1968 Orange Krate at Orange County Drag Track poster bike

[mrg]

So if it's a Spitfire tire it would be a 16" S2?

 

[GTs58]

The Spitfire tire was made for Schwinn as a regular non-S-7 middleweight replacement tire, was it not?

 

[stingrayjoe]

The pre production bike used in the photo more than likely had a 16” x 1.75”, hook bead rim. They came in 16” - 26” sizes on lower grade Schwinn models vs the S-7. See photo of GTs58’s tires above.

1967 Stingray “Midgets” were equipped with the hook bead rims.

 

[stingrayjoe]

You can mount a 2.125” or a 1.75” wide tire on a hook bead rim.
‘67 Stingray Midgets are a prime example of this from Schwinn. 16”, S-2 size Stiingray Gripper Slik on the rear and 1.75” Schwinn Spitfire tire on front. Same size rim front and rear.

 

[koolbikes]

I have to throw a fork into this salad, What is all the fuss? Tribute bike doesn't have to be exact or is your intention a facsimile ?
If your trying to replicate an exact copy, the front brake is not the hard piece. As you said, pre-production would be 1967 and the frame is the hard piece. Just a thought.

 

[mrg]

Wouldn't any hand brake 67 frame work.

 

[coasterbrakejunkie1969]

Wouldn't any hand brake 67 frame work.

They are talking about a drum type brake. Like bike in OP

 

[koolbikes]

There were no hand brake 5 speed Sting-ray frames before 1968, the only frames were for an Pre-1968 "Orange Krate" dated Oct, Nov, Dec 1967. They are out there I have a Dec. '67 and have seen a Nov. '67.

 

[razinhellcustomz]

There were no hand brake 5 speed Sting-ray frames before 1968, the only frames were for an Pre-1968 "Orange Krate" dated Oct, Nov, Dec 1967. They are out there I have a Dec. '67 and have seen a Nov. '67.

The Krate frames were different than the standard Sting Ray frames.. I had an og paint frame that i had built up and sold a couple years ago.. Wish i still had that one.. RideOn.. Razin..

 

[PCHiggin]

I had a Dec '67 and a Feb '68 Orange, both of them original with Atom front drum brakes, orange line knobby rear tires, black wall Superior front tires and pogo seat posts. I didn't read all of the replies but just wanna ad my 2 cents, you cant always hang your hat on all of the ads or literature when determining correctness or originality. They took liberties to drum up excitement