Quality Bikes - Schwinn 3-Speeds

[SirMike1983]

Great weather this evening - 1941 New World.

https://bikeshedva.blogspot.com/2017/09/a-schwinn-new-world-bicycle-1941.html

 

[Oilit]

I picked up a 1955 Traveler last week, it originally had the Dynohub option but the hub guts, headlight and headbadge are missing. It looks like the original badge was one of the winged ovals, but the screw holes are off center, and looking at pictures of other Schwinn lightweights, there are others from the same period that look off center as well. I've only noticed this on the lightweights, and it makes me wonder if Schwinn planned to use a different badge? I know they knew how to line up screw holes. Yes, I'm picking nits, but inquiring minds want to know.

 

[Oilit]

Great weather this evening - 1941 New World.

https://bikeshedva.blogspot.com/2017/09/a-schwinn-new-world-bicycle-1941.html

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I followed the link to your blog. Good stuff! I didn't know the lightweights were brazed until after WWII. I guess they weren't as popular as the balloon tire bikes, so it took longer to get the tooling ready. And that "Genuine Seamless Steel Tubing" sticker made me do a double-take.

 

[SirMike1983]

I followed the link to your blog. Good stuff! I didn't know the lightweights were brazed until after WWII. I guess they weren't as popular as the balloon tire bikes, so it took longer to get the tooling ready. And that "Genuine Seamless Steel Tubing" sticker made me do a double-take.

Yeah - the pre-war lightweights were fillet brazed. After WWII, the New World became an electroforge welded frame. The Continental and Superior were still fillet brazed before and after the war, at least in their 3-speed format (the Continental name later was added to a 10-speed electroforge welded bike). They're fun bikes. The New World especially have been overlooked by collectors, which is good news for people wanting to buy them.

 

[SirMike1983]

1947 Schwinn Continental - out and about on a summer-like day.

 

[Eric Amlie]

Gorgeous bike!

 

[MarkKBike]

My recently cleaned up 56 3-Speed Schwinn. I bought this one about a year ago, but just got it road worthy this last week.

I have been looking at the Schwinn catalogs, and I'm pretty sure I also have the original generator and head lamp. (they are currently mounted on another bike, but will be moved back to this one soon). When I took them off, I did not know they were original equipment.

It has been sitting in my basement for the last year up until this last week. I bought this one minus a saddle for 20$. It was very dirty when purchased, but cleaned up pretty decent. It's also posted in the thread "what bike did you ride today". It does have cosmetic wear but It's a fun bike to ride, and I have been enjoying it.

I don't see many bikes posted with wheel reflectors, The ones I put on this one came from a Ross. When I buy a bike the first thing I usually do is remove the reflectors, but for some reason I like the way they look on this bike.

 

[Oilit]

My recently cleaned up 56 3-Speed Schwinn. I bought this one about a year ago, but just got it road worthy this last week.

I have been looking at the Schwinn catalogs, and I'm pretty sure I also have the original generator and head lamp. (they are currently mounted on another bike, but will be moved back to this one soon). When I took them off, I did not know they were original equipment.

It has been sitting in my basement for the last year up until this last week. I bought this one minus a saddle for 20$. It was very dirty when purchased, but cleaned up pretty decent. It's also posted in the thread "what bike did you ride today". It does have cosmetic wear but It's a fun bike to ride, and I have been enjoying it.

I don't see many bikes posted with wheel reflectors, The ones I put on this one came from a Ross. When I buy a bike the first thing I usually do is remove the reflectors, but for some reason I like the way they look on this bike.

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With the stainless steel fenders it was originally a Traveler, right?

 

[SirMike1983]

Here's a neat one - a very early New World with the rear-facing back forks. New Worlds went to forward-facing drops before WWII and well before the Schwinn ballooners. But this one is quite early and has the old style back forks with adjuster screws. It even has some nice Superior fenders and rims.

An eBay seller has this bike for sale right now, though he's asking full retail for it. It's also a nice example of how ballooner parts and coaster brakes could mix in with higher-end type Superior rims on a single bike. You could get just about any combination of parts you wanted at the time (provided the company had access to them). The New World, Superior, and Continental bikes were an effort to make a semi-custom, personally-tailored bike for the adult who wanted an "all 'rounder" utility or vacationing bike. Where as the Paramount could be a fully-customized, personal bike at the very high end of the market, these bikes offered a semi-custom and more affordable bike for most adults.

Unfortunately, Schwinn was a couple of decades early in this endeavor. This was long before the 1970s-era bike boom where adults in the U.S. began really riding bikes.

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...0001&campid=5335809022&icep_item=302459487272

 

[MarkKBike]

Oilit "With the stainless steel fenders it was originally a Traveler, right?"

I do believe its a 56 Traveler. The rear hub is stamped with 56, I have not tracked down the frames serial number yet. Only the rear fender is original, the front fender I borrowed from another bike.