Lotus907efi

A couple weeks ago I found an abandoned Schwinn Sprint bike with absolutely trashed tires and bent wheels.
I think the former owner was just riding the bike around on totally flat tires forever and this ended up bending the wheels.
The blue paint looks really nice but I would NEVER ride this thing. It weighs almost forty pounds.
I still have my Schwinn Continental from the same time period and it too weighs a HUGE amount.
Did Schwinn build the frames of these bikes out of thick wall iron pipe?
When I was a kid I rode that Schwinn Continental all over because as a kid growing up clueless in the mid-west I didn't know there were much lighter bikes available.

Sitting abandoned outside local grocery store with shredded tires.

steelbikeguy

It is amazing that Schwinn was successfully selling bikes that were so heavy.
Was it just because parents didn't know or care?
Did anyone shop around at the Raleigh and Schwinn shops (here in the USA) and decide to get that Continental instead of the Raleigh Record?

I've only owned a Schwinn Le Tour, which was heavy for an imported bike, but light for a Schwinn of that price. It was a bike to keep at college, and leave my Raleigh Gran Sport safe at my folks place.

I'm guessing that Schwinn never had to replace a Continental frame under warranty... unless someone backed their F-250 truck over it.

Steve in Peoria

sd5782 

I think you should check your scale.

Polaris OBark

Some of those made in Chicago Schwinn bikes really did weigh 40 lbs. Our family had a few.

Since it is so flat there, it did not matter that much, and they were indestructible.

Then Trek came along and made light, responsive bikes, and in a few years Schwinn was history.

AdventureManCO 

Hold my beer.

mrv 

Super LeTour 12.2 weighed 12.2kg I’m not sure how much my version weighs, but not 40lbs.

Jeff Wills

Books have been written about the demise of Schwinn in the early ‘80’s, but… Trek was in position to take advantage of Schwinn’s missteps:
Schwinn was very heavily invested in the electroforged frame production, which made it very very difficult to make changes in frame design.
Schwinn bet heavily on lugged-frame road bikes (the Mississippi Schwinns) right when mountain bikes exploded on the scene.

In other words… the bicycle business changed incredibly rapidly in the ‘80’s. Schwinn wasn’t able to respond.

macstuff 

Considering that isn't an actual SCHWINN Sprint, it's not near as heavy as the original. Yours is an import that carries on the name. The original Schwinn Sprint has a bend to the seat tube the allows a shorter wheel base. Cool idea, heavy azz tubes. They are cool and unusual but Sprint-able they are not. The originals from 72- ish..? We're made with all the standard heavy equipment that eventually helped to seal Schwinn's fate.

Velo Mule

@Lotus907efi , thanks for posting a picture of the bike in question. Schwinn often built bikes on the heavy side because they had a Lifetime Guaranty. When they came up with that policy, people that spent their hard earned money on something, like a bike, wanted some assurance that their bike was going to last. It was especially good when parents were going to buy a bike for their son that had been known to break things. There was also the ability to hand bikes down to younger siblings. All of this, and Schwinn's dealer network worked to their advantage up until the bike boom.

The Schwinn momentum carried them through the bike boom but market forces cause them to change their product line and they started importing bikes and we saw the LeTour with a fully lugged frame. Schwinn continued to outsource bike manufacturing and then reshored to a manufacturing plant in Mississippi with a line of fully lugged frames.
@steelbikeguy I worked in a Schwinn dealership in the early '80's and tried to steer customers into Panasonics, Fuji's or if they really wanted a Schwinn, a LeTour. But sometimes a customer just wanted a Schwinn Continental. I know it is hard to believe, but it is true. Some of these were the easiest sales because the customer came in knowing what they wanted.

Lotus907efi, your bike is not an Electoforged frame like the Continental, it looks to be fully lugged. I cannot tell if it was manufactured in Taiwan or Mississippi. It should be substantially lighter than a Continental regardless of where it was manufactured. It does have some steel components, and it uses straight gauge tubing, probably 1020 steel in an effort to keep the price down at the expense of weight. I believe that you will find that this bike has a weight that is similar to lower end bikes of the time.

It looks to be in good condition aside from the Grab-On handlebar padding, the seat and the tires. Of course, we don't know how true the wheels are and if the cabling needs to be replaced.

If it is your size, you might try it and see if you like it. If not, pass it along. I had an experience where I picked up a Schwinn World made for Schwinn by Giant in Taiwan for a flip, after getting it all fixed up, I took it for a ride and was surprised at how nicely this bike rode with steel rims and inexpensive components. I had to let it go, but I did like it.

macstuff 

Any Sprint made in Mississippi? Early 80s continental?
Schwinn was done in 81, finished in 85. And by that time a shell making outdated American bikes and importing all else. "Better" bikes went south for a while but still not actually Schwinns. The last continental can be found in Schwinn catalogs in the early mid 70s. Unable to keep up by 79, they faded to a marketing name bought and sold many times by now.

jamesdak 

Finished by 81????

I had several 1987 Schwinn's that were easily the equal of the much praised European brands from then. Heck my Circuit still holds my PR for many of my local sprint segments and the Colnago's and De Rosa's, and Basso's I had then couldn't touch it for pure sprinting. Heck couldn't even generate the same speeds with the 87 Waterford Paramount I had that was several pounds lighter.




An 87 frame every bit worthy of the Campagnolo 11 speed upgrade

Serial #` for 1987

Also had two of the Asian Schwinn's, both fine rides. Even back then contract building for bike company's was happening all over so saying that are not real Schwinn's just seems silly to me since the mother company was still running the show.




Anyway, Schwinn deserves more respect than being stated above so I just had to chime in. Yeah, they made mistakes but they also made some wonderful bikes.

macstuff 

I'll correct myself about the Conti's. I zoned out on the 4th iterations. Still very heavy, and even less popular.
I stand by the rest.
I have owned and still own several Schwinn's, both actual and import. My 77' Chrome Super Le Tour is a fine bike. Still not an actual Schwinn.
I guess I'm a bit more jaded on this subject since I've seen and owned so many since my first bike was 59 speedster and 2nd a Racer and many since then. I've been too old for heavy bikes now for quite awhile so I just look and flip them now.(current project a 41 autocycle).
No reason to have fit though, just a bike.
The OPs bike is still a good ride, no foul, just not what the Sprint started out as and merely a name on a different companies bike.

SirMike1983 

They are all "Schwinns", though I agree it is worth differentiating between the imported Schwinns and the USA-made ones. The Chicago-built electro forge welded bikes are generally heavy, though are comfortable and durable riders. The last Chicago-built bikes I've seen were made in mid-1983. Schwinn contracted with Murray to continue producing welded bikes in Tennessee after that. The Murray-made Schwinns are also on the heavy side. The electro forge welding process was revolutionary when it appeared in the early 1940s. It was certainly old technology though by the 1970s. People today tend to best remember that later period from the '70s-80s when the electo forge welded construction was considered inferior. I have several electro forged Schwinns in my collection and they're all great riders. I find that if they fit well, the weight isn't a big deal.

pwert

Mine is 24 1/2" and weighs 32#. I bought it to use as a trainer because I like to stretch out and when I'm through I don't have to lock it up.

repechage

Just do the Penske Racing solution to excess mass as they did with the TransAm Camaros, have it acid etched to reduce mass.
on the Camaro they saved 250 lbs.

the Varsity level sprint was a curious marketing play to align a lower tier model with the Paramount Sprint of the time, it was not a lightweight either, the bottom bracket was all fillet brazed.

repechage

1976, the Paramounts a year earlier for the Schwinn sponsored clubs, I raced against them in 1975.

ThermionicScott 

They shopped on price, as parents always do.

SurferRosa

Here's a letter on the subject from the 1973 Bicycling! magazine SpeedofLite recently shared.



It's unfair, I tell ya!

Rick_D

Am more familiar with their offerings of the very early '70s, when the US was having our "ten-speed craze" and a Schwinn Continental was the entry-level option at under a hundred bucks. They were tanks but nevertheless lighter than other recreational bikes of the time, so probably seemed like race cars to kids who had only experienced their tenth birthday bike. Definitely two-wheel trucks by even '80s standards but a nice gateway to fast and efficient bicycling. And who doesn't treasure stem shifting?

Like nostalgia for a '70s muscle car, I could not imagine revisiting any of that mess in 2023.

Have fun with it!

ETA here's a motherlode of Continental history.
https://bikehistory.org/bikes/contin...pand_article=1

First year they provide weight for is 1973 @ 37-38 pounds, depending on frame size. Not fat, just big-boned. MSRP crosses the hundred-buck line in 1971.

repechage

Schwinn’s were not that cheap in price.
They Did have the rep for durability.
for price, they went to Sears or one of the auto tire or parts stores that sold bikes way back.

steelbikeguy

well, my parents shopped by price, which is why I was riding a bike from Sears.
It was heavy too....

Maybe people equated heft with quality, like with cars?
My dad had a 1972(?) Oldsmobile Delta 88 with a 455 cubic inch V8. It must have weighed about 6000 pounds (just a wild guess). Quality!

Steve in Peoria
(when was the last time I was in a Sears store??)

Velo Mule

Wow, @SurferRosa , I'm impressed.

repechage

the Westcoast had higher pricing always due to freight cost. at one time, “higher west of the Mississippi”.
was an 8-10% up charge.

georges1

Those are pretty nice bikes, but to be honest Schwinn's demise started in the late 80's but there were some nice and rare paramounts using the rare 753 tubing which were of higher quality than the ones using columbus sl tubing. The high end Schwinn used Columbus Tenax, Matrix and SL. Probably Asian were made with Tange which weren't bad still people prefered a US Made Trek using 531C, 753 or True Temper RC Pro tubing or even a Cannondale or Specialized Allez withTange tubing. All depends what Schwinn calls a lightweight. In the late 90's early 00's Schwinn made some Paramounts using the 853 tubing. At the time being before I bought my two Trek MTBs , I have read about the Schwinn Moab but I didn't purchase for several reasons. When I spend hard earned especially with an American Brand, it is for having it built in the US. Nowadays Schwinn's range seems pretty entrey level mid range. They used to be a glorious bike brand back then but not anymore.

RCMoeur 

Disclosure: I did my first century on a used electroforged Schwinn Varsity that was way too big for me. But it was the bike I had and could afford at that time, and once you got it moving, it stayed moving in fine Newtonian fashion. I rear-ended a city bus with it once at speed - I was afraid I had damaged the bus.

I still have a Chicago-forged frame on my Chrome Cruiser - it's not my choice for crits or time trials, but it's great for the store or neighborhood.

"I want a bicycle so durable that archaeologists thousands of years from now will examine it as one of the few surviving vestiges of our culture."