I just picked mine up a couple weeks ago. Looks to have had some clean up or braising repairs to the frame. I’ve got lots of questions:
1. Are the wheels/rims on the Cycle Truck I have original?
2. Should the wheels/rims instead be drop center style for a ‘39 dated Cycle Truck?
3. Is the brighter shade of yellow paint the original color?
4. What are the dimensions and thickness of the plywood base that fits under the basket?
5. Did all Cycle Trucks come with and include the plywood base?
6. What style of headbadge is correct for a ‘39 Cycle Truck? (Mine is missing the headbadge)
7. What are the correct tires to use on a Cycle Truck? (Schwinn Typhoon 26x2.125 and Typhoon 20x2.125 brick pattern?)
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Nice Truck! You have a great start, with some of the more difficult parts still on your bike. Cycle Trucks were an industrial model for Schwinn. IMO, they did not get the latest new part that came out. It could be hard to say exactly what and when they made a changeover to the new parts. I'm sure they used up what they had of the old part before they switched over to the new part style. I say all of this because I think the Trucks lagged behind the production changes seen on the regular model production.
#1, #2, I think the general consensus is the drop center rim was prewar, and the S-2 Tubular rim was post-war. Both styles work just fine. If your looking for a 20" balloon rim, the hard part is finding one with a 36 hole drilling. Depending on how you want to rebuild your Truck, the vintage BMX guys have some nice anodized aluminum 36 hole 20x1.75 Araya rims that work great with a 2.125 tire. You can find matching 7X Araya 26" cruiser rims to the BMX 20" versions.
#3 Colors. The Trucks were a custom order, custom built model. You (the dealer) could order they with many options, and in any standard Schwinn color. Keep in mind the yellow Truck in your photo is not a picture of a real truck, but an artist drawing. I would not use that color as a sample. Use the standard Schwinn model colors for the year you determine your bike was built. All the trucks were hand brazed, and crudely I might add. They were just industrial models, the job number one was "not to break", "looking good" was secondary. I'm sure you could come to the conclusion that your bike had some repairs, but I'd bet that the way it looked originally.
#4, #5 Plywood Dimentions. They made two basket sizes, a Large basket, and a Small basket, and the plywood bases were sized to the basket, which was different. Yours is a small basket model. I believe it was 1/2" plywood, which today is 12 to 13mm plywood since it's all imported.
#6 They had several Cycle Truck unique embossed name badges. They were pretty cool. I believe they have been reproduced over the years, so figure out which style you want and make your choice. The last Cycles Trucks made in the 1960's used a normal Schwinn Model name plate.
#7 The Typhoon Tires were the standard tire. Note, they were not very good quality when they were new (Carlisle Rubber). You have many choices today. Black side wall. or White side wall, Brick tread, or Knobby. If your building it to ride, use some decent tires, and don't pay a bundle to buy the vintage correct NOS part that will snake at a low air pressure.
Sorry I did not answer your production date question, but somebody will chime in.
John
