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Frame Size

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TWDay

Look Ma, No Hands!
I'm hoping someone can help me with some information. Did the Schwinn Cycle Truck come in two frame sizes. I see listings in the old Schwinn catalog of a 20 x 20 inch and a 26 x 20 inch and they are given the model numbers CT-1 and CT-2 respectively. Any help would be appreciated.
 
I think the only size difference was between the two baskets. One size frame through out production?
 
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There were two frame sizes - a 20" and an 18", as well as the CT1 and CT2 Options. and there initially was a short headtube and a long headtube model - so it wasn't one size from start to finish.
Here is one of my 20" CT1 short head tube models: (The 20" CT2 is not anywhere close to complete yet)
1369881

And this is an 18" CT2 in the prewar/wartime configuration, and with the long headtube design:
1369882

The other configurations will be posted here when I can get the ones I have up on two wheels. I can tell you the black one here has the shorter headtube, which went away before they stopped making the 20" models. I have the 20" Frame CT2 version here that is incomplete at this time, and only through the help of Old Fart 36 (Chris) to get it to me. Lots of work still to go to get it back to rideable!!
The 20" CT2 with the long headtube as was:
1369884

It is currently partially repaired and partially reassembled as well. It will be a while before it gets to rider status. Will be fun when done!! Can't wait, but will have to!
There you go....
REC
Here is another short headtube 20" CT1 that I bought a couple of years ago. I have a good bit of information on the history of this bike, researched over the first 6 months I had it.
1369885

@twday
 
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There were two frame sizes - a 20" and an 18", as well as the CT1 and CT2 Options. and there initially was a short headtube and a long headtube model - so it wasn't one size from start to finish.
Here is one of my 20" CT1 short head tube models: (The 20" CT2 is not anywhere close to complete yet)
View attachment 1369881
And this is an 18" CT2 in the prewar/wartime configuration, and with the long headtube design: View attachment 1369882
The other configurations will be posted here when I can get the ones I have up on two wheels. I can tell you the black one here has the shorter headtube, which went away before they stopped making the 20" models. I have the 20" Frame CT2 version here that is incomplete at this time, and only through the help of Old Fart 36 (Chris) to get it to me. Lots of work still to go to get it back to rideable!!
The 20" CT2 with the long headtube as was:
View attachment 1369884
It is currently partially repaired and partially reassembled as well. It will be a while before it gets to rider status. Will be fun when done!! Can't wait, but will have to!
There you go....
REC
Here is another short headtube 20" CT1 that I bought a couple of years ago. I have a good bit of information on the history of this bike, researched over the first 6 months I had it.
View attachment 1369885
@twday

Thanks REC! So were the post war models all the same frame size?
 
For postwar, The 18" frame seems to be pretty much the one postwar. BUT - That is not the whole story. This answer is only based on what information I have had access to during the time I have spent working on and gathering information from others on these bikes. I get a kick out of the idea that there is a "quick and easy" response to every question regarding these bikes. That means I have found a lot of things that came through to me the hard way (Money spent), or the other hard way - parts bought that didn't fit what I bought them for. It killed me to find that I bought the only fork for a 20" frame I had seen for sale at one point, and found it to be a little shorter than it would need to be to fit the frame I had on hand. This beat me for several years, until I ran across a catalog page that cleared it up somewhat (attached to this) response. I got lucky and found the needed longer fork a few years later and it fit! The longer headtube apparently became the standard after the war as the fork from one of my oldest ones will fit right into one of the newest.

This catalog page attachment was posted to this group a while back and explained what I didn't understand for a period of time about the fork I mentioned that was a little short. My thanks to whoever it was that posted it!!

1369898


For Pre-war & Wartime, there were 18" and 20" models - depending on the height of the seatmast. ,AND there were two variations on the headtube length for a period of time as well so it made things even more interesting. If I have done my homework here, that means there were 18" CT1 & CT2 models offered in both the short and long headtube versions, as well as 20" with both headtube lengths in both the CT1 & CT2. I'm not sure where the 20 X 20 thing came from, but 20 X 26 just about has to be a reference to the wheel size used, which was the norm throughout the production run from '39 through '67 catalog offerings. The short headtube models that were offered through the earliest production (most likely 39/40) and then discontinued (Based on what I have seen in photos and the ones I own that live here) are extensions of the first models that made for more user friendly rider sizes. It can be easily misconstrued and repeated when the information is read through quickly and absorbed as picked up to look like maybe 2 sizes from start to finish, when it was not exactly that. Common visual stuff shows the 18" frame from inception in '39 through end of production in '67. The 20" frame model went away at some point either during the war or at the end of the war. I have not had one that showed a serial number from post war, so based on that, I say the end of the 20" model was probably the end of the war. I cannot prove this so I would not put it out there as "Fact." This has been a lot of fun and a pretty big expense to have the information I have as it is mostly based on my own purchases and those of people who have given me information on stuff they have purchased in the last approximately 18 years I have been compiling serial numbers and information on this particular model bicycle.


REC
Roland E Culberson
Lantana, FL
@twday
 
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Wow! A lot of info to digest. And I can see now why I was confused.

So, the only frame used postwar was an 18" frame from say 1946 to 1967 and the C1 and C2 designations postwar only applied to the size of the basket. Have I got that correct?

And thank you REC for an exhaustive and enlightening history of the prewar and postwar cycle trucks!

T.W.
 
Yes - you got it. Did you pick one up?

here's a '46 CT1:
Before -
1370364

After -
1370365

and a '67:
Ad photo-
1370366

After minor corrections and cleaning -
1370367

Now has a Mesinger 7000 saddle - I found a few after I had the bike a while. The 7000 has a riveted top cover = heavier service piece
1370370



REC
 
Well, yes and no. About 35 years ago I visited my parents one day and my Dad had this battleship gray bicycle with a small front wheel and a larger back wheel sitting by the shed. It had the parking stand and the big basket, everything battleship gray. I asked him where he picked it up and I think I remember him saying that he got it as part of a lot at an auction. Anyway I never gave it any more thought. Fast forward 35 years and Dad and Mom recently passed away and I and my wife are now in Virginia to settle their estate. I now live in Texas. About six months ago I started looking for one of these bikes and found out that Schwinn was the manufacturer. It got me to thinking if my dad may have kept the bike. Well he did. In the process of clearing out the shed I found it. He had disassembled it I guess to restore it. But there it was, all the parts except the hub internals and the crank and sprocket. All still battleship gray and a little rust. I'm thinking the crank and sprocket are further back in the shed and I hope to find them as I continue the clean-out. I'll take it back with me to my automotive shop in Texas and restore it along with my original 1967 Stingray Deluxe that my Dad's brother gave me for my birthday in 1967. The Cycle Truck is a 1964 with a small basket. This one will be more special than one I could buy already restored because it belonged to my Dad. And the Stingray I've owned since new was given to me by my uncle. Can't beat that.
 
Oh man, you have some really sweet examples of the Cycle Truck. So the seat I found that said Mesinger on it must go with the bike also. When I was looking for a bike to buy I was looking for a 1967. I like the sixties look with the cleaner Stingray type chain guard.
 
I have a question for you @REC .... I picked up a wartime AS&CO crank that was cast dated 1943. I was under the impression it was from a wartime New World but then I measured the leg. The New Worlds used a 6.5" and the one I have is 7" and was pulled from a J serial New World. Did all the CT's prior to post war use the longer crank?
 
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