Vintage Schwinn Sting-Ray Fastback 5-Speed

[Julz27]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been holding onto my dad’s Schwinn Fastback 5-Speed for a long time, but I’ve decided it’s time to part with it. I don’t know a lot about vintage bikes, so I was hoping this community could help me with some feedback on its value and history.

This was my dad’s childhood bike. By the time I was born, it was already up in the attic, and it stayed there until about 20 years ago when I decided to bring it back to life. I had a local bike professional clean it up and inspect it — he replaced the tires and brake pads, but everything else is original.

From my research, it looks like it might be a 1972 model the numbers on the Frame are HC78445, but something about it feels more 1960s to me. I’d really appreciate any help in confirming the year, model details, and getting an idea of its value so that when I do sell it, I can be accurate and fair.

Thank you so much for any advice or guidance you can offer!

 

[acg_schwinn]

From my research, it looks like it might be a 1972 model the numbers on the Frame are HC78445, but something about it feels more 1960s to me. I’d really appreciate any help in confirming the year, model details, and getting an idea of its value so that when I do sell it, I can be accurate and fair.

Very nice! HC denotes a frame assembly of August (H), 1967 (C). Serials from 1965 onward were of the format Month/Year/Serial number, where the Year began with "A" for 1965. Letters "I" and "O" are skipped to avoid confusion with one and zero.

1967 Schwinn consumer catalog photo:

 

[Julz27]

Very nice! HC denotes a frame assembly of August (H), 1967 (C). Serials from 1965 onward were of the format Month/Year/Serial number, where the Year began with "A" for 1965. Letters "I" and "O" are skipped to avoid confusion with zero and one.

1967 Schwinn consumer catalog photo:

View attachment 2225321

Thank you so much! That really makes sense — he would have been around 12 years old at the time, which lines up perfectly with what he shared about this being his childhood bike.

 

[Robert Troub]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been holding onto my dad’s Schwinn Fastback 5-Speed for a long time, but I’ve decided it’s time to part with it. I don’t know a lot about vintage bikes, so I was hoping this community could help me with some feedback on its value and history.

This was my dad’s childhood bike. By the time I was born, it was already up in the attic, and it stayed there until about 20 years ago when I decided to bring it back to life. I had a local bike professional clean it up and inspect it — he replaced the tires and brake pads, but everything else is original.

From my research, it looks like it might be a 1972 model the numbers on the Frame are HC78445, but something about it feels more 1960s to me. I’d really appreciate any help in confirming the year, model details, and getting an idea of its value so that when I do sell it, I can be accurate and fair.

Thank you so much for any advice or guidance you can offer!

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View attachment 2225311

List in on your local marketplace, maybe $750, you should get some interest

 

[Julz27]

List in on your local marketplace, maybe $750, you should get some interest

Thank you, I appreciate the tip!

 

[GTs58]

eBay used to be a good place to find current sales prices, but those days are long gone. That looks like a really nice survivor.

Here's a link for recently sold Fastbacks and parts.

1967 Schwinn Fastback for sale | eBay

Get the best deals for 1967 Schwinn Fastback at eBay.com. We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items!

www.ebay.com

 

[mike1117]

Nice bike. I just sold an orange original 1970 5 speed stik shift fastback for $600 that was listed on here. If you search orange fastback on here you can see many photos of the bike. It took me awhile to sell it at that price, was on here for a while. Hope this helps.

 

[Spacecowboy]

Look up the parts, add it up, price accordingly. When you pick a price, you can't negotiate up. Violet is like coppertone, gone by the 70s for boys. So your instinct was right, total 60s bike.
Btw, brake cables are reversed, like UK style or for leftys. The rear derailleur was changed up, that's same style just a 72 or so. I'm used to it on my 72 Continental. That version while still basically the huret allvit, is a schwinn gt 200. The difference is the cogs in the derailleur has teeth. The earlier version just had discs. Here's a link for that info. Hope that helps.

https://www.disraeligears.co.uk/site/schwinn_gt200_derailleur.html

 

[Julz27]

Nice bike. I just sold an orange original 1970 5 speed stik shift fastback for $600 that was listed on here. If you search orange fastback on here you can see many photos of the bike. It took me awhile to sell it at that price, was on here for a while. Hope this helps.

Hi Mike! Thanks so much, that is helpful.

 

[Julz27]

Look up the parts, add it up, price accordingly. When you pick a price, you can't negotiate up. Violet is like coppertone, gone by the 70s for boys. So your instinct was right, total 60s bike.
Btw, brake cables are reversed, like UK style or for leftys. The rear derailleur was changed up, that's same style just a 72 or so. I'm used to it on my 72 Continental. That version while still basically the huret allvit, is a schwinn gt 200. The difference is the cogs in the derailleur has teeth. The earlier version just had discs. Here's a link for that info. Hope that helps.

https://www.disraeligears.co.uk/site/schwinn_gt200_derailleur.html

Great information and advice, thank you so much.