Kevauxtonic
Look Ma, No Hands!
https://flic.kr/p/EgNNas https://flic.kr/p/CL4yAF [URL]https://flic.kr/p/214e2f2 [/URL]I bid on this sucker, after watching it go to auction twice, or maybe once and one time ‘buy it now’. https://flic.kr/p/22mktnC, https://flic.kr/p/22pyjdv, I honestly dont win auctions often, and somehow lucked out and beat all other bidders with my original bid (I won by $8.00)!!
So im still waiting for it to make its voyage down the long, long road from Cerritos, CA. to my front door in Bakersfield, CA. (3 hour drive at most, i think). Fingers crossed it arrives by the 24th so i have a gift to open with the family? In the meantime, can anyone tell me exactly what kind of frame/ and fork as the base for my whizzer project? On the listing, the seller said “schwinn? Mead? Unknown maker?”, but I wanted to say its not a Mead-because the steering tube has vertical holes tapped for the badge screws, and Mead-(at least the examples i looked at)-had a badge that was tapped into the tube horizontally. Poor way to identify, im sure, but that was my start. So i found similar bikes in my “OOP” vintage schwinn books that were almost DEAD ringers, except for one feature: the bars running from the seat tube, down to the rear dropouts, are arched a bit on my frame, and the closest I found was a Schwinn B-9/ B-10 (cant remember if its a “double diamond”), except the bars on the B-9 or B-10 seemed to be straight as all hell, & seemed to form TWO DIAMOND SHAPES on either side of the seat tube? So the plot thickens....
The forks: I dont even know where to begin, but I think this was the typical deluxe fork before Arnold Schwinn patented the much loved springer in (39??)..or thereabouts?? In all of my 25+ years building/ riding/ restoring, i cant say that I ever learned too much or saw many of these type of fork, if ever?? Certainly NEVER with a cycle lock!?
I ran across a listing on ebay for a 37 or 39, straightbar, slightly camel-humped top bar, and the very same lack of a seat tube as mine.
My best guess, AND IM NO EXPERT, is that it is absolutely a prewar Schwinn, due to:
1) the badge holes in steer tube
2) the rear dropouts on a schwinn mean it IS Pre-War, cause they went to the front dropout after production started again after WW2-(im probably off, but this is what i believed to be gospel)
3) the welds are nice and smooth, and done in the typical Schwinn way-compared to my 40’s CWC Hawthorne (the luxury liner/ wes flyer model with the killer springers)-where they seemed to be almost “pressed” or “spot welded” or something? Like you can see that the frame is made from a few separate pieces of tubing electrically welded to one another. Whereas Schwinn frames seemingly looked to be produced with one continuous piece of steel tubing-by some Bastard aligator of a beast who could handle the tubing whilst redhot and bend it like a pretzel, into its final shape! But i know you guys will know what the differences in processes were, with the different companies producing bikes at this time?
4) the forks i saw on the B-9 and B-10 were dead ringers for the ones on mine, (except didnt have a possible semi- gnarly couple degree bend backwards in them like mine do)
https://flic.kr/p/22pyfLv, https://flic.kr/p/21jjaGG
Thats where Im at. Sorry for the long-winded questions/ answers...i just want to be as thorough as possible and provide everything ive found out thus far, & comparisons made.
Any, and ALL help is welcomed with OPEN ARMS!!! if anyone can tell me where i can take the forks to get the broken key removed, and rekeyed, Id appreciate it immensely as well!! Thank you fellow CABE members for such an amazing site like this-where those of us who grew up during the era when these were new-can ‘chew the fat’ with those of us who did not-where mutual respect is given, and much needed info (and sometimes parts and trade secrets) can be shared with one another without labeling the newbies as “poseurs”, or “wanna be’s”. I love this site, and am proud to be a part of it again.⚒⚒⚒
So im still waiting for it to make its voyage down the long, long road from Cerritos, CA. to my front door in Bakersfield, CA. (3 hour drive at most, i think). Fingers crossed it arrives by the 24th so i have a gift to open with the family? In the meantime, can anyone tell me exactly what kind of frame/ and fork as the base for my whizzer project? On the listing, the seller said “schwinn? Mead? Unknown maker?”, but I wanted to say its not a Mead-because the steering tube has vertical holes tapped for the badge screws, and Mead-(at least the examples i looked at)-had a badge that was tapped into the tube horizontally. Poor way to identify, im sure, but that was my start. So i found similar bikes in my “OOP” vintage schwinn books that were almost DEAD ringers, except for one feature: the bars running from the seat tube, down to the rear dropouts, are arched a bit on my frame, and the closest I found was a Schwinn B-9/ B-10 (cant remember if its a “double diamond”), except the bars on the B-9 or B-10 seemed to be straight as all hell, & seemed to form TWO DIAMOND SHAPES on either side of the seat tube? So the plot thickens....
The forks: I dont even know where to begin, but I think this was the typical deluxe fork before Arnold Schwinn patented the much loved springer in (39??)..or thereabouts?? In all of my 25+ years building/ riding/ restoring, i cant say that I ever learned too much or saw many of these type of fork, if ever?? Certainly NEVER with a cycle lock!?
I ran across a listing on ebay for a 37 or 39, straightbar, slightly camel-humped top bar, and the very same lack of a seat tube as mine.
My best guess, AND IM NO EXPERT, is that it is absolutely a prewar Schwinn, due to:
1) the badge holes in steer tube
2) the rear dropouts on a schwinn mean it IS Pre-War, cause they went to the front dropout after production started again after WW2-(im probably off, but this is what i believed to be gospel)
3) the welds are nice and smooth, and done in the typical Schwinn way-compared to my 40’s CWC Hawthorne (the luxury liner/ wes flyer model with the killer springers)-where they seemed to be almost “pressed” or “spot welded” or something? Like you can see that the frame is made from a few separate pieces of tubing electrically welded to one another. Whereas Schwinn frames seemingly looked to be produced with one continuous piece of steel tubing-by some Bastard aligator of a beast who could handle the tubing whilst redhot and bend it like a pretzel, into its final shape! But i know you guys will know what the differences in processes were, with the different companies producing bikes at this time?
4) the forks i saw on the B-9 and B-10 were dead ringers for the ones on mine, (except didnt have a possible semi- gnarly couple degree bend backwards in them like mine do)
https://flic.kr/p/22pyfLv, https://flic.kr/p/21jjaGG
Thats where Im at. Sorry for the long-winded questions/ answers...i just want to be as thorough as possible and provide everything ive found out thus far, & comparisons made.
Any, and ALL help is welcomed with OPEN ARMS!!! if anyone can tell me where i can take the forks to get the broken key removed, and rekeyed, Id appreciate it immensely as well!! Thank you fellow CABE members for such an amazing site like this-where those of us who grew up during the era when these were new-can ‘chew the fat’ with those of us who did not-where mutual respect is given, and much needed info (and sometimes parts and trade secrets) can be shared with one another without labeling the newbies as “poseurs”, or “wanna be’s”. I love this site, and am proud to be a part of it again.⚒⚒⚒
