Frame Size

[TWDay]

Hi REC, I have another question. I noticed on your 1967 CT that the sprocket was a star type on the first picture and then a 4 circle type in the second picture. And on the Schwinn brochure for 1964 the photo shows the multi circle sprocket like the Stingray. Which is actually correct? The reason I ask is that the sprocket I found along with the crank with the other bike parts of my 1964 CT is the star type like in your first photo. Do I have the factory sprocket and crank after all?

 

[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.

Parents.... who knew? I hold my dad responsible for my anal retentive ways with things like bikes and vehicles - he ws always VERY fussy with stuff and everything had to be just so. Slamming the door on the car would get you on his poop list for a while. Leaving my bike lying in the front yard netted the same result. It is the way he was - and as a result - the way I am. Take care of stuff as he did, and it will be around for a lot longer than if you treat it like it doesn't matter. I respect him VERY much for having ingrained that into me. He's been gone a few years now, and my biggest regret was not having gotten started in this earlier. He was a big time bike nut as long as I can remember, and as the oldest kid in his family, he took care to be sure that the siblings all had bikes and that they were all maintained properly (I've heard that from all my aunts - his brother died very young but I know the same type behavior was instilled in him as well (probably from Grand Pa. He too was fussy!) my regret was that I had amassed a small collection before he was consumed by Alzheimer's and That he never got to see the stuff I had before he passed on. I know he would have loved it! My bet is he would have jumped on one and ridden off with it and I would most likely STILL be chasing him.
I agree that your CT will be FAR more special then anything you would find out there now, and it will remain so the remainder of your life. I wish I had been able to pick up on of my dad's old bikes , or one of similar make/model s I know it would have put that big grin on his face. He did know of the first Cycle Trucks as he was present for a lot of the nagging I did to Bob, our mailman, and the boyfriend of my youngest aunt. I drove him nuts for years "Let me ride that .... just once.... please???? He never caved - Gov'mint property - can't do it." My aunt still laughs now as I have quite a few of them and ride one whenever I feel like it. Still grinning as I go. And old trucks & cars were a long time hobby before the bike craziness got fully fired up again. I just like old stuff (ask my wife!!)))
In reference to the sprocket question - the "Lucky 7 crank sprocket was the one that they were sold with back in the time of production / availability. Remember - they were tools, not toys, like most bikes These were generally purpose built, and set up for the business/rider/intended use when sold.They were rated to carry 150 lbs and that small sprocket made the load manageable to pedal for the rider who was assigned to use it. - I live in south Florida - it is generally flat and I am still able to crank one for a ride with the 46 tooth sprocket pretty well. The "mag" sprocket that was on my '67 when I got it was replaced the day I got it home with the clover (4 hole) sprocket because the mag had not been introduced yet (until after production ended on Cycle-Trucks and I thought they were better suited appearance wise - it suited me, so it was the one I preferred If I was to go for soup to nuts restoration, the Lucky 7 sprocket would have been the replacement. Mine are done to suit me, and those are the "service choices" I made. I stayed with the Clover sprocket even on the '65 CT2 that I did a "resto-mod" on - though I cheated on it with the added Bendix Kick-back 2 speed rear hub. I have one on several of them. Big advantage always!!!
Feel free to ask anything you wish and if I can answer, I will do so.
REC

Roland E Culberson
Lantana, FL

 

[REC]

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?

You are looking for an answer to a question that I can not tell you for a fact would be right, and I will not for that reason. Common sense tells me that if there was a longer crank arm and additional leverage would benefit the CT by using it, my money would be placed on that. Is the crank a dogleg? The CT2 variants I have here (that were still carrying what I think was the original crank) are dog-legged and of the longer style. Do I know they are correct? I do not. Schwinn was pretty smart and in turn made a lot of common sense things available on their family's products. Sorry - no definitive answer on this one. Have a good night and keep digging.

 

[TWDay]

Parents.... who knew? I hold my dad responsible for my anal retentive ways with things like bikes and vehicles - he ws always VERY fussy with stuff and everything had to be just so. Slamming the door on the car would get you on his poop list for a while. Leaving my bike lying in the front yard netted the same result. It is the way he was - and as a result - the way I am. Take care of stuff as he did, and it will be around for a lot longer than if you treat it like it doesn't matter. I respect him VERY much for having ingrained that into me. He's been gone a few years now, and my biggest regret was not having gotten started in this earlier. He was a big time bike nut as long as I can remember, and as the oldest kid in his family, he took care to be sure that the siblings all had bikes and that they were all maintained properly (I've heard that from all my aunts - his brother died very young but I know the same type behavior was instilled in him as well (probably from Grand Pa. He too was fussy!) my regret was that I had amassed a small collection before he was consumed by Alzheimer's and That he never got to see the stuff I had before he passed on. I know he would have loved it! My bet is he would have jumped on one and ridden off with it and I would most likely STILL be chasing him.
I agree that your CT will be FAR more special then anything you would find out there now, and it will remain so the remainder of your life. I wish I had been able to pick up on of my dad's old bikes , or one of similar make/model s I know it would have put that big grin on his face. He did know of the first Cycle Trucks as he was present for a lot of the nagging I did to Bob, our mailman, and the boyfriend of my youngest aunt. I drove him nuts for years "Let me ride that .... just once.... please???? He never caved - Gov'mint property - can't do it." My aunt still laughs now as I have quite a few of them and ride one whenever I feel like it. Still grinning as I go. And old trucks & cars were a long time hobby before the bike craziness got fully fired up again. I just like old stuff (ask my wife!!)))
In reference to the sprocket question - the "Lucky 7 crank sprocket was the one that they were sold with back in the time of production / availability. Remember - they were tools, not toys, like most bikes These were generally purpose built, and set up for the business/rider/intended use when sold.They were rated to carry 150 lbs and that small sprocket made the load manageable to pedal for the rider who was assigned to use it. - I live in south Florida - it is generally flat and I am still able to crank one for a ride with the 46 tooth sprocket pretty well. The "mag" sprocket that was on my '67 when I got it was replaced the day I got it home with the clover (4 hole) sprocket because the mag had not been introduced yet (until after production ended on Cycle-Trucks and I thought they were better suited appearance wise - it suited me, so it was the one I preferred If I was to go for soup to nuts restoration, the Lucky 7 sprocket would have been the replacement. Mine are done to suit me, and those are the "service choices" I made. I stayed with the Clover sprocket even on the '65 CT2 that I did a "resto-mod" on - though I cheated on it with the added Bendix Kick-back 2 speed rear hub. I have one on several of them. Big advantage always!!!
Feel free to ask anything you wish and if I can answer, I will do so.
REC

Roland E Culberson
Lantana, FL

Lol. Sounds as if our Dad's were cut from the same cloth. Dad was a perfectionist in everything he did. However he didn't push others to do the same.

After World War II he went to work in 1951 as a bicycle courier in the Norfolk Naval Ship Yard in Portsmouth, VA. He worked his way up through promotions and training so that 30 years later he retired as the Chief Civilian Disbursing Officer for that yard and NOB, (Norfolk Operations Base), with a GS-16 super grade pay rate.

I started wondering just today if this auction Dad went to might have been a Navy surplus auction and that is how he ended up with the Cycle Truck. I remember as a kid when I would go on the base with him on some Saturday's when he worked overtime that every bicycle on the shipyard was painted Navy battleship gray, as where all the cars, service trucks, vans and Jeeps. The only other vehicle color was black and those were officer staff cars. So this Cycle Truck may have actually been purchased by the Navy, repainted battleship gray and served its time on one of the naval bases here in the Norfolk-Portsmouth area. I do notice that there are remnants of reflective safety tape on the rear fender.

And my Dad did get away from the family one night. He managed to get the keys to his van and drive about five miles before laying the van neatly in a ditch on its side. He wasn't hurt but that was his last drive. Eighteen months later he passed away. He was 93 years old, and passed away on 3 February 2019. He and I worked on and restored many old cars and trucks. Some days I catch myself thinking, "I need to call Dad" and then quickly remember he is no longer with us. But I have my memories. He was a great guy and a fantastic Dad.

Now, I'm preparing the old home place to sell it and then return to Texas to continue working and enjoying old cars and trucks, auctioning a few and enjoy driving the old cars and trucks and riding the old bicycles. Yippie Yi Yay!!

 

[Schwinn Sales West]

Reading through this old post underlines a very important point we should all keep in mind. When we recently lost Roland, the entire vintage bicycle hobby lost a tremendous information resource. He spent decades collecting not only Cycle Trucks, but all of the unique information that went with this commercial model. Where will this detailed information come from fifty years from now? It is in everyone's best interest to begin collecting AND sharing this kind of historical information. I believe we can do a better job of gathering, organizing, and distributing historical information about the brands and models you are interested in. Collectively, we have the historical information and documentation, but it's not always easy for a newcomer to find.

Just an observation from another old timer.

John

 

[MEKANIXFIX]

Reading through this old post underlines a very important point we should all keep in mind. When we recently lost Roland, the entire vintage bicycle hobby lost a tremendous information resource. He spent decades collecting not only Cycle Trucks, but all of the unique information that went with this commercial model. Where will this detailed information come from fifty years from now? It is in everyone's best interest to begin collecting AND sharing this kind of historical information. I believe we can do a better job of gathering, organizing, and distributing historical information about the brands and models you are interested in. Collectively, we have the historical information and documentation, but it's not always easy for a newcomer to find.

Just an observation from another old timer.

John

Hola to the tribe of cabers
Hi John, surfing the cabe, for parts or bikes, also for new info,for different brands,that I don't have or collect! But when I,found posts about my hard line, the Schwinn cycle trucks! I have different models from Schwinn,or other brands too! I have CTS, for a very long time, used for delivery newspaper daily,or from the local stores around the neighborhood! Also for buying new parts for the family repair car shop,or better the food* I been working on gathering the info about the CTs,and maybe be ready for the next year!