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Reflectors for 74 Speedster

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petehouk

'Lil Knee Scuffer
Greetings, all. I have recently acquired a 1974 Speedster in very nice condition. It is in such nice condition, with so much paint, and so much nicer than the rusty things I am used to buying, that I want to fix a few little things on it that don't seem right. The main thing is the rear reflector. It is much larger than the bezel on the fender. I assumed that the original that matched the bezel had broken off and was replaced with one that was slightly larger. But then I looked at the front reflector, and it's an exact match to this larger red reflector, only white. So that made me think that this larger rear reflector may have been the original. This bike obviously was not ridden much so it really may still have the original reflectors. But this thing is larger than the bezel and looks very odd. Still I think I have seen other Schwinns from this era with rear reflectors that were too large. Did they have replacements as well? Or was this how some of them were sold?

I've searched for pictures of Speedsters online and can't find anything definitive. And the catalogs that are reproduced online show some different kinds of and color of reflectors in the 1974 to 1976 years. (I gather that product safety regulations were just coming into play in those years.)

So if I want to get this thing back to original condition, should I have a smaller (~1.75") reflector on there to match the size of the bezel? Or should I keep the larger (2.25") reflector on there?

1718237770619.png

Thanks

Pete
 
Greetings, all. I have recently acquired a 1974 Speedster in very nice condition. It is in such nice condition, with so much paint, and so much nicer than the rusty things I am used to buying, that I want to fix a few little things on it that don't seem right. The main thing is the rear reflector. It is much larger than the bezel on the fender. I assumed that the original that matched the bezel had broken off and was replaced with one that was slightly larger. But then I looked at the front reflector, and it's an exact match to this larger red reflector, only white. So that made me think that this larger rear reflector may have been the original. This bike obviously was not ridden much so it really may still have the original reflectors. But this thing is larger than the bezel and looks very odd. Still I think I have seen other Schwinns from this era with rear reflectors that were too large. Did they have replacements as well? Or was this how some of them were sold?

I've searched for pictures of Speedsters online and can't find anything definitive. And the catalogs that are reproduced online show some different kinds of and color of reflectors in the 1974 to 1976 years. (I gather that product safety regulations were just coming into play in those years.)

So if I want to get this thing back to original condition, should I have a smaller (~1.75") reflector on there to match the size of the bezel? Or should I keep the larger (2.25") reflector on there?

View attachment 2056709
Thanks

Pete
I have several reflectors that fit that bezel.....I don't believe your front reflector was standard....
 
Greetings, all. I have recently acquired a 1974 Speedster in very nice condition. It is in such nice condition, with so much paint, and so much nicer than the rusty things I am used to buying, that I want to fix a few little things on it that don't seem right. The main thing is the rear reflector. It is much larger than the bezel on the fender. I assumed that the original that matched the bezel had broken off and was replaced with one that was slightly larger. But then I looked at the front reflector, and it's an exact match to this larger red reflector, only white. So that made me think that this larger rear reflector may have been the original. This bike obviously was not ridden much so it really may still have the original reflectors. But this thing is larger than the bezel and looks very odd. Still I think I have seen other Schwinns from this era with rear reflectors that were too large. Did they have replacements as well? Or was this how some of them were sold?

I've searched for pictures of Speedsters online and can't find anything definitive. And the catalogs that are reproduced online show some different kinds of and color of reflectors in the 1974 to 1976 years. (I gather that product safety regulations were just coming into play in those years.)

So if I want to get this thing back to original condition, should I have a smaller (~1.75") reflector on there to match the size of the bezel? Or should I keep the larger (2.25") reflector on there?

View attachment 2056709
Thanks

Pete

Screenshot_20240612-214936.png
 
The 1974 catalog does not show a front reflector for your Speedster, but this reflector shown on the bikes above would be correct it's a Schwinn #5625 I believe
 
You are lucky that's not a 1975 model. Here's a 1974 model so it looks like you can save yourself some trouble.

1718244328689.png
 
My Schwinn lightweights with bezels all use reflectors of 1-3/4", usually a Gulco #375, lens #10 Stimsonite. Bicyclebones still sells them. They match the size of the bezel.
 
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You are lucky that's not a 1975 model. Here's a 1974 model so it looks like you can save yourself some trouble.
Thanks for this great picture. It looks like the rear reflector is indeed larger than the bezel. I have seen this before and thought it looked a little strange, but I guess it is original!

I will theorize that new consumer safety standards of the day required some minimum square inches of reflector area, and the smaller ones weren't big enough. Until they could switch over to the rectangular style, they used this overly large round one on the smaller bezel.

1718273334764.png
 
Looks like a larger one in the 1974 Schwinn Brochure.
Schwinn offered as an accessory, various Bicycle Safety Reflector Kits.
1975 is when Schwinn factory installed a full set of safety reflectors.


1974_schwinn_speedster.jpg


scdc1.jpg
 
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Thanks for this great picture. It looks like the rear reflector is indeed larger than the bezel. I have seen this before and thought it looked a little strange, but I guess it is original!

I will theorize that new consumer safety standards of the day required some minimum square inches of reflector area, and the smaller ones weren't big enough. Until they could switch over to the rectangular style, they used this overly large round one on the smaller bezel.

View attachment 2056883
No, it's just the wrong reflector on that bezel.....
 
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