1957 Schwinn Corvette 3 Speed

[Oilit]

I've got a '57 Tiger with the Austrian hub but it has the SA shifter. None of my 4 Vettes have that Schwinn Approved shifter and I have never seen another picture of a pre 59 Vette or Jag with that shifter. Have you ever seen a pre 59 Vette with that Schwinn shifter?

Interesting. The Schwinns with Austrian hubs usually have Austrian shifters as well, from what I've seen. Do you think the shifter could have been replaced? If the bike originally had a Sturmey SW hub, then it's also possible that the hub's been replaced.

 

[AS-1]

Schwinns with Austrian hubs usually have Austrian shifters as well, from what I've seen.

Joel, Happy Memorial Day!

Have you ever seen an all original pre '59 middleweight with any shifter other than a SA?

My Tiger (now totally disassembled) had been ignored and forsaken but it was all there and I don't remember any evidence that it had been tampered with except that the rear caliper had been replaced. (please see below)

 

[Oilit]

Joel, Happy Memorial Day!

Have you ever seen an all original pre '59 middleweight with any shifter other than a SA?

My Tiger (now totally disassembled) had been ignored and forsaken but it was all there and I don't remember any evidence that it had been tampered with except that the rear caliper had been replaced. (please see below)

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Nice Tiger! I have to agree it looks very original, but wouldn't the shifter cable have been gray? And that's a good question about the pre-1959 middleweights, I'll have to check mine and see if there's anything that sheds light on this question.

 

[Oilit]

Joel, Happy Memorial Day!

Have you ever seen an all original pre '59 middleweight with any shifter other than a SA?

My Tiger (now totally disassembled) had been ignored and forsaken but it was all there and I don't remember any evidence that it had been tampered with except that the rear caliper had been replaced. (please see below)

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Kit,
I looked at a couple of my bikes and this is what I found. Both of these need work but are original as far as I can tell. The first is a late 1957 Jaguar, Serial #C7002? (May 1957) and a Sturmey-Archer SW hub dated "57 9". The second is a 1958 Tiger, Serial #E831347 (May 1958) and another Sturmey SW hub dated "58 8". So going by these bikes Schwinn was still using Sturmey-Archer in 1958, and was fitting their new "SW" hub instead of the older AW. I'm guessing that as it became apparent that the SW had reliability problems, Schwinn had to scramble to come up with an answer, leading to the "Schwinn Approved" Austrian hubs in 1959. The "8" in the Tiger's serial number is very faint, I had to blow up the picture quite a bit to read it.
And this leads to another question: if you find a 1958 Schwinn with a "Schwinn Approved" hub, is there any way to know it's not a replacement for a faulty SW?
Food for thought. @GTs58, what do you think?
Joel

 

[AS-1]

Kit,
I looked at a couple of my bikes and this is what I found. Both of these need work but are original as far as I can tell. The first is a late 1957 Jaguar, Serial #C7002? (May 1957) and a Sturmey-Archer SW hub dated "57 9". The second is a 1958 Tiger, Serial #E831347 (May 1958) and another Sturmey SW hub dated "58 8". So going by these bikes Schwinn was still using Sturmey-Archer in 1958, and was fitting their new "SW" hub instead of the older AW. I'm guessing that as it became apparent that the SW had reliability problems, Schwinn had to scramble to come up with an answer, leading to the "Schwinn Approved" Austrian hubs in 1959. The "8" in the Tiger's serial number is very faint, I had to blow up the picture quite a bit to read it.
And this leads to another question: if you find a 1958 Schwinn with a "Schwinn Approved" hub, is there any way to know it's not a replacement for a faulty SW?
Food for thought. @GTs58, what do you think?
Joel

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Great post! Thank you. Regarding your question re: replaced Approved hub, the only explanation I can come up with other than a replacement would be that the Tiger was a slightly cheaper bike than either the Corvette or the Jag and the plant was still trying to mount the SA hubs on the higher dollar bikes (????).

Both of your bikes appear to have SA triggers. Going back to an earlier question, have you found any 3-sp. 50s middleweights with any kind of shifter other than SA?

Oh, going back to your question about the trigger cable on my Tiger, I believe it should have been ribbed grey but considering the existence of the Approved hub, I'll freely admit that I haven't got any idea. It's buried right now but when I dig it out, I'll try to remember that you raised that very good question.

Best regards,

Kit

 

[Oilit]

Great post! Thank you. Regarding your question re: replaced Approved hub, the only explanation I can come up with other than a replacement would be that the Tiger was a slightly cheaper bike than either the Corvette or the Jag and the plant was still trying to mount the SA hubs on the higher dollar bikes (????).

Both of your bikes appear to have SA triggers. Going back to an earlier question, have you found any 3-sp. 50s middleweights with any kind of shifter other than SA?

Oh, going back to your question about the trigger cable on my Tiger, I believe it should have been ribbed grey but considering the existence of the Approved hub, I'll freely admit that I haven't got any idea. It's buried right now but when I dig it out, I'll try to remember that you raised that very good question.

Best regards,

Kit

Kit,
You're correct, they both have S.A. triggers, and I haven't seen an Austrian trigger on a pre-'59 middleweight. I have a 1958 Traveller with a Schwinn Approved hub, but the bike is well used so I don't know if it's original. I think it also had the Austrian trigger, but I'd have to dig it out and look to be sure. It would be interesting to know how and when Schwinn's relationship with the Austrians got started. They were already buying pedals from Union (Germany) and calipers from Weinmann (Switzerland) so they were definitely on the look out for parts suppliers.
Joel

 

[GTs58]

Kit,
You're correct, they both have S.A. triggers, and I haven't seen an Austrian trigger on a pre-'59 middleweight. I have a 1958 Traveller with a Schwinn Approved hub, but the bike is well used so I don't know if it's original. I think it also had the Austrian trigger, but I'd have to dig it out and look to be sure. It would be interesting to know how and when Schwinn's relationship with the Austrians got started. They were already buying pedals from Union (Germany) and calipers from Weinmann (Switzerland) so they were definitely on the look out for parts suppliers.
Joel

Here is an August serial 58 Jag with the Schwinn Approved rear hub. And like most all of these pre-59 models you never can see what they are equipped with so it's a futile waste of time trying to figure out what was going on with these 3-speed hubs. This bike has been messed with too!

Sold - 1958 Schwinn Jaguar Mark II | Archive (sold or withdrawn)

Vintage 1958 Schwinn Jaguar Mark II.. I believe the bike to be all original including tail light & tires.. This is a very clean original example.. PLEASE check out the pictures as they tell the story.. Asking $850. plus shipping.. PP friends & family.. [email protected].. Thank you, Bob

thecabe.com

 

[Oilit]

Here is an August serial 58 Jag with the Schwinn Approved rear hub. And like most all of these pre-59 models you never can see what they are equipped with so it's a futile waste of time trying to figure out was going on with these 3-speed hubs. This bike has been messed with too!

Sold - 1958 Schwinn Jaguar Mark II | Archive (sold or withdrawn)

Vintage 1958 Schwinn Jaguar Mark II.. I believe the bike to be all original including tail light & tires.. This is a very clean original example.. PLEASE check out the pictures as they tell the story.. Asking $850. plus shipping.. PP friends & family.. [email protected].. Thank you, Bob

thecabe.com

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I have to agree, without some original documents it will be hard to unscramble this one. I'd guess that this wasn't part of the plan, it was a problem they had to deal with on the fly.

 

[GTs58]

I have to agree, without some original documents it will be hard to unscramble this one. I'd guess that this wasn't part of the plan, it was a problem they had to deal with on the fly.

Kit's question really can't be researched very easily. "Have you ever seen an all original pre '59 middleweight with any shifter other than a SA?" Going thru the Cabe looking at all the 57-58 posted bikes you will seldom find what rear hub it had and definitely next to no shots of the shifters, like in that for sale ad above by Bob. Very few people post detail shots even in their for sale ads, and this includes Cali Bob with repeated side shots from 5 feet. I've tried and gave up.

 

[Oilit]

I scored this 1957 SCHWINN CORVETTE today had flat tires put a little air in them and they hold air another score rides like it should and even shifts without a problem unfortunately the speedo doesn’t work and has the wrong seat

Is there anything else that doesn’t belong on this bike or is it just the seat and license plate??

When I clean it up and getting everything right what would one thing like this go for?

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@stelber1987, going back through this thread, I started wondering what kind of hub is on your bike? I don't know exactly when Schwinn started using the Sturmey SW hub, or how long it took them to realize there was a problem, or to make arrangements to get hubs from Austria instead. Most of the bikes with the Austrian hubs have an oval shifter but I've seen a few like yours and my best guess is it's an earlier version. Even if you've got an Austrian hub they're not dated, so we may never know for sure whether it's original or not, but at least it would be another example to consider.
If you have an SW hub, this is Brian Hayes' article (From the Sheldon Brown website) which tells you more than I can:

Sturmey-Archer SW Three Speed Bicycle Hubs

This article describes the Sturmey-Archer SW internal-gear hub, which was produced for a hort time in the late 1950s.

www.sheldonbrown.com