# S7 Rim Rollmarked S2?



## ventana (Oct 4, 2013)

Group;
    I bought a used S2 rim laced to a ND Model D with a skiptooth off of fleabay recently. Judging by the rim and hub I would date the duo as being mid-fifties.  I also recently purchased a box of Red Band and Yellow Band hubs and I was planning on lacing up the one HD Bendix Red Band Hub that I got in the box to an S2 for the back of my '54 CT.  The S2 was delivered today and to my shock it is a mis-marked or incorrectly rolled S7 and not an S2 at all.
    I have posted photos below. The first photo shows the roll mark on the fake S2 with a real S2 (recently repainted) below it. The second photos shows a better view of the real S2.  You can see the difference in the rim width.  The third  shot shows a caliper reading the width of the real S2 and the last photo shows the caliper reading the width of the fake S2.
   I really should not call the rim a fake because it is an original a Schwinn rim as I have ever seen.  The center-stamped roll mark looks genuine to me and matches other center-stamped S7 and S2 rims that I have. The overall patina and condition of the rim looks genuine to me as well.  But this rim is definitely an S7 as shown by the actual width of 1.5".
   Is this sort of mis-marking or mis-rolling of Schwinn rims common? I have never seen it before. 

Have Fun;
Ventana


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## ozzmonaut (Oct 4, 2013)

I guess it depends. I have seen s-2 rims which differed in width for whatever reason, however the diameter was still the same. An s-7 will have a different diameter.


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## ventana (Oct 4, 2013)

*Rim Diameter*

ozzmonaut;
    Well you are right about that.  I had a couple of junk center-stamped S7s out in the trash so I just went and dug them out.  They both measure 1.4" in width and of course are a larger diameter rim.  Both of the S2 marked rims are virtually the same diameter.  I have seen slight variations in S2 rim width but I have never seen an S2 as narrow as this one is. The repainted S2 in the photos is original to the '54 CT so both rims would have been built about the same time. I never new that Schwinn had more than one spec for their S2 rims.  Just reinforces my belief that you never say "never" when talking about Schwinn production values. I may go slap a tire on it just to see how it fits. 

Have Fun;
Ventana


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## rhenning (Oct 5, 2013)

The S-2 you have may have just been made on a different set of dies.  Dies have a tendancy to get wider/larger as they wear out.  Roger


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## ventana (Oct 6, 2013)

*A Little More Information*

Group;
   Thanks for the response.  I've done a little digging around regarding Schwinn rims.  With information that I gained here at this site and others I have been able to date this S2 rim to 1948 which would be the first year for the S2.  This is verified by the fact that the rim has no knurling and there is no dash(hyphen?) between the letter S and the number 2. Knurling and the dash were added in 1949 when Schwinn made the complete switch to their proprietary Schwinn-manufactured rims. In 1948 Schwinn still equipped some models with their rims, the Lobdell flat rims and/or possibly drop centers.  Also, the dash came and went on certain years so you can't always rely on that alone in determining production date. I've seen later S2 rims with and without the dash.
  However, this destroys my theory that the narrow S2 and a wider version were made about the same time in the mid-50's. It would seem that sometime between 1948 and 1954 Schwinn changed the width of their S2 rim. I suspect this was done to better match the bead seat diameter of the commonly available 2.125 x 26 tires that were in use and made by various tire manufacturers at that time. Any other information as the the actual date of this change would be most welcome

Have Fun;
Ventana


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