soonerbills

Another forum has a raging battle on whether non high end Schwinn road bikes are becoming the new hot collectible bike... here is the link...

https://www.schwinnbike.com/usa/eng/f...ad.php?t=78244

I really want to believe that the Schwinn's I have accumulated are becoming more valuable but I know that at least here in Oklahoma they are for the most part inexpensive though they are becoming somewhat less plentiful.

cudak888 

The Schwinn forum is 1/10th smarts, 9/10th bull. The posting was started by one of eBay's finest jerks in the flipping department (search BF for "Bicycleheaven"), and with exception to Eric and a few others, the rest of the posts are about as insightful as a bunch of Craigslisters with $500 Free Spirits.

Hell, I can't read half of the posts there for the bad English. When the effort required is more then the content is worth, I give up.

-Kurt

P.S.: Most of those guys seem to think a stock Varsity has acceptable braking. Would you rely on someone like this to throw reliable figures of value around?

wrk101

Schwinn Road Bikes Are.... selling for significantly more than comparable bikes from that era.


Next big thing to collect? No..

Are they something buyers will pay a premium for? YES, definitely. They enjoy a nice "EF" premium.

I have seen buyers prefer an early 1970s Varsity over a mid 1980s, mid grade, Japanese road bike. I've got to admit the old EF Schwinns have a certain style to them. But as something to ride, a 40 pound Varsity with steel wheels, versus a nice 25 pound Fuji? W*T*F? I definitely don't understand it.

If anything, considering the millions of them made during the bike boom, you would think they would not have a premium at all.

I even had a Craigs List bidding war on the last Varsity I sold, and I had thought I priced it at the higher end to begin with.

I am not interested in accumulation, I would prefer to move them on to a new home. If I was going to keep a vintage Schwinn, I would move up the food chain a bit, and into the 1980s. Something like a Schwinn Circuit would be pretty nice (I have had a Tempo and a Prelude).

Otis

....of no interest to me. Well, a pre-war Paramount would be a keeper though.

cb400bill

Schwinn road bikes a are... somewhat indestructible.

soonerbills

I have a Varsity that is a upgrade project..another that is a resto project. A World Sport that is a regular rider and a couple of LeTours that are in the undecided section...
that's about it besides a couple of 80's parts bikes
Like I said..I have no dreams that they will ever be really valuable but I know better...and I like them. The EF Varsity has always amazed me...It is such a unique thing...obviously cheap but strangely beautiful

EjustE

I got an '87 Super Sport and will get a right priced (read: less than top of the line Italian bikes of the same era) pre-Waterford Paramount in a heart beat, but that's about it as far as Schwinn keepers go for me. Not that there are not some other great Schwinn bikes out there that are desirable (like the 70s fillet-brazed frames and everything with Columbus steel; but they are redundant to my bikes at this point). I think pretty much everything else is nostalgia-driven as far as Schwinn prices go...

ilikebikes

Schwinn road bikes a are...Bad ass! I have a Schwinn SuperSport, SportTourer,LeTour III, and a Series 5 Paramount, I'm a bike collector, I collect bikes that I like/want, not bikes that everyone else likes/wants, you guys can figure out what type of collectors you are.

KonAaron Snake 

On the Schwinn forum...

I have a Schwinn triplet tandem I was asking about and was given information that was outright wrong. One member tried to convince me it was worthless (but he'd take it off my hands). I found the folks on that site to be totally worthless.

Anyway....after telling me that he had bought a Schwinn triplet for $250 (and was trying to buy mine for $200) I naturally offered him $800 for his...a large profit margin if he paid $250 for it. Oddly enough, he never answered back.

divineAndbright

... arent common in Canada (or at least my neck of the woods).. ive seen 2 so far.
Gotta say I like most paramounts ive seen photos of, the superior appears amazing and the volare is nice too. Some of the late 80s jobs seem to be great used bang for your used buck deals like the tempos and what have you, not bad to look at either.

TejanoTrackie 

I think the appeal of the older Schwinns is that they were made in the USA, and not that they were anything special in terms of design or sophistication. The oldest bike in my stable is a 1975 Schwinn Speedster, which I bought new for $110. That would be equivalent to $442 today for a 46 pound bicycle with 3 speeds, one piece cranks and a welded mild steel frame. I could probably find something similar at WMart for under $100. IMO the only Schwinns worth collecting are the USA made Paramounts.

Ivandarken

I have never been interested in Shwyns, Schuwinns, Shawinns, or however you like to mis-spell them on Craigslist. They just don't have that magic... unless you are talking about a super high end Paramount or a super old high end bike.

I'm ready to be convinced there is something to them... but ya gotta have something really good to say about them.

cudak888 

Oh, and to answer the original question:

Crap, with a few exceptions. The Paramount and both generations of Superiors.

With all due respect, I still think that the fillet brazed Super Sports and Sports Tourers (along with the Sports Limited) remain in the "uncertain" category for their built-in kickstands. That said, I can't get myself to accept the Super Sport's Ashtabula BB shell as acceptable - adapter or not.

Mind you, I'm not excluding the LeTours, Voyageurs, or other nice lugged machines - but they were made for Schwinn by Japanese firms who knew what they were doing. Can you call them "Schwinns?" In name only.

-Kurt

funrover 

I really like all of my Schwinns. Do I believe they are the next collectible.. Nope. I ride them because I enjoy. If they get to the point where I can not afford to enjoy I will most likely move on.

Bikedued

I have an 85 SS that enters well into acceptable for me. Columbus Tenax, curled seat stay caps, lugged rear brake bridge, dual bottle cage mounts, etc.. (No kickstand!)The forks even
have drilled stiffeners on the inner legs. That translates into "not crap" to me. The EF frames? Ehhh... They sell okay, but the amount of work to make one look acceptable
is by all means, unacceptable.,,,,BD

jan nikolajsen 

I didn't grow up in America (but live here now), so to me there's no nostalgia associated with the name Schwinn. With the emotional aspect removed they all seem pretty average in appeal, and certainly in quality. I don't need any.

auchencrow

I've passed up a couple of Super Sports lately, that I could have had for a song. I really hadn't considered that they could be appreciating so much - especially given that the supply of other (reasonably priced) high quality US-made bikes from that era is drying up.

cudak888 

I'll say one thing though - Super Sports (and the other fillet models) in Opaque Blue have a sort of visual magic to them which you will not find on an Opaque Blue Paramount. There's something about the look of Opaque Blue and the fillet frames which the lugged machine cannot match.

-Kurt

RobbieTunes

simply puzzling.
The kid I was detested them, because only kids with money had them, and you had to buy parts from a Schwinn dealer. The class envy explanation.
The adult I became couldn't find one, as Trek took over the LBS, and I wasn't bothered at all by that. The apathy explanation.
The Tange aficianado in me appreciates many of them that others don't. The Paramount PDG explanation.
The 60's in me appreciates the chrome Paramounts. The chrome is cool explanation.
The financially bedraggled married dad in me detests them, because a Waterford Paramount would be better than Tiger Woods' cell listings. The class envy explanation.

I really haven't changed since I was 10, I guess.

Are they the next trend in C&V collecting? I doubt it, because to be a hot trend, they have to be better than what's out there, and they are not.

Then again, give $10 to a crack head and tell him you want a Schwinn, you can generally get one.

EjustE

I think that the Paramounts of most eras and the Columbus Tenax bikes of the 80s were much more than average in quality. A late 80s Schwinn, be it a Peloton or a Circuit or a Supersport or a Tempo built with Columbus steel would surpass the performance of an equivalent Trek or Raleigh with full Reynolds 531 and undersell them for more than 10% at the day (and much more now). By then the French were out of the picture and the Japanese were lagging (mainly because the yen was high by then.) Italians were still hanging around (at twice the price, mind you, based mostly on mythology) and once those later Campy bits were proven inferior to Shimano (as far as index shifting went) steadily disappeared or shifted their focus on offering just framesets.

Schwinn gets a bum rap because they use to make a huge range of bikes, from entry crap to competition bikes. The fact is that a lot of the entry crap was sold as is still around now. That should not take away from the quality of their higher end stuff, which in the late 80s was way up there as a value proposition and today these bikes are some of the best bargains in the market

roccobike

I've seen a few Varsity's sell for ridiculous prices and an occaisional pristine Schwinn LeTour sell for more than it should, but not enough to say they're commanding big dollars for any Schwinn. If they did, I would sell my very nice 84 Traveler in a minute.

rumrunn6

'70s era Varsity ... 'nuff said

vincev

Hey Kurt,i know what you mean about the other forum.I go there and see you there on occasion.I put my opinion about that thread and the Varsity/Continental collectors probably didnt like my opinion that certain models will never be collectable and Paramounts,Superiors,etc .are collectable now.

noglider 

I grew up in NYC, which is part of the USA, of course, but Schwinns were not that common there when I grew up. So, like Jan, I don't have the nostalgia over them. Actually, I do, but not as much as the rest of you. I didn't aspire to own a Paramount. They're top notch, but no better than a lesser-known brand such as the McLean I have.

The EF bikes are low quality when judged by the ride but high quality when judged by the durability. That's what's unusual about them. They're crap to ride but if they're not abused, a mechanic will prefer them heavily over a department store bike. Schwinn used some high quality components. The threads were precisely made, the spokes were often double butted, the races were hard and precise, etc.

ilikebikes

If I go by what you guys are saying I would have to beleive my Japanese made series 5 Paramount is a piece of ****!?