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Help ID Manta Ray?l

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And yes, please, some others chime in on this with their Stingray examples. I think the knurled rear hub shell is close enough, but not sure when the cutoff was.
I can't find when the cutoff for S5 rims was either to say what was good for my LH stamped Manta...since they don't appear in the 73 catalog. Was thinking somewhere in the middle of 72. I definitely have not found any S5 rims on 73 hubs though.
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As far as I know, the rear S5 with the hump in the middle is original to that era bike. It's an early bendix 70 hub too. The 70 stamp isn't a precise year either, just a model per-se that ran on bikes from late 69 to late 75 when it became the Bendix 76 model. Somewhere in that range the machining on the shell changed from having diagonal knurling like yours to smooth continuous rings.
I can't tell for sure on the front hub, but looks to be aluminum? If it is there will be a date stamp, "MADE IN FRANCE 4-73" or something pretty close.
I'm going to look closer but that front rim looks Brand X to me. Just a flat surface, no humps, etc. Probably some Huffy or Murray! :cool:
 
I'm going to look closer but that front rim looks Brand X to me. Just a flat surface, no humps, etc. Probably some Huffy or Murray! :cool:
It's possible, Murray made one close enough that Schwinn took them to court saying Only Schwinns Can Have Knurling! Lol there's a copyright out there at least. The Schwinn S6 is more of a flat/square contour too, but will be stamped as such. Went to get an example pic, but it seems they half a§§ed it in 75..
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View attachment 1609638

Notice they call the arched top tube of the frame "camel back" in the catalog. The bars that attach from the seat tube to the axle are called seat stays. Arched top tubes came on other 10 speed bikes but only the Stingrays of that era had that single top tube coupled with arched seat stays. The non Stingray models had straight seat stays.

Here's an example from the catalog of the seat your bike needs too. Unfortunately they cost more than the bike most of the time. View attachment 1609639


5 speed guard VS Coaster guard...View attachment 1609640


View attachment 1609641
Also note the coaster bike has the small mag 1/8" sprocket where the 5 speed has the large mag with 3/32" teeth.

I've been thinking of building 2 sets of wheels for mine since it came missing the wheels and seat. I've got 36h center stamped S5s that will probably get the automatic 2speed and 28h S6s that will get a regular coaster hub. I'm still looking for info to see when S5 rims stopped being used, I keep finding early 72 and prior examples though. Sorry, tmi there. Ha
Are the rims date stamped?
 
Are the rims date stamped?
Not with a year...but this one you can barely make out the S after Tubular and there should be a 6 after that, not visible at all on this rim. You can gauge the age by how deep the knurling is, but that takes a bit of a calibrated eye and is definitely not exact, just something that happened as a result of their Tooling wearing down over years of use. Something else to note is that the earlier bikes(ending 66-68ish) had the lettering stamped in the middle of the rim, where the later bikes were side stamped....and there's even an inverse side stamp S7 in 65...and no lettering started in the late 70s.
 
Terrible picture of the handlebar but it is 71. The front hub is made in France. There’s probably a date, I just need to clean it up. Maybe it’s my imagination, but it looks like it’s stamped S6 S7 on the rim. That’s not possible, is it? I think this chrome will clean and polish to look like new. It was stored inside somewhere.

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Yeah, pretty sure that's a scrape, there are others in the same direction around it. Certainly looks like a 7 right there, ha but it's not a stamp. Those S6 and S5 rims take special diameter tires marked 24x1-3/8 (and some 10 speeds had 24x1-1/4"). Schwinn had to be special so that you had to come back to them for replacement tires. Don't even think about putting tires marked 24x1.375" or 24x1.25", they are not compatible. There are rare exceptions of later produced tires, but they had better say "to fit S5 or S6 rims." You'll see plenty of other discussion/arguments surrounding size compatibility, but I'm so tired of seeing this question pop up....I just want to nip that one in the bud and clarify before you find yourself with a fruitless tire purchase. .
 
Yeah, pretty sure that's a scrape, there are others in the same direction around it. Certainly looks like a 7 right there, ha but it's not a stamp. Those S6 and S5 rims take special diameter tires marked 24x1-3/8 (and some 10 speeds had 24x1-1/4"). Schwinn had to be special so that you had to come back to them for replacement tires. Don't even think about putting tires marked 24x1.375" or 24x1.25", they are not compatible. There are rare exceptions of later produced tires, but they had better say "to fit S5 or S6 rims." You'll see plenty of other discussion/arguments surrounding size compatibility, but I'm so tired of seeing this question pop up....I just want to nip that one in the bud and clarify before you find yourself with a fruitless tire purchase. .
Tires are a question I've been trying to get answered. I'm guessing they aren't reproducing the 24" slick?
 
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