# Just picked up today 1957 Schwinn hornet



## 1937Zenith (Mar 24, 2022)

Looks to be all original to me, can any of the pros here tell me if anything stands out as not being original? FYI I flipped the bars just because I prefer the look. I know it’s not everyone’s taste haha but I dig it


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## falconer (Mar 24, 2022)

Nice bike, even has a two speed!


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## SJ_BIKER (Mar 24, 2022)

Nice color


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## 1937Zenith (Mar 24, 2022)

Thank you yeah I thought that was pretty cool. Bike rides excellent! Just gonna clean it up a little bit and leave it unrestored


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## bloo (Mar 24, 2022)

1937Zenith said:


> tell me if anything stands out as not being original?




The red band kickback 2 speed didn't exist in 57. A Bendix 2-speed would have been manually shifted at that time. I'd keep the kickback. It is a nice upgrade over a plain coaster.

Beautiful bike, what a score!


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## 1937Zenith (Mar 24, 2022)

bloo said:


> The red band kickback 2 speed didn't exist in 57. A Bendix 2-speed would have been manually shifted at that time. I'd keep the kickback. It is a nice upgrade over a plain coaster.
> 
> Beautiful bike, what a score!



Thanks good to know!


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## nick tures (Mar 24, 2022)

looks good !


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## GTs58 (Mar 24, 2022)

Looks pretty legit for the most part. That Florida Green sure is a nice change from the old Coach Green.
Those 70's wheel reflectors sure don't help any though. As already said, the rear hub was added but it's a nice addition for cruising the hill sides. Here's what I see and not that big of a deal. The grips are 60's+ and the seat post clamp is a later piece that came out in 1959 I believe. Great looking piece and it should clean up pretty easy and look like a million. 👍


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## 1817cent (Mar 24, 2022)

Definitely has possibilities!


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## 1937Zenith (Mar 24, 2022)

GTs58 said:


> Looks pretty legit for the most part. That Florida Green sure is a nice change from the old Coach Green.
> Those 70's wheel reflectors sure don't help any though. As already said, the rear hub was added but it's a nice addition for cruising the hill sides. Here's what I see and not that big of a deal. The grips are 60's+ and the seat post clamp is a later piece that came out in 1959 I believe. Great looking piece and and it should clean up pretty easy and look like a million. 👍



Thank you for the insight! Gonna find the right grips and seat post clamp and drop the reflectors. Just wasn’t sure if they were supposed to be there or not


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## GTs58 (Mar 24, 2022)

Check out @Boris 's custom reflectors, one of those would be killer on that Hornet.


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## tacochris (Mar 25, 2022)

I was never a flipped bars guy but when i really started to go thru vintage and era correct pictures, alot of kids did that to their bikes back then so i kinda let up on it a bit. You could call it a period kustom!  Haha


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## genesmachines (Mar 26, 2022)

Were the rims painted on the regular hornet? I have a 58 boys and girls with painted rims.


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## phantom (Mar 26, 2022)

1937Zenith said:


> Looks to be all original to me, can any of the pros here tell me if anything stands out as not being original? FYI I flipped the bars just because I prefer the look. I know it’s not everyone’s taste haha but I dig it
> 
> View attachment 1594448
> 
> ...



I like the flipped bars as well. I also run my stems down all the way, as well as the seat post. I have been known to take the guts out of the seat and drill a hole right through the seat post tube and mount the seat directly to it. Gets about another 1 1/2 "s lower.  Nice bike you have.


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## GTs58 (Mar 26, 2022)

genesmachines said:


> Were the rims painted on the regular hornet? I have a 58 boys and girls with painted rims.




The Hornets had painted rims until the models were revamped as middleweights and with the new 1959 styling. As far as I know there were no 1958 catalogs or any info on the 58 models, but there have been two M-December 1958 Hornets that I've seen that had chrome rims, and a built-in kickstand. A December stamped serial number would be on a bike that was produced during the next year and it seems the Hornets had there new make over for 1959 a tad bit later than all the other models. Here's @HARPO 's 58 Hornet that was built in 1959 but it was using all the 1958 components with the exception of the chrome rims, built in stand and the new style seat post clamp. So technically this 1959 Hornet was built with most of the 1958 specs.









						My First Late '50s HORNET... | All Things Schwinn
					

I bought this one yesterday, along with a late '40s Schwinn Continental (see the Lightweight Schwinn section) from a closed bicycle shop. It's in decent shape, far from perfect, but the first one I've had from the late '50s.  Right off the bat, it's missing the tank and headlight and rear fender...




					thecabe.com


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## 1937Zenith (Mar 26, 2022)

phantom said:


> I like the flipped bars as well. I also run my stems down all the way, as well as the seat post. I have been known to take the guts out of the seat and drill a hole right through the seat post tube and mount the seat directly to it. Gets about another 1 1/2 "s lower.  Nice bike you have.



Ive always put my seat down as low as I can too. I never thought of drilling the post to get lower though that’s a cool idea. I really think the slammed look sets these bikes off! Appreciate the message. Glad I’m not alone with the flipped bars haha


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## Rollo (Mar 26, 2022)

1937Zenith said:


> Thank you for the insight! Gonna find the right grips and seat post clamp and drop the reflectors. Just wasn’t sure if they were supposed to be there or not



These are the right grips ...


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## phantom (Mar 26, 2022)

1937Zenith said:


> Ive always put my seat down as low as I can too. I never thought of drilling the post to get lower though that’s a cool idea. I really think the slammed look sets these bikes off! Appreciate the message. Glad I’m not alone with the flipped bars haha



Here is an example:


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## 1937Zenith (Mar 26, 2022)

GTs58 said:


> The Hornets had painted rims until the models were all revamped with the new 1959 styling. As far as I know there were no 1958 catalogs or any info on the 58 models, but there have been two M-December 1958 Hornets that I've seen that had chrome rims, and a built-in kickstand. A December stamped serial number would be on a bike that was produced during the next year and it seems the Hornets had there new make over for 1959 a tad bit later than all the other models. Here's @HARPO 's 58 Hornet that was built in 1959 but it was using all the 1958 components with the exception of the chrome rims, built in stand and the new style seat post clamp. So technically this 1959 Hornet was built with most of the 1958 specs.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Appreciate the info, someone earlier had mentioned that my wheels are not original anyways. Likely they were taken from a 60s model bike and put on this one as an upgrade. It has a 2 speed kick back red band hub. When I typed my serial into the Schwinn serial # lookup tool it came back as a 57 but I’m not sure how accurate that is. My kickstand is not built in to the frame it is a clamp on setup.


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## 1937Zenith (Mar 26, 2022)

genesmachines said:


> Were the rims painted on the regular hornet? I have a 58 boys and girls with painted rims.



Yes mine are not original from what I’ve been told. When I look up 57 hornets it seems to be mostly painted but I do see a few with chrome rims which made me think originally that they might be stock


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## GTs58 (Mar 26, 2022)

1937Zenith said:


> Appreciate the info, someone earlier had mentioned that my wheels are not original anyways. Likely they were taken from a 60s model bike and put on this one as an upgrade. It has a 2 speed kick back red band hub. When I typed my serial into the Schwinn serial # lookup tool it came back as a 57 but I’m not sure how accurate that is. My kickstand is not built in to the frame it is a clamp on setup.
> 
> View attachment 1595470




That serial look-up is so flawed and if you actually get the correct year it's time to head to Vegas. 

I'd double check using the actual list.    https://www.angelfire.com/rant/allday101/SchwinnCodes3.html


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## bloo (Mar 26, 2022)

1937Zenith said:


> but I’m not sure how accurate that is.




Less than 50%, though to be fair though this bike is from the period it occasionally gets right. Post a pic of the serial number. The charts here on the CABE (stickied in the Schwinn section) are much better than that seriously flawed lookup tool.


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## Rollo (Mar 26, 2022)

... Here's a pic of the '57 Hornet that I bought from the original owner for reference ... The '57 Deluxe models did come with chrome rims ...


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## 1937Zenith (Mar 26, 2022)

GTs58 said:


> That serial look-up is so flawed and if you actually get the correct year it's time to head to Vegas.
> 
> I'd double check using the actual list.    https://www.angelfire.com/rant/allday101/SchwinnCodes3.html



Might have to book a trip to Vegas hahaha. It actually looks like it came up accurate. Using your link it says it’s made in early 1957


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## 1937Zenith (Mar 26, 2022)

bloo said:


> Less than 50%, though to be fair though this bike is from the period it occasionally gets right. Post a pic of the serial number. The charts here on the CABE (stickied in the Schwinn section) are much better than that seriously flawed lookup tool.



Just posted a pic. At least in this case looks like it was accurate made early 57


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## GTs58 (Mar 26, 2022)

1937Zenith said:


> Might have to book a trip to Vegas hahaha. It actually looks like it came up accurate. Using your link it says it’s made in early 1957
> 
> View attachment 1595494




The B serials on the drop out were also used in 1952 and 1953, but they were Balloon models. If that site gave you the right year on this, it is definitely time to plan a trip to Vegas!  Haha!


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## 1937Zenith (Mar 26, 2022)

Rollo said:


> ... Here's a pic of the '57 Hornet that I bought from the original owner for reference ... The '57 Deluxe models did come with chrome rims ...
> 
> View attachment 1595486



Very nice lookin bike!


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## 1937Zenith (Mar 26, 2022)

Rollo said:


> ... Here's a pic of the '57 Hornet that I bought from the original owner for reference ... The '57 Deluxe models did come with chrome rims ...
> 
> View attachment 1595486



I noticed yours has a different chain guard decal? Do you know if they had 2 different styles in 57?


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## Rivnut (Mar 26, 2022)

This brochure says the rims are enameled. (Have no clue as to why the copy pasted three times.) Did you notice that Schwinn had not yet changed the tire size to 26 x 1-3/4 for the S7 rim?


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## GTs58 (Mar 26, 2022)

1937Zenith said:


> I noticed yours has a different chain guard decal? Do you know if they had 2 different styles in 57?



Good possibility. Your's is an early 57 and Rollo's is the later style found on the 1958 models. His may be an early 58 model if the serial was stamped in late 1957.


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## Rusty Klunker (Mar 29, 2022)

Rollo said:


> ... Here's a pic of the '57 Hornet that I bought from the original owner for reference ... The '57 Deluxe models did come with chrome rims ...
> 
> View attachment 1595486




Nice bikes all!

Rollo, are they S-2s? or is it just the tires that look beefy?

Cleaning out some things here and looking at pictures of mine its just a project I'm not going to get to. Its a 57 or 58, I'm going to have to go up in the loft to see and drag it down. Mine has a painted rim on the back and chrome on the front. Its pretty rough, I can make out "Hornet" on the chain guard but no graphic hornet after it. Its not a deluxe model and the tank is gone. Not sure how to sell this, any value in these frames or fenders?


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## Rollo (Mar 30, 2022)

Rusty Klunker said:


> Nice bikes all!
> 
> Rollo, are they S-2s? or is it just the tires that look beefy?
> 
> Cleaning out some things here and looking at pictures of mine its just a project I'm not going to get to. Its a 57 or 58, I'm going to have to go up in the loft to see and drag it down. Mine has a painted rim on the back and chrome on the front. Its pretty rough, I can make out "Hornet" on the chain guard but no graphic hornet after it. Its not a deluxe model and the tank is gone. Not sure how to sell this, any value in these frames or fenders?



... If you get some 26x2x1 3/4" tires for your S-7 rims they will fill out the fenders and give you that "beefy" balloon tire look ...


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## tacochris (Mar 30, 2022)

phantom said:


> I like the flipped bars as well. I also run my stems down all the way, as well as the seat post. I have been known to take the guts out of the seat and drill a hole right through the seat post tube and mount the seat directly to it. Gets about another 1 1/2 "s lower.  Nice bike you have.



I do the same, mainly because im only 5-10 but i prefer my bars and seat as low as i can get them.  I like the look but also fits my body better.
Oddly enough i get alot of static for the slammed seat/stem thing...


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## mrg (Mar 30, 2022)

Got to throw in my 58 Deluxe, did come with chrome S7 rims but added more HD S7's, seat, bars/neck and 2.0's for that beefier look!


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