SkunkWerX

I know this will catch Squid's eye.

I found this old rusty 1950s Schwinn on CL. *IF* i could get it for pennies.....
is it even worth fooling with?
1950s rusty Schwinn and JC Higgins Bicycle Yard ARt

Let's say I look at it and measure, and the frame is straight? Is it viable candidate..as a frame only?

Or a money pit?

We are talking aluminum wheels...new headset...crank guts....maybe a Kickback 2 speed hub...... the works.

What is the consensus out there?

Titanphoenix

https://i64.tinypic.com/zuld9y.jpg
https://i66.tinypic.com/2evets9.jpg

Philphine

the only thing I'd be worried about is if the rust weakened it structurally. beyond that, if you can get it at a price you want to pay and can see the bike you want in it, take your chance.

SquidPuppet

It might be the photo, but the Schwinn looks like a Junior model. As far a rust, I'd have to see it in person to determine if it's just surface rust or terminal cancer. If you go look at it, check to see if the seat post and/or stem are stuck.

SkunkWerX

Yes, i would check all the "deal breakers" and even doing so, you always run the risk of finding something after-the-fact.

As far as Junior model, i guess I would only know in person. maybe flat tires are making it look shorter?
If it were an old Bantam, I think we would see that right off. i am thinking it looks like 26" wheels?
I like the low rider look anyway....seat posts and bars can be raised as is appropriate.
I'm 5' 9", so "average" and "medium" usually work for me.

I was even thinking of taking the JC Higgins, if it were tossed in free, and doing a cut/torch/slash & burn job on it (I can weld). Turn it into a top tube low stretch cruiser bike....but maybe I need the Alt. guys to weigh in on that sort of thing.
I think I could do a Ratrod bike with it, maybe a 3 speed IHG with suicide shifter

SquidPuppet

For whatever reason, maybe the lens on the camera, I get a 24 inch vibe. Partially because of the non swept back bars. Maybe call the seller and have him measure a wheel? Unless they are close by?

Rollfast

There is a guy on The CABE who sells a fiberglass add-on topbar from his website that makes a ladies bike into a really neat men's bike, sort of like a Spaceliner...I need to look it up, AHA!


TRM Convertible Tanks, on Facebook or email spacelinertank@gmail.com


This is his, he just finished it.

KOTA

I did this one a few years back. It sat behind a neighbors shed for over a decade....I say go for it!

SkunkWerX

RollFast, very cool, thx for that.

Kota, nice stretch conversion!

Rollfast

That's no conversion, that's the way it came from Chicago. You've got a Popsicle Illusion going on

Rollfast

To explain, not all cantilever frames are the same.


Schwinn's classic old frame design is noticeably larger than others.


This Schwinn frame style is no longer made, a new version was introduced a few years ago and is shared with Huffy (as in 'Cranbrook' and others) and the cantilever is smaller and completely different. Some companies only used ONE cantilever in the center.


Of the many brands that had a bike like this, the main manufacturers seemed to be Snyder (Rollfast, Hawthorne, Hiawatha etc), Murray Ohio Manufacturing (some Western Flyers I believe, some Elgin/J.C.Higgins--Sears) and AMF (from the old Cleveland Welding Company or CWC, which also made a Roadmaster-Rollfast, OEM Open Road and probably Western Flyers as well). Stores sourced their brand name bikes for several companies, leading to about a jillion combinations.


And Columbia too, let's not forget them at all.

Murray had some later cantilievered frames that were closer to Schwinn's size but Murray died before Schwinn's original independent run ended and they make mainly lawnmowers now.

Rollfast

It's not a 'money pit' unless you have a pit to throw money in on purpose. It's just a Schwinn. Expect to replace some bearings along the way and other normal things.


If you are going to use this as a daily driver, get alloy wheels. And the ones it came with aren't happy being thrashed, especially if you are a big boy like me. It's a sorta smallish frame for tall people and heavy ones but the joints and frame design make them very strong. Diamond frames, other brands with different welding techniques used, not as much. I had to get some serious welding done on Tempest to keep the bottom brack together, it's crossbraced and that saved it for me.

SkunkWerX

This is a factory stock frame? It came like this from Chicago?
I thought he showing me a before and after picture?

KOTA

SkunkWerX, just showing what could be done with a rusted piece of crap....The frame is completely stock, just bead blasted and repainted. I made the forks from a 27" road bike. The same thing can be done with the bike you posted.

SkunkWerX

Cool, thanks Kota!

Squid.....Got a reply, both are 26'ers!

Rollfast

The rust bucket referred to in my reply, not KOTA's and that is factory. KOTA's has a single cantilever.


Single cantilever is more like later Murrays or some Columbias?

SkunkWerX

Understood now. Thanks everyone. Now it's "gut check" time as to whether I do another rusty build up.

Rollfast

Looks mostly like that shade of red or whatever that fades over time is the real oxidation, needs a wash and some waxing.

Rollfast

I'll add to the list the Raleigh I saw today and it's possible the same as the current Huffys and Schwinns

SquidPuppet

Well, did you get them?