Let’s see some late 70’s/early 80’s Cruisers and Spitfires

[GTs58]

Awesome, thanks! They've got a good assortment of tires, too.

I was in the yard comparing my other 79 to these two. Looks like at some point in time, someone swapped out the front wheels. I realized the beater hubs are much smaller than the Schwinn hub I have on my 79 and that I also see in other 79s in this thread. Though, the Schwinn hub is stamped "7 80". Is that a date stamp? If so, then it's not original to the bike, either

View attachment 2073851

1980 dated hub. My 79 Spitfire 5 had the low flange hub.

 

[Schwinn Sales West]

Awesome, thanks! They've got a good assortment of tires, too.

I was in the yard comparing my other 79 to these two. Looks like at some point in time, someone swapped out the front wheels. I realized the beater hubs are much smaller than the Schwinn hub I have on my 79 and that I also see in other 79s in this thread. Though, the Schwinn hub is stamped "7 80". Is that a date stamp? If so, then it's not original to the bike, either

View attachment 2073851

Your hub stamped U.S.A. is a ACS hub. They were a popular BMX hub, with kinda weird 7/32" ball bearings. The smaller heavy duty hubs were Union Germany made and were steel. They were both used on Schwinn Cruisers and Heavy Duti's during this period.

John

 

[4nthony]

Gentlemen, thank you!

Looks like these two beaters are more original than I thought. Cool.

 

[GTs58]

Your hub stamped U.S.A. is a ACS hub. They were a popular BMX hub, with kinda weird 7/32" ball bearings. The smaller heavy duty hubs were Union Germany made and were steel. They were both used on Schwinn Cruisers and Heavy Duti's during this period.

John

Did you notice the fracture at the flange/cup section? I just now noticed it and I hope 4nthony did.

 

[4nthony]

Did you notice the fracture at the flange/cup section? I just now noticed it and I hope 4nthony did.

This? If so, I never noticed it.

 

[Schwinn Sales West]

Did you notice the fracture at the flange/cup section? I just now noticed it and I hope 4nthony did.

Good eye! IMO, the ACS hubs were crudely sand cast, and had marginal machining. The odd ball bearing size always was a deal breaker for me. They had to be dirt cheap for an OE application.

John

 

[Schwinn Sales West]

You can find lots of heavy duty front hubs in the vintage BMX area, just respoke the wheel with a new/better hub.

John

 

[SoBayRon]

Schwinn changed from the smaller Union hub to the high flange ACS hub mid year in 1979 on the Spitfire.

 

[Bradies Bicycle Shop]

Here's my two favorite kids... Blue one is stamped October of 1976 like my birth certificate and the Black one is a '79. They are always in the rotation

 

[WillWork4Parts]

This? If so, I never noticed it.

View attachment 2073852

Is it actually fractured or just poor casting/cleanup? If it were mine, I'd knock the bearing race out to confirm if there is a crack all the way through on the inside. Not saying it can't happen to these hubs, I just haven't seen that type of damage myself.
But yes, at least the last 2 digits are the year of the hub. My 81 Cruiser has a "33 81" stamped front hub, so the stamp isn't month and year. I believe they are week stamps since the badge date on my 81 Cruiser is from the 37th week.

I think the BMX bikes had these hubs earlier than the cruisers, but I have seen 79 stamped cruiser wheels. On 79 bikes it was hit and miss whether your S2s were stamped or not as well.