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Schwinn Crossbar Speedometer

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pkleppert

Finally riding a big boys bike
Just recently there was a 1938 Mead Ranger with a blue faced Clipper crossbar speedometer and not a Schwinn faced speedometer on theCABE. It has the window in the speedometer housing for the light to shine through.

You know this brings up a great question. Who actually made the cross bar speedometer housing? Stewart Warner? Did they sell it to Schwinn and Meade? Why was it not available to other makes? Who had the patent for it? Was it an after market product also?
 
Good question. I wonder if you could get it though Mead as a catalog item?
 
Wasn't there a Schwinn patent drawing with top down view of this crossbar? Or was that just a fantasy "made for shirts only" design???

Edit to add: I can't unsee the image, it was a top down view of a cantilever Schwinn with a 6 hole rack and crossbar, like a Blueprint or Patent Drawing. Google is not helping me find it.
 
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Good question!
Another thing I always wondered, is if there was a Schwinn faced, Clipper type speedo head, without the side light cutout for regular use without the Crossbar housing?
I found one once, but it appeared to have been worked on in the past, so I can’t say for sure, that it is an original Schwinn/Stewart Warner issued part.
 
Here's the photo of the 1938 Meade Ranger Cross bar speedo.

thumbnail.jpg
 
Wasn't there a Schwinn patent drawing with top down view of this crossbar? Or was that just a fantasy "made for shirts only" design???

Edit to add: I can't unsee the image, it was a top down view of a cantilever Schwinn with a 6 hole rack and crossbar, like a Blueprint or Patent Drawing. Google is not helping me find it.
Mark Mattei (Chicago Cycle Smithy) has saved many, many, Schwinn original parts drawings. Maybe he has it?
 
Mark had some of his original Schwinn drawings on his bike shop web site but I think he removed them when he closed his shop. I wasn’t able to find them. Hopefully he’ll stop by and let us know if he has the speedo bar drawing.
@Mark Mattei
 
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