# Need to identify model. Traveler?



## 80’s Rider (Jun 10, 2020)

Thanks for accepting me into this forum. I was told you guys could help. I have an old Schwinn I’m trying to identify. After surfing the web I found the serial# was used twice (‘54 and ‘56). I believe it to be a woman’s Traveler but not 100% sure since I’m finding out the same frame could be used for more than one model. I read in a thread on this site that I should take a close look at the plate on the front. After removing it I noticed the plate was brass color on the back not aluminum in color. It looks like it has a lot of era correct parts. It has blade forks, era correct neck and handle bars, era correct sprocket and cranks. It has Schwinn stamped in rims and front hub. Even the seat clamp looks correct. I read in another thread from back in March that someone mentioned the Schwinn Racer. Not sure if that is a possibility. It use to be blue and it has a coaster break as well. Will try to post pics if I’m allowed to being that I’m a new member. I appreciate the help. Would like to locate fenders for it too once it has. Even identified. Thanks again


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## GTs58 (Jun 10, 2020)

Looks like someone intentionally stripped off the paint. What's left looks like a solid color blue (Spitfire Blue) and the stem is the rolled tube piece and has a bolt on stand. The Traveler came in the Opal or candy colors, had a forged stem, built in stand and was always a three speed, so this could not have been a Traveler. Off the top of my head with that info I'd say that is a 1956 Racer. It does have the drilled fork for a caliper brake so there might be another model it may have been but there was a deluxe Racer with gears. @rennfaron would be the one that could ID this without a doubt.


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## 1motime (Jun 11, 2020)

Nice early wing badge


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## Sven (Jun 11, 2020)

The paint definitely was removed.  Very clean bike.


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## 80’s Rider (Jun 11, 2020)

GTs58 said:


> Looks like someone intentionally stripped off the paint. What's left looks like a solid color blue (Spitfire Blue) and the stem is the rolled tube piece and has a bolt on stand. The Traveler came in the Opal or candy colors, had a forged stem, built in stand and was always a three speed, so this could not have been a Traveler. Off the top of my head with that info I'd say that is a 1956 Racer. It does have the drilled fork for a caliper brake so there might be another model it may have been but there was a deluxe Racer with gears. @rennfaron would be the one that could i.d. this without a doubt.



Do you know where I can get fenders for it?


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## 80’s Rider (Jun 11, 2020)

GTs58 said:


> Looks like someone intentionally stripped off the paint. What's left looks like a solid color blue (Spitfire Blue) and the stem is the rolled tube piece and has a bolt on stand. The Traveler came in the Opal or candy colors, had a forged stem, built in stand and was always a three speed, so this could not have been a Traveler. Off the top of my head with that info I'd say that is a 1956 Racer. It does have the drilled fork for a caliper brake so there might be another model it may have been but there was a deluxe Racer with gears. @rennfaron would be the one that could i.d. this without a doubt.



Do you also know if they made the Racer in ‘54? If it’s a ‘56, shouldn’t the badge be aluminum instead of brass? Also I noticed some of the welds are a different color (look brassy). Did they use a metal that color back then or was it re-welded? I don’t think someone would go through all that effort to re-weld all those different areas of the frame. Just curios if that specific point of the bike might help date it.


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## Sven (Jun 11, 2020)

80’s Rider said:


> Do you know where I can get fenders for it?



I believe this a front fender for it













						Schwinn Antique Front Fender  | eBay
					

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Schwinn Antique Front Fender at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!



					rover.ebay.com


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## 1motime (Jun 11, 2020)

Sven said:


> I believe this a front fender for itView attachment 1209349View attachment 1209351
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Those are tough fenders to find in good condition.  The stainless ones are almost always damaged.  The alloy Schwinn used is very thin and brittle.  Very fragile compared to regular steel.  Dent easily and crack just as quickly.
The fender on E-bay has some large issues.  Unless you are skilled in straightening stainless you might curse the day you bought it.  Why not just find some early plain steel ones and give them the same finish as the rest of the bike?  They are out there.  Would look cool with everything matching!


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## 80’s Rider (Jun 11, 2020)

1motime said:


> Those are tough fenders to find in good condition.  The stainless ones are almost always damaged.  The alloy Schwinn used is very thin and brittle.  Very fragile compared to regular steel.  Dent easily and crack just as quickly.
> The fender on E-bay has some large issues.  Unless you are skilled in straightening stainless you might curse the day you bought it.  Why not just find some early plain steel ones and give them the same finish as the rest of the bike?  They are out there.  Would look cool with everything matching!



Do the early steal shape ones have the fun in the front too?


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## Sven (Jun 11, 2020)

1motime said:


> .
> The fender on E-bay has some large issues.  Unless you are skilled in straightening stainless you might curse the day you bought it.  Why not just find some early plain steel ones and give them the same finish as the rest of the bike?  They are out there.




Yes sir. That joker is in rough condition.


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## 1motime (Jun 11, 2020)

80’s Rider said:


> Do the early steal shape ones have the fun in the front too?



Yes  New World, Racer, Traveler


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## Sven (Jun 11, 2020)

1motime said:


> Yes  New World, Racer, Traveler



Didn't the first Varsitys have that style front fender?


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## 1motime (Jun 11, 2020)

Sven said:


> Didn't the first Varsitys have that style front fender?



You might be right.  There were other early stainless fenders that has a point on the front fender without the fin.  Superior etc


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## 80’s Rider (Jun 11, 2020)

1motime said:


> Those are tough fenders to find in good condition.  The stainless ones are almost always damaged.  The alloy Schwinn used is very thin and brittle.  Very fragile compared to regular steel.  Dent easily and crack just as quickly.
> The fender on E-bay has some large issues.  Unless you are skilled in straightening stainless you might curse the day you bought it.  Why not just find some early plain steel ones and give them the same finish as the rest of the bike?  They are out there.  Would look cool with everything matching!



Does any body know where I can find a part#’s for the fenders. I’m finding some on eBay but won’t to make sure it’s the tight one for a Racer or even a World or a Traveler since I’m told they should be the same.


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## 1motime (Jun 11, 2020)

80’s Rider said:


> Does any body know where I can find a part#’s for the fenders. I’m finding some on eBay but won’t to make sure it’s the tight one for a Racer or even a World or a Traveler since I’m told they should be the same.



No numbers after all this time.  Schwinn 26" lightweight fenders.  Fronts are all the same size. Only difference is  the fin or no fin.  Rears are all the same except for location of the riveted on bracket.
One fits 19" frame.  The other fits 21 or 23" frames.  Should be a number on the fender tab that mounts next to the bottom bracket for the frame size.


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## 80’s Rider (Jun 11, 2020)

1motime said:


> No numbers after all this time.  Schwinn 26" lightweight fenders.  Fronts are all the same size. Only difference is  the fin or no fin.  Rears are all the same except for location of the riveted on bracket.
> One fits 19" frame.  The other fits 21 or 23" frames.  Should be a number on the tab that mounts next to the bottom bracket for the frame size.



How do I check to know what frame size I have on my woman’s bike?


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## 1motime (Jun 11, 2020)

80’s Rider said:


> How do I check to know what frame size I have on my woman’s bike?



Center of crank in bottom bracket to seat post clamp on woman's.  I think woman's are 19 or 21


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## schwinnlax (Jun 11, 2020)

I believe you have a '56 women's Racer.  If I remember right, the Traveler had tubular forks through '56.  At some point they changed to blade forks, but I think '56 was still tube forks.  All lightweight bikes of the '50s came with a "peaked" front fender.  Take a look at my '56 Racer to get an idea of what yours would have looked like (other than the front basket).  They came in both 3 and single speeds, so yours could have been either.  With the condition of your bike, it will be impossible to tell what it was originally.  If you are wanting to restore it to the original look, I don't think those decals are available as reproductions.  They are unique to the '56 - '58 Racers.


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## schwinnlax (Jun 11, 2020)

80’s Rider said:


> How do I check to know what frame size I have on my woman’s bike?



All women's lightweights through the '60s were 19 inch frames.  Only men's came in more than one size.


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## 80’s Rider (Jun 11, 2020)

schwinnlax said:


> I believe you have a '56 women's Racer.  If I remember right, the Traveler had tubular forks through '56.  At some point they changed to blade forks, but I think '56 was still tube forks.  All lightweight bikes of the '50s came with a "peaked" front fender.  Take a look at my '56 Racer to get an idea of what yours would have looked like (other than the front basket).  They came in both 3 and single speeds, so yours could have been either.  With the condition of your bike, it will be impossible to tell what it was originally.  If you are wanting to restore it to the original look, I don't think those decals are available as reproductions.  They are unique to the '56 - '58 Racers.
> 
> View attachment 1209517



Thank you for all your help. You and this forum have been very helpful. These fenders are hard to find. I found a NOS chrome front fender that sold for $50. Not sure if the bike is worth the time and money spent finding original fenders or not. I’m the type of person who feels it deserves it original look.  Not exactly sure how long it would take for me to find them though. Also if I did find find them and spent around $100 on fenders and then paid for a nice quality paint ( say powder coat) then would I get my investment back if I sold it. I did find a set of NOS fenders that look like they would work but there about 2 1/2” shorter than the originals and the back fender mounts to the rear axle instead of the tab on the back dropouts on the frame. I also would have to drill a hole for the brackets. What do you think? I’ll send a pic.


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## 80’s Rider (Jun 11, 2020)

schwinnlax said:


> I believe you have a '56 women's Racer.  If I remember right, the Traveler had tubular forks through '56.  At some point they changed to blade forks, but I think '56 was still tube forks.  All lightweight bikes of the '50s came with a "peaked" front fender.  Take a look at my '56 Racer to get an idea of what yours would have looked like (other than the front basket).  They came in both 3 and single speeds, so yours could have been either.  With the condition of your bike, it will be impossible to tell what it was originally.  If you are wanting to restore it to the original look, I don't think those decals are available as reproductions.  They are unique to the '56 - '58 Racers.
> 
> View attachment 1209517



Sorry about the extra pics. Don’t know how that happened


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## 1motime (Jun 11, 2020)

What do I think?  Lots of 2x4s.  Looks like you know how to frame wood.  Good job.  What are you building.? Those fenders will probably work.  New and shiny.  Probably have to work to fit the the braces.  Not a big deal if you are handy.


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## 80’s Rider (Jun 11, 2020)

schwinnlax said:


> I believe you have a '56 women's Racer.  If I remember right, the Traveler had tubular forks through '56.  At some point they changed to blade forks, but I think '56 was still tube forks.  All lightweight bikes of the '50s came with a "peaked" front fender.  Take a look at my '56 Racer to get an idea of what yours would have looked like (other than the front basket).  They came in both 3 and single speeds, so yours could have been either.  With the condition of your bike, it will be impossible to tell what it was originally.  If you are wanting to restore it to the original look, I don't think those decals are available as reproductions.  They are unique to the '56 - '58 Racers.
> 
> View attachment 1209517



Thank you for all your help. You and this forum have been very helpful. Your right, these fenders are not easy to find. I found a NOS front fender with the fin that sold last month for $50!  Part of me wants to find the correct fenders for that year (‘56). It would be interesting if the next year they got rid of the fin on the front fender because the first year for the Racer was ‘56 so that would make it a little different than the rest that followed. But I’m not sure if spending around $100 on fenders plus the cost of painting it is worth it. If I decide to sell it I’m not sure what I could get for it or if it is a desirable model. I did find these fenders on eBay. I think they might work. They are a little shorter in circumference (2 1/2”)and mount to the axel on the back fender instead of the frame on the back dropouts. What do you think? They are NOS and the seller claims the chrome is better than the newer stuff.


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## GTs58 (Jun 11, 2020)

80’s Rider said:


> Do you also know if they made the Racer in ‘54? If it’s a ‘56, shouldn’t the badge be aluminum instead of brass? Also I noticed some of the welds are a different color (look brassy). Did they use a metal that color back then or was it re-welded? I don’t think someone would go through all that effort to re-weld all those different areas of the frame. Just curios if that specific point of the bike might help date it.




Looks like they were still brazing parts to the BB in 56. The seat tubes were Electro - welded to the bottom bracket shell and the stays and downtubes were brazed. The were doing that during war time 1942, and I can't imagine why the rest of the BB joints aren't EF in the mid 50's. 
That particular badge in brass may have been used in conjunction with the aluminum oval badges and I'm not sure when the aluminum winged badge first came about. Using up old inventory is another possibility.


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## schwinnlax (Jun 11, 2020)

You will NOT get your investment out of that bike, sorry to tell you.  Around here, powder coating a bike frame and forks runs $100.  If you want to make it look like a Racer, which it likely was originally, you will need painted fenders that color match with white pinstripes.  Then there’s the decals, which are not available for ‘56-‘58 Racers.  Women’s frame bikes just don’t bring much money.  I have bought all the ones I have for $20 - $100.  They are just far less collectible than men’s frame bikes.  Even still, if that bike were a men’s frame, you still would not get your investment out of it after a restoration.  That’s just the reality of the market.

I thought maybe you had some attachment to the bike, which is why you were interested in putting so much effort into a woman’s frame bike in that condition.  If you are looking to restore and sell, you are wasting your time and money, in my opinion.


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## 80’s Rider (Jun 11, 2020)

1motime said:


> What do I think?  Lots of 2x4s.  Looks like you know how to frame wood.  Good job.  What are you building.? Those fenders will probably work.  New and shiny.  Probably have to work to fit the the braces.  Not a big deal if you are handy.



Yeah sorry about those pics I was building a big box for my son to grind his skateboard on. It was a birthday gift


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## 80’s Rider (Jun 11, 2020)

schwinnlax said:


> I believe you have a '56 women's Racer.  If I remember right, the Traveler had tubular forks through '56.  At some point they changed to blade forks, but I think '56 was still tube forks.  All lightweight bikes of the '50s came with a "peaked" front fender.  Take a look at my '56 Racer to get an idea of what yours would have looked like (other than the front basket).  They came in both 3 and single speeds, so yours could have been either.  With the condition of your bike, it will be impossible to tell what it was originally.  If you are wanting to restore it to the original look, I don't think those decals are available as reproductions.  They are unique to the '56 - '58 Racers.
> 
> View attachment 1209517



I found these. Will old fenders from the 40’s work. If so I could arrange a pickup since he’s close enough.


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## rennfaron (Jun 12, 2020)

schwinnlax said:


> I believe you have a '56 women's Racer.  If I remember right, the Traveler had tubular forks through '56.  At some point they changed to blade forks, but I think '56 was still tube forks.  All lightweight bikes of the '50s came with a "peaked" front fender.  Take a look at my '56 Racer to get an idea of what yours would have looked like (other than the front basket).  They came in both 3 and single speeds, so yours could have been either.  With the condition of your bike, it will be impossible to tell what it was originally.  If you are wanting to restore it to the original look, I don't think those decals are available as reproductions.  They are unique to the '56 - '58 Racers.



I think racer too. The stem style gives it away as a racer. Travelers didn't ever use that style stem. Traveler went to blade forks in '59. All lightweight "tourist" came with peaked fenders. Per my comment below, don't restore it.


schwinnlax said:


> All women's lightweights through the '60s were 19 inch frames.  Only men's came in more than one size.



Yup, exactly right, only 19"


schwinnlax said:


> You will NOT get your investment out of that bike, sorry to tell you.  Around here, powder coating a bike frame and forks runs $100.  If you want to make it look like a Racer, which it likely was originally, you will need painted fenders that color match with white pinstripes.  Then there’s the decals, which are not available for ‘56-‘58 Racers.  Women’s frame bikes just don’t bring much money.  I have bought all the ones I have for $20 - $100.  They are just far less collectible than men’s frame bikes.  Even still, if that bike were a men’s frame, you still would not get your investment out of it after a restoration.  That’s just the reality of the market.
> 
> I thought maybe you had some attachment to the bike, which is why you were interested in putting so much effort into a woman’s frame bike in that condition.  If you are looking to restore and sell, you are wasting your time and money, in my opinion.



Totally agree. And why restore it? It looks fine as is. You can pick up really nice condition ladies racers all day long for $100-150. I found a mint ladies '57 3-speed traveler for $70 recently. Also found a nice condition '54 ladies traveler last year for $150.

Also, you need to be very careful you get fenders sized for a 19" frame. The front fender will work on any size of the time: 19, 21 and 23 inch. However the rear fender top mounting tab that loops over the caliper support bolt is located specifically for each frame size. The fender itself is the same size, just the mount location changes depending on frame size. That is because the angle of the seat stays opens up and the connection point to the seat tube increases in height. If you don't get the right size you will be drilling out a rivet and riveting it back on at another position and will have a visible hole where the old mount location was. Don't do that. Just find a 19" sized rear fender. You just have to know the right dimension from the tail end of the fender up along the spine of the fender and to the mounting location. I can pull that dimension for you as I have a bunch of 50s ladies lightweights (give me a few days, if you can wait - stuff is in storage...). Lucky for you 19" frame sizes and appropriately sized 19" rear fenders are pretty common of the era.


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## Rivnut (Jun 15, 2020)

I can't tell from your posts how much you're into this bike. I know that you're looking for fenders and you're being told that because it's a girl's bike  blah blah blah.

Yesterday I picked up a 1963 Traveler because I wanted the bow pedals, the shifter, and a couple of other parts for some other bikes that I have. 

My bike is a boy's bike, and has a good front fender and a decent rear fender.   Would you be interested in  the frame (built in kick stand,) fork, and fenders w/ correct braces ?  I have what I want, I'd sell what I listed for $60 plus shipping.  You have everything else you need on your bike. 











Let me know one way or the other.  I'll be putting the bike as is on the market in a few days.


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## rennfaron (Jun 15, 2020)

If those are 26" tires then that is a 19" frame and those fenders will work on the ladies 19" frame bike.


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## Rivnut (Jun 15, 2020)

26 x 1-3/8 tires.  19 inch frame.


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