Wartime Schwinn New World Bikes - We Know You Have Them - Tell Us About Them!!

[Deville.bicycles.montreal]

Nice!
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3,274 units apart.
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What a beauty

 

[Miq]

@tomsjack 's D serial bike is one of the nicest preserved OG prewar bikes on the list.

I updated the ownership of @Oilit's new black D serial bike, added the Blue K serial Victory bike on FaceBook MP that @cyclingday contributed, added @RustyHornet 's purchase of the green/blue K serial wartime bike and bluing on the seatpost, updated @gtdohn 's ownership of the H serial black prewar with racer bars, and added his red post-war with feather guard. Cool bikes on either end of the list @gtdohn !

 

[SirMike1983]

I went up to Honesdale PA a couple of weeks ago to see the Stourbridge Lion replica (built in 1929 to celebrate the centennial of the original), and while I was in the area I swung by western NJ and bought the Lexington New World that @SirMike1983 posted back at #908. I've added a few more pictures including some of the rear hub, marked "AW 0", and another shot of the serial. It looks like the "8" is upside down and crooked, and the "D" is easy to read as "I" at first glance. The rims are the original pre-war style but the tires are later, marked for the tubular S-6. The only other non-original part I see is the pulley for the shift cable. The old pulley mount is still clamped around the top tube, but the pulley must have gotten knocked off at some point. Some of the Sturmey-Archer parts look blacked out, but I don't know if that was the normal finish or it was due to the the war starting two years earlier for the British (Sept. 1939).
When the railroad first built the replica locomotive it was fully operational, but I noticed the connecting rods hanging from the walking beams have been disconnected at the wheels, so it evidently hasn't run in a while. There were also some nice models, which are easier to get pictures of. And there's a video of a working model on YouTube.

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Good job going and getting that one. The Lexington/Bloomingdale badge is unusual for a New World. It's a pretty good bike with pre-war features. Some of the cosmetics are a bit rough but most of the bike is there to rebuild. I don't think you'll be hunting for much to complete it.

 

[cyclingday]

That serial number/characteristics list is getting really good!
Just the I+O=D spread is almost up to 10,000 bikes now.
The earliest one is the White Racer, with the I/O overstamp D 2733
The latest one is the Green Ace, with the
I/O overstamp D 12510
There’s a pretty big spread between that one, and the first one that was machine stamped,
D 98455
So, it’ll be fun to keep track of that idiosyncrasy, to see when and where the guy/gal finally got their D stamping die back?
Great job, Miq!
Thank you!

 

[Schwinn Sales West]

That serial number/characteristics list is getting really good!
Just the I+O=D spread is almost up to 10,000 bikes now.
The earliest one is the White Racer, with the I/O overstamp D 2733
The latest one is the Green Ace, with the
I/O overstamp D 12510
There’s a pretty big spread between that one, and the first one that was machine stamped,
D 98455
So, it’ll be fun to keep track of that idiosyncrasy, to see when and where the guy/gal finally got their D stamping die back?
Great job, Miq!
Thank you!

The I/O guy got drafted, and the girl that was riveting the fender braces had small hands and could only hold one die, so they bought her the "New D".

Problem solved.

John

 

[Oilit]

@Miq, Looking at your list, there's more war-time New Worlds than post-war. That's a little surprising but when you think about it, the New World was one of only two models being built during the war, along with the cycle truck, while post-war there were many more available models, so maybe that makes sense. What's more surprising is that there are fewer post-war bikes than pre-war, which is the opposite of what you would expect.
And here's a '49 I posted a while back that never got on the list:

1949 New World with Stainless S-6 Rims | Lightweight Schwinn Bicycles

Reading some of the threads on here got me interested in the Schwinn New Worlds, and then this one showed up on Ebay, so you can guess the rest. I paid full retail, and then I spent as much again taking Amtrak to go pick it up, so I'm already in the hole on this one, but luckily I've still got...

thecabe.com

 

[SirMike1983]

New Worlds were only a tiny piece of what Schwinn sold. Balloon tire bikes were much more successful and would be a priority for production after the war. At the same time, British imports were becoming cheaper. Raleigh's exports to the US went up massively between 1945 and 1952. The British government prioritized export to the US to help repay war debt. A period of austerity followed the war because of the destruction of infrastructure and the war debt in Britain. Hercules and Phillips also made a push for export in the post-war years. It was difficult to compete with the prices and products the British offered in the field of lightweights.

 

[Miq]

I think the title of the thread may have some influence on the era of bikes being contributed.

 

[Miq]

@Miq, Looking at your list, there's more war-time New Worlds than post-war. That's a little surprising but when you think about it, the New World was one of only two models being built during the war, along with the cycle truck, while post-war there were many more available models, so maybe that makes sense. What's more surprising is that there are fewer post-war bikes than pre-war, which is the opposite of what you would expect.
And here's a '49 I posted a while back that never got on the list:

1949 New World with Stainless S-6 Rims | Lightweight Schwinn Bicycles

Reading some of the threads on here got me interested in the Schwinn New Worlds, and then this one showed up on Ebay, so you can guess the rest. I paid full retail, and then I spent as much again taking Amtrak to go pick it up, so I'm already in the hole on this one, but luckily I've still got...

thecabe.com

Some of it maybe due to how the thread started with prewar bikes along with wartime bikes. From post #1:

I used to worry that the post war list could overgrow and shadow the wartime bikes, but you guys pointed out that the New World name was dropped at some point and the World became the model name. What year did the name change?

@rennfaron probably has a good feel for the availability of pre/post New Worlds.

 

[GTs58]

Some of it maybe due to how the thread started with prewar bikes along with wartime bikes. From post #1:

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I used to worry that the post war list could overgrow and shadow the wartime bikes, but you guys pointed out that the New World name was dropped at some point and the World became the model name. What year did the name change?

@rennfaron probably has a good feel for the availability of pre/post New Worlds.

The last year for the New World name was 1949. But the World continued to have the New World badge.

Why are there fewer post war New Worlds.
The prewar New Worlds were the common affordable mass-produced Schwinn lightweights other than Racers, the few Superiors and Paramount. Post war the New Worlds had sales competition with the new Continental, then with new models later rolling out like the Traveler, Varsity and short lived Superior to name a few.