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Oldest Schwinn Privately Owned

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Ok the reason I started this thread is because I bought the 1898 Model 22 that was listed here on the CABE. I have scoured the interwebs, looked at all the online Copake catalogs as well as all print catalogs back to 1994, and posted here. Other than the two partial tandems and the Schwinn family tandem in the BMA I've not seen anything else pre 1900. This really surprises me since Schwinn was a fairly prolific company even in the early days. This bike is in exceptional condition for being 118 years old and has some interesting features such as the threaded handlebars and what look like oil/grease ports on top of the crank hanger. I'd be interested in seeing anything pre-1900 either privately owned or in a museum. Lastly while the cat shows the bars in the up position I prefer the "scorcher" look especially on this optional 22" frame bike. The standard size was 24" with an optional 26" frame as well. They only came in one color--"Brewster Green, ornamented" (at least for 1898). V/r Shawn

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A little back story on this bike--1898 Schwinn The World Model 22 Standard Roadster. The guy that originally posted this on the CABE, stingrayjoe, was contacted by a friend that a widow was disposing of her husbands Ford Model T stuff and that there was some Smith and Briggs motor wheel stuff. Joe said when he go there all the motors were gone but there were some parts and only two bikes-this one and a 30's Elgin. He bought the bike and thought it might be a Schwinn because it said "The World" on the down tube. The bike had a lamp mounted to the head tube so it didn't have a badge. Once he posted here on the CABE, Scott (CABE owner), told him that it was an early Schwinn. Joe decided to sell the bike and I purchased it.

So after studying the bike and looking at the components on the bike the only things that didn't match the catalog were the grips and the saddle. I know the grips are not correct and I have a wanted ad for the right ones. The saddle puzzled me though because it is a period saddle and I didn't think it had been changed out. I found something interesting when I looked at the 1899 catalog posted online http://www.trfindley.com/pg_schwinn_cats.htm the 1899 catalog lists the Wheeler Extra saddle as standard. The Standard Roadster for 1899 was listed as Model 33 which rules out my bike being a 1899 model. It would appear that sometime in 1898 Schwinn changed from the Rubber Neck as the standard offering to the Wheeler Extra.

So that's the story of the bike. My plans are to get a correct set of grips, hopefully upgrade the badge, and maybe get a set of Robert Dean white tire (which I would age appropriately). V/r Shawn
 
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