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Older Schwinn Middleweight Questions - Trying to remember back 50 years.

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Im kinda the same with my first bike. I cant remember much about it before I took the fenders and chainguard off. Couldn't tell you what model it was. Had it for 7 years though. Only got a new one because after a hundred or so jumps, the downpipe broke off the bottom bracket. :) Those were the years of the Krate bikes though and I wanted one of those terrible. A neighbor had one and a lot of the kids had Stingrays, my bike was a bit of an embarrassment.
It was a Schwinn says my Dad. Red, It had white triangle tipped fenders before I removed them in around 1973. Cantilever double bar frame, White wheels with red pinstripe. Thats all I can remember about it other than It took abuse no bike should have to... and kept getting me home before the streetlights came on.
I thought Typhoon for a long time but who knows. My family was never big on pictures, I haven't seen my old bike in any of them.
It was the next bike I remember real well.
 
U no, Middle weights made their presence 1954 and if originally chrome fenders, or stainless steal falls in the time line when the larger badge was used too. It could be Opal red and there's a verity of models to chose from and smaller depending on chrome and stainless steal. But off hand, Corvette, American and Jaguars don't always have caliper brakes and 2 or 3 speeds stock, and coaster brake more likely to get that, choice red Bendix arm with red striped hub. IDK but maybe 1956-ish, try looking there. U may not see photo in catalog but, Coaster brake was availed as lowest price choice. . Maybe they'll ring a bell.

If you replaced the top tube decals or were warn off the likely you got newer style and didn't know it. As far as size of bike then? yeah, you're bigger now or it just feels that way.

And if you're thinking Burgundy back then? you ain't thinking Schwinn unless it has no metal flake coloration then it's really old school and not a middleweight, or it's Huffy, Murray or other makers with metal flake Burgundy which in paint is ,a whole different ball game and easy to buy anywhere. . . Not so with Schwinn and Opal red can very in the tint's depending on the batch mix.
It was definitely a Schwinn, the headbadge, four hole clover chain ring, decals, and headbadge said so. Not to mention the fillet welds on the frame.
Color wise it was close to the color of a Schwinn New World I rode in high school.
As far as my size, I hit 6ft tall in 6th grade or around 13 years of age. I only gained a few inches after that.
I don't remember the bike having any older style decals, the Schwinn logo and seat post decals were the same as what I put back on it. The chainguard is the only part I can't say for sure whether or not it belonged.
 
Just a thought, maybe I'm not describing the original color correctly, the later Flamboyant red is more of a bright, medium red that resembles the color of red anodized aluminum, its very close in color shade to a SnapOn MagLite I've got in red.
The original paint was more of a Cranberry or blood red, also over a silver base. I had a late 40's Schwinn New World just prior to that bike and it was painted pretty much the same color. When I got both of those bikes, less than half the paint was intact. I never repainted the New World because I didn't want to make it more attractive to thieves back then, I left it old and rusty looking the whole time I had it. It and about 5 other bikes got run over while in a bike rack one day at school. A guy trying to back a trailer down between two buildings backed right over the whole rack of bikes.

There's also the possibility that the bike had parts changed long before I had it, I got it in the late 60's, and was at least the fourth owner of it. The original owner, a kid who was already out of school by the time I was even starting school as a little kid, had it first and delivered papers on it for several years, then it got passed with the paper route to three more kids before I got it in my teens. By the time I got it, it was pretty rough, but it rode and did the job just fine other than the fact it had only a front basket on it.

Two things stick in my mind though after all the info here, it definitely had a larger headbadge, in white with black letters, and I'm fairly certain it was a larger frame than those I have now. I know I never needed an extended seat post, and don't ever remember it being too short for me even at 6ft or so tall then. (I was likely at my maximum height or close to it by the time I got that bike. The problem with that is that apparently the larger badge and a larger frame never seemed to co-exist.
Its also entirely possible that my old bike felt different because of different handlebars and possibly a different seat?
I do remember regretting not replacing the tires on that bike back then though, I never liked the small brick pattern tires back then and I'm not sure why. I eventually found a pair of Cordovan branded tires for it that had a more conventional tire tread, more of a zig-zag tread pattern with more contact width than the original tires.
If I had it now, I'd have left the original tires and not worried about it because they were original. They weren't cracked or rotted or anything, they weren't even worn all the bad considering it was used to deliver papers for the better part of a decade at that point.


The only known 1962 badges I have here are from a '62 Traveler, which used a small, but plastic badge.
That tells me definitely that the larger badges were gone by at least that point.

1387907
Headbadge off my 1969 ontop of the original badge from my old bike.
There's about 3/4" difference in the hole spacing and slightly more in the badge
overall.


1387909
1962 Traveler badge, not sure what else these were used on?
(I'm glad I checked this one, it all but fell off in my hand when I touched it).
 
Just a thought, maybe I'm not describing the original color correctly, the later Flamboyant red is more of a bright, medium red that resembles the color of red anodized aluminum, its very close in color shade to a SnapOn MagLite I've got in red.
The original paint was more of a Cranberry or blood red, also over a silver base. I had a late 40's Schwinn New World just prior to that bike and it was painted pretty much the same color. When I got both of those bikes, less than half the paint was intact. I never repainted the New World because I didn't want to make it more attractive to thieves back then, I left it old and rusty looking the whole time I had it. It and about 5 other bikes got run over while in a bike rack one day at school. A guy trying to back a trailer down between two buildings backed right over the whole rack of bikes.

There's also the possibility that the bike had parts changed long before I had it, I got it in the late 60's, and was at least the fourth owner of it. The original owner, a kid who was already out of school by the time I was even starting school as a little kid, had it first and delivered papers on it for several years, then it got passed with the paper route to three more kids before I got it in my teens. By the time I got it, it was pretty rough, but it rode and did the job just fine other than the fact it had only a front basket on it.

Two things stick in my mind though after all the info here, it definitely had a larger headbadge, in white with black letters, and I'm fairly certain it was a larger frame than those I have now. I know I never needed an extended seat post, and don't ever remember it being too short for me even at 6ft or so tall then. (I was likely at my maximum height or close to it by the time I got that bike. The problem with that is that apparently the larger badge and a larger frame never seemed to co-exist.
Its also entirely possible that my old bike felt different because of different handlebars and possibly a different seat?
I do remember regretting not replacing the tires on that bike back then though, I never liked the small brick pattern tires back then and I'm not sure why. I eventually found a pair of Cordovan branded tires for it that had a more conventional tire tread, more of a zig-zag tread pattern with more contact width than the original tires.
If I had it now, I'd have left the original tires and not worried about it because they were original. They weren't cracked or rotted or anything, they weren't even worn all the bad considering it was used to deliver papers for the better part of a decade at that point.


The only known 1962 badges I have here are from a '62 Traveler, which used a small, but plastic badge.
That tells me definitely that the larger badges were gone by at least that point.

View attachment 1387907
Headbadge off my 1969 ontop of the original badge from my old bike.
There's about 3/4" difference in the hole spacing and slightly more in the badge
overall.


View attachment 1387909
1962 Traveler badge, not sure what else these were used on?
(I'm glad I checked this one, it all but fell off in my hand when I touched it).
That badge came on the Traveler, the Corvette and the Jaguar. Evidently the goop that Schwinn used to hold them on gets dried out and comes loose after a while. A lot of them have gone missing and good examples aren't cheap. Maybe someone will make a good re-pop.
 
The frame on the Traveler is drilled and tapped for a regular badge, the plastic starburst badge has a pin that locates in the lower hole but none for the top. The badge is made of clear plastic, with a chrome or foil back layer and black filled letters. Molding one in plastic would be easy, coloring in the letters and chrome plating the back side of it would be the hard part, (or expensive part.
This badge is pretty much mint and I also have a pair of brand new one's I picked up years ago because I thought they looked cool from a dealer down in FL years ago. I had stopped there looking for a cheap bike to use for the winter and I ended up buying a fenderless Spitfire cruiser. It's headbadge was missing so I asked if he had a headbadge and screws and he came out with a box of badges and pulled out a good used badge and some screws. I happened to see the two starburst badges in the same bin and had asked about those. He gave me a spare for the Spitfire, and I paid something like $5 for the two plastic badges. He was glad to be rid of them. I kind of liked that bike but didn't have it long, a couple of years later it got submerged in a storm down there and I wasn't there to save it. By the time I got to it, the salt had taken its toll. It was in a shed on the far corner of the property and only that corner went under water. I lost the bike and an old Jacobsen Reel mower in that mess.
 
Just a thought, maybe I'm not describing the original color correctly, the later Flamboyant red is more of a bright, medium red that resembles the color of red anodized aluminum, its very close in color shade to a SnapOn MagLite I've got in red.
The original paint was more of a Cranberry or blood red, also over a silver base. I had a late 40's Schwinn New World just prior to that bike and it was painted pretty much the same color. When I got both of those bikes, less than half the paint was intact. I never repainted the New World because I didn't want to make it more attractive to thieves back then, I left it old and rusty looking the whole time I had it. It and about 5 other bikes got run over while in a bike rack one day at school. A guy trying to back a trailer down between two buildings backed right over the whole rack of bikes.

There's also the possibility that the bike had parts changed long before I had it, I got it in the late 60's, and was at least the fourth owner of it. The original owner, a kid who was already out of school by the time I was even starting school as a little kid, had it first and delivered papers on it for several years, then it got passed with the paper route to three more kids before I got it in my teens. By the time I got it, it was pretty rough, but it rode and did the job just fine other than the fact it had only a front basket on it.

Two things stick in my mind though after all the info here, it definitely had a larger headbadge, in white with black letters, and I'm fairly certain it was a larger frame than those I have now. I know I never needed an extended seat post, and don't ever remember it being too short for me even at 6ft or so tall then. (I was likely at my maximum height or close to it by the time I got that bike. The problem with that is that apparently the larger badge and a larger frame never seemed to co-exist.
Its also entirely possible that my old bike felt different because of different handlebars and possibly a different seat?
I do remember regretting not replacing the tires on that bike back then though, I never liked the small brick pattern tires back then and I'm not sure why. I eventually found a pair of Cordovan branded tires for it that had a more conventional tire tread, more of a zig-zag tread pattern with more contact width than the original tires.
If I had it now, I'd have left the original tires and not worried about it because they were original. They weren't cracked or rotted or anything, they weren't even worn all the bad considering it was used to deliver papers for the better part of a decade at that point.


The only known 1962 badges I have here are from a '62 Traveler, which used a small, but plastic badge.
That tells me definitely that the larger badges were gone by at least that point.

View attachment 1387907
Headbadge off my 1969 ontop of the original badge from my old bike.
There's about 3/4" difference in the hole spacing and slightly more in the badge
overall.


View attachment 1387909
1962 Traveler badge, not sure what else these were used on?
(I'm glad I checked this one, it all but fell off in my hand when I touched it).


I'll give you $35 plus shipping fees for that plastic badge. I need a nice one for a Corvette I'm restoring.
 
I just got done re-gluing it back on my Traveler. I buffed up the paint around the badge and reattached it with some black trim cement. By the time it falls off again I'll be long gone. I polished the paint on the headtube so I won't chance hitting the badge when I do the whole frame.

I have three more Travelers in the shed waiting for me to get to them.
 
Just a thought, maybe I'm not describing the original color correctly, the later Flamboyant red is more of a bright, medium red that resembles the color of red anodized aluminum, its very close in color shade to a SnapOn MagLite I've got in red.
The original paint was more of a Cranberry or blood red, also over a silver base. I had a late 40's Schwinn New World just prior to that bike and it was painted pretty much the same color. When I got both of those bikes, less than half the paint was intact. I never repainted the New World because I didn't want to make it more attractive to thieves back then, I left it old and rusty looking the whole time I had it. It and about 5 other bikes got run over while in a bike rack one day at school. A guy trying to back a trailer down between two buildings backed right over the whole rack of bikes.

There's also the possibility that the bike had parts changed long before I had it, I got it in the late 60's, and was at least the fourth owner of it. The original owner, a kid who was already out of school by the time I was even starting school as a little kid, had it first and delivered papers on it for several years, then it got passed with the paper route to three more kids before I got it in my teens. By the time I got it, it was pretty rough, but it rode and did the job just fine other than the fact it had only a front basket on it.

Two things stick in my mind though after all the info here, it definitely had a larger headbadge, in white with black letters, and I'm fairly certain it was a larger frame than those I have now. I know I never needed an extended seat post, and don't ever remember it being too short for me even at 6ft or so tall then. (I was likely at my maximum height or close to it by the time I got that bike. The problem with that is that apparently the larger badge and a larger frame never seemed to co-exist.
Its also entirely possible that my old bike felt different because of different handlebars and possibly a different seat?
I do remember regretting not replacing the tires on that bike back then though, I never liked the small brick pattern tires back then and I'm not sure why. I eventually found a pair of Cordovan branded tires for it that had a more conventional tire tread, more of a zig-zag tread pattern with more contact width than the original tires.
If I had it now, I'd have left the original tires and not worried about it because they were original. They weren't cracked or rotted or anything, they weren't even worn all the bad considering it was used to deliver papers for the better part of a decade at that point.


The only known 1962 badges I have here are from a '62 Traveler, which used a small, but plastic badge.
That tells me definitely that the larger badges were gone by at least that point.

View attachment 1387907
Headbadge off my 1969 ontop of the original badge from my old bike.
There's about 3/4" difference in the hole spacing and slightly more in the badge
overall.


View attachment 1387909
1962 Traveler badge, not sure what else these were used on?
(I'm glad I checked this one, it all but fell off in my hand when I touched it).

It’s called a starburst badge.. They pop up on EBay from time to time..
 
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