# Schwinn Stainless S-6s



## Schwinn499 (Dec 21, 2015)

So ive had a quite few 50s 3 speed travelers come and go but never really paid much attention until I read people discussing the issue here, but whats the deal on these. Does anyone have a gauge on years and models that were equipped with them? I had a buddy take a look and he says I may be packing a couple sets but I am unsure. Any good tips on identification of these? 

Share your stainless S-6 equipped bikes.

Both my bikes in question are '52 3 speed travelers.


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## spoker (Dec 21, 2015)

it would be interesting to use a chemical test kit to see if the rims are stainless and if they are to what degree,alot of stainless is fairly soft,stainless fender can be polished but its difficult to get them to a 32 or better finish


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## chucksoldbikes (Dec 21, 2015)

use a magnet stainless is not  magnetic
 chucksoldbikes


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## spoker (Dec 21, 2015)

some grades of stainless are magnetic


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## Schwinn499 (Dec 21, 2015)

chucksoldbikes said:


> use a magnet stainless is not  magnetic
> chucksoldbikes






spoker said:


> some grades of stainless are magnetic



Thanks guys. Ive heard this advice as well. The wheels on my bike are magnetic. Ive also herd the magnetic attraction is not as strong on the stailess wheels, but still magnetic.

Id find it hard to believe the rims were made of solid stainless steel. Im going to assume there is some sort of stainless "plating" involved, but again I have no idea, hence starting this thread.

Any more ideas or information is greatly appreciated.


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## rustjunkie (Dec 21, 2015)

And it's stain_less_, not stain_free_ 
If I remember correctly, some 1930s-1940s Schwinn lightweight rims were marked STAINLESS. 
I don't remember if these were also marked SUPERIOR or not.
So I'm guessing the S6 rims in question are not marked STAINLESS...?


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## GTs58 (Dec 21, 2015)

I see no rust on the brake burn so those may very well be stainless. On all my chromed steel rims with bad brake burn it's hard to keep em clean of rust. Wax, WD-40 or anything that helps keep the rust away is a real bad idea so the rust comes back if the bike isn't ridden for a while. There are many different grades of SS and I really doubt the rims were SS plated. On rims that old if they were plated there would undoubtedly be rust at the spoke holes and under the rim strips.


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## Eric Amlie (Dec 21, 2015)

I don't think the rims are just plated with stainless. I would bet that they are solid stainless, but there are many grades & qualities of stainless steel. The higher grades are stronger(I think) and more non-magnetic(that I know). I think rims are made from a fairly low grade of stainless. Some of my stainless spokes are somewhat magnetic also.


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## Schwinn499 (Dec 21, 2015)

Eric Amlie said:


> I don't think the rims are just plated with stainless. I would bet that they are solid stainless, but there are many grades & qualities of stainless steel. The higher grades are stronger(I think) and more non-magnetic(that I know). I think rims are made from a fairly low grade of stainless. Some of my stainless spokes are somewhat magnetic also.






GTs58 said:


> I see no rust on the brake burn so those may very well be stainless. On all my chromed steel rims with bad brake burn it's hard to keep em clean of rust. Wax, WD-40 or anything that helps keep the rust away is a real bad idea so the rust comes back if the bike isn't ridden for a while. There are many different grades of SS and I really doubt the rims were SS plated. On rims that old if they were plated there would undoubtedly be rust at the spoke holes and under the rim strips.



Goes to show what I know!

Im gonna do some inspecting tomorrow and maybe snap a few pics. The reason I assumed they were plated, and as GT pointed out, the rims have some brake burn and I can see a "different" base metal underneath. Both these bikes rims were never rusted from what I remember but it's been a while since I aquired and went through them.

Is SS plating even possible? I googled it and didnt stur up much of a definite answer. I makes sense that it would be but again...what do I know?!

Thanks for the insight guys.


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## Schwinn499 (Dec 21, 2015)

rustjunkie said:


> And it's stain_less_, not stain_free_
> If I remember correctly, some 1930s-1940s Schwinn lightweight rims were marked STAINLESS.
> I don't remember if these were also marked SUPERIOR or not.
> So I'm guessing the S6 rims in question are not marked STAINLESS...?



The rims were not stamped STAINLESS from what I recall. Again, ill take some pics tomorrow if I get a chance and well see exactly what they say.


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## scooter_trasher (Dec 22, 2015)

That would  depend on the nickel content, basic stainless uses chromium and is magnetic


chucksoldbikes said:


> use a magnet stainless is not  magnetic
> chucksoldbikes


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## spoker (Dec 22, 2015)

u might find the metal that wore off from the brakepads is acually a thin layer of flash chrome,flash chrome has no copper as a base,chrome was at best thin durring the korean war which was goin on about the same time as your bike,there were cutbacks in alot of stuff including chrome during this time


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## rustjunkie (Dec 22, 2015)

Schwinn499 said:


> The rims were not stamped STAINLESS from what I recall...




So here's a question: Has anyone seen S-6 rims that _*are*_ stamped STAINLESS?


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## Jeff54 (Dec 22, 2015)

Kind-a looks like chrome color in photos but, that's obviously a stretch. Regardless, one way to know, ought to be RxR tracks. Stainless is much harder than steel and very tough to kurdle em into it. So, you'd expect it to be quite light, or not deep at all,  verses regular. And, if you compare chrome to stainless steel colors, stainless leans more toward gray verse chrome.


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## Eric Amlie (Dec 23, 2015)

rustjunkie said:


> So here's a question: Has anyone seen S-6 rims that _*are*_ stamped STAINLESS?




Here is a photo from a set that I have.
As you can see, they are mottled & pocked from corrosion, so it can't be a very high grade of stainless. You would never see that kind of corrosion on 304 or 316 stainless.


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## Schwinn499 (Dec 23, 2015)

Bitchen Eric! Mine for sure have a knurl. What l bike are these off of?


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## Eric Amlie (Dec 23, 2015)

Schwinn499 said:


> Bitchen Eric! Mine for sure have a knurl. What l bike are these off of?




I bought them on Ebay years ago, so I don't know what they came from.


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## Dale Alan (Dec 23, 2015)

Very cool Eric,glad to see an actual pic .


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