contribution to cycling by the UK's Cyclists' Touring Club (CTC).[37] Brown received the Classic Rendezvous Vintage Bicycle Award in 2005.[38] MassBike presented Brown the Influence Pedaler Award posthumously in 2008.[39]

CTC's Chris Juden mentioned Brown's site in his response to a letter to the editor email,[40] and Lennard Zinn, technical editor for VeloNews, cited Brown in his regular Technical FAQ with Lennard Zinn column.[41][42] Frank Berto cites Brown's writing in The Dancing Chain, published by Van der Plas Publications,[43] and Zack Furness cites Brown's writing in One Less Car: Bicycling and the Politics of Automobility, published by Temple University Press.[44]


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## spoker (Dec 13, 2015)

MEH!! is that it?


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## dave429 (Dec 16, 2015)

Will any horn button work with the tank on this jaguar? Thats the only thing its missing. Anybody have any luck recovering these seats? Think a upholstery shop could do it?


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## scooter_trasher (Dec 16, 2015)

I think rustjunkie may be able to help
http://www.rustjunkies.com/


dave429 said:


> Will any horn button work with the tank on this jaguar? Thats the only thing its missing. Anybody have any luck recovering these seats? Think a upholstery shop could do it?


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## dave429 (Dec 16, 2015)

Thanks for the link!


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