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-   -   1968 Schwinn Super Sport (https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=1194834)

Michael Angelo 02-28-20 02:08 PM

1968 Schwinn Super Sport
 
Got this from a friend of mine for free. Looks new. A bit of wax and it shines like a new penny. Looks to be all original, even has the Schwinn Sprint Toe Staps.


http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/...psl0ayc58r.jpg

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/...psz95pgx4o.jpg


​​​​​​http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/...pscevrzqdy.jpg

wrk101 02-28-20 02:15 PM

To the right person, given the pristine condition, you might get $300 for that bike. Sounds like way high for an old Super Sport, but again, it takes the right buyer. Would I pay that much? No.


To someone just looking for a bike to ride, half that amount or even less. IMHO, the old Chicago Schwinns get interesting at Super Sport and higher. Fillet brazed, cromoly frame, Brooks saddle, alloy rims. Buyer will need to be interested in nostalgia. I'd consider one at a lower price, and do a resto-mod: three piece crank, lighter and better wheels, more alloy bits, etc. But I would not resto-mod this one. Its in too nice of condition.

I sold an early 1970s Sports Tourer (one step up, but it was a big step) in very similar condition. Did pretty well. The early Superiors and Sports Tourers are nice bikes.


Theres a Sports Tourer on ebay right now with an asking price of $25,000! Now that is ambitious!

Wildwood 02-28-20 02:19 PM

Another time capsule.
Cherry. (how dated is that expression?)

A great bike for Florida riding.

I had a SS for a while. I think mine was early 70's. Lime green with shorty fenders.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...181975cef0.jpg
Excuse mismatched front wheel. Flat on original wheel was reason for swap, prior to picture. Not the best bike for climbs or big hills, but great cruiser.

bikemike73 02-28-20 02:23 PM

WOW !!!

That's some friend !!!!!

I would be taking him/her out to dinner !!!!!!!!

Great bike in Excellent condition.

Unbelievable score !!!!!!!!!

Very smooth ride.

Congrats !!!

TenGrainBread 02-28-20 03:04 PM

That old Schwinn paint really cleans up good.

aenciso 02-28-20 03:55 PM

That color is amazing in the sun. Take your buddy out to dinner as a thank you.

Kdogbikes 02-28-20 03:58 PM

Nice lookin super sport! Looks great with your patio and green lawn.( alotta grey here in northeast Ohio at the moment).

Velo Mule 02-28-20 05:01 PM

Michael Angelo, that Super Sport is a beauty. You did a great job of getting the shine on it. Your friend did a great job of keeping in good shape all these years. I think some of the appeal of these Chicago Schwinn's are the flamboyant or candy paint jobs. Although, the straight paint like Wildwood's bike are really nice too. Considering their paint set up, spinning discs and electrostatic attraction, they got great results. These Chicago Schwinn's are also damn hard to remove the original paint too.

The chrome is nice when it is all shiny. I had been looking for a Super Sport or Sport Tourer within my budget, but I could only get a Continental within the budget.

Don't change a thing. Ride and enjoy. You are going to get older people commenting about it. Sure they will compare it to their old Varsities or Continental. Don't get upset, they are getting nostalgic and your bike brings back those memories. We, at Bike Forum, all know that the Super Sport was way above these bikes.

It is one of the best pictures of, what I believe is Campus Green, I have seen on the internet. I am considering repainting my Continental Campus Green, but we'll see. Your bike helps tilt the meter in that direction.

3speedslow 02-28-20 05:07 PM

It’s all about the bottle cage.

wrk101 02-28-20 05:36 PM

Just realized you weren't asking about value. Outstanding condition for sure!

The Golden Boy 02-28-20 09:24 PM

I enjoy Super Sports. The whole "fillet brazed" thing is cool, the fact they were done in the Paramount "Cage" is cool. I think it's also cool that they're so easily dismissed as no different than Continentals or Varsities. I've kind of thought of getting one- but again, for me, I'd want something a bit more "modernized" than that.

Wasn't that Schwinn green the same as the same green used on the 68 GTOs? Our neighbors had a 68 GTO and I sort of remember it being that color... and, of course, the starbursts...

schwinnderella 02-28-20 09:50 PM


Originally Posted by Wildwood (Post 21346890)
Another time capsule.
Cherry. (how dated is that expression?)

A great bike for Florida riding.

I had a SS for a while. I think mine was early 70's. Lime green with shorty fenders.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...181975cef0.jpg
Excuse mismatched front wheel. Flat on original wheel was reason for swap, prior to picture. Not the best bike for climbs or big hills, but great cruiser.

I like the Super Sports I think Schwinn called this color opaque green.

dddd 02-28-20 09:59 PM

If this bike fits, I would definitely want to get some miles in on it before making any changes, since these bikes are darn-near perfect as-is.

Even for sporting club rides, dare I say maybe even a training ride, it will make a good rider with a freewheel size suited to the terrain.

I went to the trouble of finding 1/2" clipless pedals and making a 13-26t six-speed freewheel work with the original French-made derailers, but I kept the rest of the bike near stock, including the original kickstand. OK, I did also swap the bars/stem/seat/post and remove the protector discs (they were surprisingly heavy), but the bike's stock configuration (wheels, shifters, cranks, etc.) and especially the 73x73-degree frame geometry (vs. 70-degrees for a Continental) imo makes for a viable road bike even today!

Mine's definitely not in as nice condition paint-wise, but this color is very good at making the blems invisible from just a few feet away. I found mine on Craigslist and was happy to drive an hour just to check it out (and paid close to the asking price since the original rims turned out to be in top shape).

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4778da2454.jpg

John E 02-28-20 10:23 PM


Originally Posted by dddd (Post 21347392)
If this bike fits, I would definitely want to get some miles in on it before making any changes, since these bikes are darn-near perfect as-is.

Even for sporting club rides, dare I say maybe even a training ride, it will make a good rider with a freewheel size suited to the terrain.

I went to the trouble of finding 1/2" clipless pedals and making a 13-26t six-speed freewheel work with the original French-made derailers, but I kept the rest of the bike near stock, including the original kickstand. OK, I did also swap the bars/stem/seat/post and remove the protector discs (they were surprisingly heavy), but the bike's stock configuration (wheels, shifters, cranks, etc.) and especially the 73x73-degree frame geometry (vs. 70-degrees for a Continental) imo makes for a viable road bike even today!

Mine's definitely not in as nice condition paint-wise, but this color is very good at making the blems invisible from just a few feet away. I found mine on Craigslist and was happy to drive an hour just to check it out (and paid close to the asking price since the original rims turned out to be in top shape).

It is pretty easy to punch out the reflectors and retrofit the 1/2" OEM pedals with toe clips -- been there, done that with the Varsity I briefly owned. The one change I would make is to replace the Twin Stick stem shifters with barcons, but that's just me. I like the 6-speed idea a lot, but I had to grind down the stop to increase the right Twin Stik lever's travel and cable wrap to make it work, even for a 5-speed with a SunTour VGT-Luxe on my wife's bike.

dddd 02-29-20 12:04 AM

The OP's bike from 1968 has a Huret derailer hanger on the forged dropout. And the year 1968 might also be the first year out for the Twin-Stick levers.

So I would emphasize making friends with this style of levers. They feature offset (towards the front) pivots, giving added knee clearance while retaining the fine-shifting longer levers.

I didn't know that a Suntour rear derailer would need the Twin-Stick's full cable pull to go across a five speed freewheel. Though with my Allvit and standard-spaced six-speed freewheel I do use up the full amount of lever travel (even with the cable tensioned pretty snug). Never a problem though, I've ridden thousands of miles without needing any cable re-adjustment, and I actually like that the lever hits a hard stop as I am shifting onto the largest cog.

The later-model Supersports (from at least 1971 on) would come with a longer-cage Allvit rear derailer to clear a very big (32 or 34t) freewheel. These also unfortunately featured a different style of claw hanger which positioned the derailer body almost rearward of vertical. Shifting on smaller freewheels improves a lot with a switch to the short-cage style claw (or complete derailer), and I'm remembering now that I put a short-cage Allvit on my 1971 model for the better shifting it offered with my smaller 26t freewheel.


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