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'57? Schwinn American? Basket case
- Thread starter dirtman
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Adamtinkerer
Riding a '38 Autocycle Deluxe
The American had the checkerboard decal? I thought it was only on the Tiger. I know the fenders were bigger until '63, and some minor frame changes/ Maybe to make them lighter. And the hockey stick guards had a bunch of different applications, so the mounting points were different.
Rivnut
Cruisin' on my Bluebird
Here are pictures of three bikes that I have
1955 Hornet Balloon
1956 Corvette
1958 Starlet
All of the above bikes are single speed coaster brake models.
I also have a 1959 Corvette with the same rear style bracket BUT I have a 1959 Speedster with the arched bracket. The Corvette is a single speed coaster; the speedster is a two speed coaster. The Corvette had the option of the three speed which would have required caliper brakes, the Speedster only came with the coaster brake.
1955 Hornet Balloon
1956 Corvette
1958 Starlet
All of the above bikes are single speed coaster brake models.
I also have a 1959 Corvette with the same rear style bracket BUT I have a 1959 Speedster with the arched bracket. The Corvette is a single speed coaster; the speedster is a two speed coaster. The Corvette had the option of the three speed which would have required caliper brakes, the Speedster only came with the coaster brake.
Rivnut
Cruisin' on my Bluebird
With the J8xxxxx serial number, this serial number fits in Schwinn’s revised numbering system. A letter to designate a month starting with A for January and continuing through M. No letter I, did not want to be confused with the number 1. Then the number that corresponds to the year. G would be the 7th month, H would be the 8th month, and J would be the 9th month - September. 8 would be - 1958.
One thing I learned long ago with my 1958 Starlet, there are no copies of 1958 Schwinn catalog or brochures. About the only thing you can do is look at Google images for similar bikes.
One thing I learned long ago with my 1958 Starlet, there are no copies of 1958 Schwinn catalog or brochures. About the only thing you can do is look at Google images for similar bikes.
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I've got at least 6 of these chainguards, all are identical other than color and decals.
Here's a good comparison,
The first is a '62 Traveler, the middle one is the only 'American' CG I have, and the last is off a '56 Tiger.
This also shows the difference in the early and later blue.
All of these came off 26" bikes. (The Traveler is a lightweight diamond frame)
Each one measures right around 17" hole to hole, the two blue cg's have slightly shorter rear brackets than does the chrome trailer, all three rivets are in the same place and all three front brackets are the same.
Here's a good comparison,
The first is a '62 Traveler, the middle one is the only 'American' CG I have, and the last is off a '56 Tiger.
This also shows the difference in the early and later blue.
All of these came off 26" bikes. (The Traveler is a lightweight diamond frame)
Each one measures right around 17" hole to hole, the two blue cg's have slightly shorter rear brackets than does the chrome trailer, all three rivets are in the same place and all three front brackets are the same.
GTs58
I'm the Wiz, and nobody beats me!
This style chain guard was first used on the prewar bikes, different mounting brackets though, then all lightweights from prewar on into the 1960's. The post war lightweights with the new brackets had a screw spacing of 17.25 +-. When the middleweights came out in 1954 they were equipped with those same guards and the same spacing. Then at an unknown exact time, the 1956 model middleweights were changed and had the screw spacing of 17.75" +- and the lightweights still as far as I know had the 17.25 spacing. Your Blue American CG is off a 54-55 bike. I have a pre 1953 feather guard and the spacing is 17.75 +- so that was the norm for bikes other than the lightweights and the first year middleweights. All my 60's Corvettes all have the 17.75" spacing. I see on your Traveler guard the rear mounting hole looks elongated more than the other two guards.
The black Traveler cg bracket has a slightly different shaped bracket but it the hole spacing is the same. The added length of the slotted hole makes it capable of fitting a slightly shorter bolt spacing. The hole is also narrower, the two blue cg's have rear holes that are slightly larger than 1/4", the black cg is only 5mm wide. On the black bike, both bracket holes are tapped, the front hole is threaded for a 1/4" bolt. The bracket is also thicker and bent slightly different, but accomplishes the same reach and position.
They must have changed both the position of the front mounting tab and the front cg bracket. If the tab was further back, there would be no need for the rear bracket to be moved rearward on the cg and the older cg wouldn't sit so far forward on the newer frame.
The frame tab spacing on these three measure between 16 13/16" and 17 1/8"
They must have changed both the position of the front mounting tab and the front cg bracket. If the tab was further back, there would be no need for the rear bracket to be moved rearward on the cg and the older cg wouldn't sit so far forward on the newer frame.
The frame tab spacing on these three measure between 16 13/16" and 17 1/8"
What year does 6+8 make my forks?
It looks like the original forks were longer?
Assuming that the larger tire on the red bike is 26x2.125, there appears to be almost an inch of added space above the tire on the older forks.
Maybe the blue forks I've got aren't for a middleweight?
I dug around and found another pair but they're nearly identical to those on the bike now, but those are marked 4+5.
Although the mtb tire on mine in this pic is a 2.35", there's a noticeable difference in the fork length.
So as it stands, this bike has the wrong forks, wrong chain guard, and will likely have the wrong wheels if I build it as it sits because with S7 wheels, there may not be enough room to fit the fenders. (The front fender is going to be close).
The more I did into this lot of bikes, the more I think the guy who had all these was just building bikes from spare parts.
I think I need to decide whether to just build up a set of S2 wheels for this and hang a set of chrome fenders, and make the CG I have work and call it a beater or hang it up in the corner and wait for the right parts to show up.
It looks like the original forks were longer?
Assuming that the larger tire on the red bike is 26x2.125, there appears to be almost an inch of added space above the tire on the older forks.
Maybe the blue forks I've got aren't for a middleweight?
I dug around and found another pair but they're nearly identical to those on the bike now, but those are marked 4+5.
Although the mtb tire on mine in this pic is a 2.35", there's a noticeable difference in the fork length.
So as it stands, this bike has the wrong forks, wrong chain guard, and will likely have the wrong wheels if I build it as it sits because with S7 wheels, there may not be enough room to fit the fenders. (The front fender is going to be close).
The more I did into this lot of bikes, the more I think the guy who had all these was just building bikes from spare parts.
I think I need to decide whether to just build up a set of S2 wheels for this and hang a set of chrome fenders, and make the CG I have work and call it a beater or hang it up in the corner and wait for the right parts to show up.
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