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Mead Crusader

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Cool score! After reading RMS37's review, it does make sense that this is probably closer to 1940..... oh well-
 
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Rarer than a Girl’s BPH?

With all the talk about the rarity and potential value of the Girl’s Blue Phantom, a limited edition color and trim variant of a common frame, this bike is not getting its due!

This blend of “C” and “D” models does not appear in the collected catalogs, brochures, and factory letters of the Hurd book and without documentation, it is hard to know what designation Schwinn may have given it or the actual year of production.

I doubt this frame is as early as 1936 because although curved down tubes were offered beginning in 1936 on the top of the line Autocycle frames, they were something of a “trickle-down” feature, not reaching the DX line until 1940.

My original guess was that this was a Schwinn frame variant designed to use up an overstock of C-model tanks after that standard frame had been generally discontinued (1936 and 1937 with the tank, depicted through 1939 without the tank.) The C model tank also appears on the earliest DX frames of late 37 (and assumedly early 1938) but this frame is a dinosaur with straight seat stays (hints of Moto-Balloon B-9/10 about it.)

Using the “lets get rid of old stock” explanation and placing the build in late 1939/1940/1941 would explain the anachronism of the early tank on what is essentially a 1940 style DX frame with a straight rather than curved lower top tube. The Mead name on the bike would cause me to place it later rather than earlier in this time line because Mead was generally known as Schwinn’s closet cleaner.

Based on all of that, my inclination was to date the bike to approximately 1940 or maybe 1941.

The serial number is the best source for narrowing things down against pure deduction and speculation of course those numbers are not truly available in factory purity so it still gives up to some speculation.

By the table I have found, the serial number B55235 could be for either 1937 or 1939 depending on the font size of the stamping, earlier bikes using a small font and later bikes using what was essentially the same size as postwar units.

If I am correct in my date assumption for this frame then the saddle may be fairly appropriate for the bike and if you are searching for a Mead style tubular rack for this bike I believe the frame is too late to use one.
 
Thanks Phil! That is a lot of info the think about. I must apologize, I misheard when the serial number was read to me. Here is a photo of the actual number. It looks like the same font size as post war models, which, according to what you said would make it later. I am having an absolute bear of a time trying to figure out what exactly this bike is, not to mention what parts should be on it. Something else odd about this bike is that it has factory rivets where the drop stand holes would have been. I can tell from the paint wear that the there was a chainguard and rack on this bike at one time. Which rack should I be looking for? Which guard should I be looking for?

My '39 DX is numbered C09603 for comparison.

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mead cycle supply

Serial number is B55235

That plces it as a 39 frame. If your looking for it and a sales model in a catalog, try a mead cycle supply from 1939-1940. That is if you can find one. Based off of all the other similarities with the dx line( the name crusader, fenders, seat, being a base model blah blan blah) you might find it under that type of model. I think your frame could very well be a tall frame as well... which would explain the size and measurements of the rear stays and seat tube. good luck.
 
Back to my reference chart, “D” moves the bike up to 1940. I hope that someone with access to Mead catalogs for that period will take note and post on this one. As the bike is likely one of a batch put together to clean house, I would be inclined to build it out with similar equipment to a basic 39 DX if you can’t find a clear reference picture for this specific model.
 
I guess I'm still confused about this bike. So its a C-Model frame built with leftover parts as a DX by Mead in 1940? I have a nice red/creme '39 guard (correct for the DX) I can put on it. Possibly a 9 hole rack?
 
Parts

D is late 39 to early 40 so let's not confuse build date to sales/catalog date. They are different. But being a mead it most likely was sold in 1940. I've had 39 dx's with D and other 40 bikes with D so you should be close there. Mead cycle supply did use 9 hole racks as well on basic models. Even some of the lesser model rangers had 9 hole racks. So staying with the "build close to 39-40 dx" idea would work. The dx style hockey stick guard was used by mead also. So that too would work. But again, it's your bike!
 
This bike is not really a C-model or a DX, but shares similarities with both. Schwinn model naming conventions make the best sense if they tell you what they called the model and you can say “oh yes, I can see the logic in that.” Going in the other direction it impossible to know for certain what a model designation is through plain deduction and without literature.

This frame has characteristics of a 1940 DX combined with the tank aperture of an earlier “C” frame. As there were B/C models, I would sensibly call this one a C/D but If Schwinn did name it they may have come at it from a completely different angle.

Mead purchased frames manufactured by Schwinn (and others) and they were painted and finished specifically by or for Mead but typically the base frames were no different from those offered in-house by Schwinn and to other distributors. Mead did still have a fair (but dwindling) market share when this bike was produced so the frame may be part of a unique batch order produced by Schwinn solely for Mead consumption but it is reasonably likely that the same frame was produced and will turn up in branded and in the livery of Schwinn or that of other Schwinn distributors.
 
I would like to build as close to original as possible. If originals were equipped with different parts depending on what was available, I guess I have quite a bit of leeway as far as that goes. I'll probably put the '39 feather guard on it. At least for now and probably go with a Mead rack since they seem much more readily available than a prewar 9 hole. For now, I look at these parts simply as place takers until I can determine how exactly this bike should be equipped. It is a tall frame so it rides really nice and actually fits an adult which is a nice change of pace.
 
D is late 39 to early 40 so let's not confuse build date to sales/catalog date. They are different.

Serial-number-wise you must be referencing a different chart than the one I have (which is based on someone else’s work and or observations and not my own.) The chart I have been using lists serial numbers A-C10999 as 1939 production numbers and C11000-E53499 as 1940.
 
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