top506

Pastorbob and I have been conspiring for years to get his '65 SS from back of beyond New Hampshire where he lives to back of beyond Maine, where I live. This spring a happy confluence of events involving a Schwinn High Sierra, a Memorial Day trip to Cape Cod, a father's Day weekend roadtrip, Rootboy, and nameless freinds of the good Pastor made it happen. While I've swapped out the cables and brake pads (saving the originals) the bike is pretty much box stock:





Chrome on the fork is a little cloudy, but it'll polish up.



The dreaded Avleit, bolted to a forged Huret dropout complete with tabbed washer.

The front brake was the standard Weinmann 999:




...but the rear has the caliper bolts mounting directly into threaded holes in the brake bridge:



No rando bars, but this nicely sleeved bar is mounted in a cool lugged stem:



Downtube shifter braze ons. I had forgotten that the Huret shift cables use a different end than Campy/standard, but a little Dremel work fixed that.



Interesting thing:in 1965 Schwinn was already using caged bearings in the headset and BB. Each cage is stamped with a Schwinn logo and part #:



The B-15 still has many miles left on it:



I had the white hoods and tape laying around, but Pastor Bob has some Radiant Coppertone tape for me.
One more thing: no welded-on kickstand. the bike has a proper chain stay bridge.

Top

dddd

Nice specimen, thanks for sharing!

Curiously the Varsity got an aluminum Sprint stem back then, while the SS got the steel Titan stem!

What country produced that Titan stem?

I like the Sprint version of the Huret chainring/spider and shifters, which were original to my 1964 Varsity.

Must have been a transition year for the brake calipers, interesting about the lack of a kickstand.

It suddenly occurs to me that Schwinn perhaps NEVER used any plastic derailers on ANY models over the years.

Bianchigirll 

Great looking Schwinn. Where was this in the pecking order?

You know Maine and New Hampshire do share a common border for a few hundred miles so it isn't like New Hampshire is that far away.

Darth Lefty 

Nice bike! All the ones I ever see around here are the 1970's model with the stamped dropouts and painted fork. They must have cranked out a zillion of them at the start of the bike boom, before the shipload of Le Tours arrived.

dddd

Super Sport was one step from the Continental, or more specifically one step up from the Super Continental or Sierra as it was later named, (these were triple-equipped Continentals).

The Super Sport had fully 3-degree steeper frame angles, making it truly super-sporting compared to the layed-back electroforged models below it.

The 1963 Continental looked like this one, the frame of which was made in August 1962 (chronograph atop stem and axle wingnuts are period optional equipment, hoods and pedals are modern upgrades--).

The Golden Boy 

Hey Top, Thanks for buying that, every once in a while I stumble across Pastor Bob's page and I can't not drool over that bike.

Such a fantastic bike, such a cool color and coming from a great guy like Pastor Bob... Win.

Metacortex

That's a very nice Super Sport! Coppertone is one of Schwinn's best colors.

Very interesting. The older Schwinn dealer parts catalogs seem to indicate brakes with the threaded bridge were used up until 1966. Perhaps this bike was built during the transition?

Schwinn didn't use rando bars on any bikes until '71. More specifically the Super Sport used Randonneur style bars from '71 through '74.

The Super Sport first got the brazed on kickstand in '67. That same year introduced the Twin-Stik stem shifters and a chainguard on the Sprint chainrings.

You can see the dealer spec. page here (click to the next page after this one for part numbers): Schwinn catalogs, 1961 - 1970 (371 of 765)

...and the consumer catalog page here: Schwinn catalogs, 1961 - 1970 (269 of 765)

It is interesting that '64 was the first year Schwinn used matching color handlebar tape on the SS (and most other 10-speed bikes). Previously they used white.

thinktubes 

Gosh, that's a swell looking bike!

top506

That may be true, but like the man said, "you can't get there from here." Bob is almost due WSW of me but the road networks tend to run North/South between US RT 2 and MA RT 2. It's a three-four hour drive.

Top

pastorbobnlnh 

BG, "far" is relative, and here in Northern New England, we find ourselves challenged by mountains, vast forests, and lousy east west roads. Top's home in Maine is about 4+ hours northeast from mine in "Cowhampshire." Only about 30-40 minutes is via interstate The rest is two lane roads through small towns and wilderness. Basically a full day of travel.
@top506, glad to see the '65 SS in a great new home. It's a beauty, but was always too small, even after my significant weight loss.

Steve Whitlatch 

That is a really cool looking bike.

top506

I'd like to order from that catalog! A set of toe clips and that water bottle cage for sure!
There was a stripe decal running the length of the top tube, evidence of which still exists. Can anyone provide a detailed picture of what it looked like?

Top

John E

The beginning of the end.

Because it facilitated gear customization, I am partial to the standard 3-to-6-bolt European chainring mounting used on the early 1960s Schwinns.

dddd

At least the post-3-bolt cranksets had usefully-geared rings, 50-39 and later, 52-39, but weren't they still using a 5-bolt big ring attached to a fixed, 39t ring/spider (driver) ring in 1964?
That's what is on my '64 Varsity, anyway, it's 50-39t and the big ring attaches to the fixed "Sprint" small ring with 5 bolts.

Darth Lefty 

Oh, go on. All three features are convenient and work great. :-D

John E

I think your 1964 was the first year of the proprietary 5-bolt Schwinn Sprint chainset, with the spider integral with the outer ring.

With the earlier system, one was indeed stuck with a 45T minimum with the common Simplex 3-piece 3-to-6-bolt adapter, but there were also numerous 50-36 and similar options in which the outer ring mounted to the 3-bolt spider and the inner ring was bolted or riveted to the outer ring. I liked it because one could swap internationally standard components, including the option of aluminum chainrings from Simplex.

dddd

I was just looking at an old Durax cottered three-arm crank, with a riveted (but removeable via the three bolts) 36-52t chainset.

This was on a 1961 UO8 Trophee De France model, which later featured independent 36-52t chainrings before finally going to 40-52t iir.

The "three-arm" spider on my 1962 Continental is labeled Huret. The spider is the 47t small chainring, with the big ring bolted to that, so no lower gearing is possible, and there are no three bolts to go with the three arms, just the six bolts that attach the big ring.

I'll have to look at my mid-60's Sierra, the three-ring (15-speed) model that replaced the Super Continental in name.
I forget how that particular one-piece crankset's chainrings are configured, but recall that the smallest "granny" ring is only a 36t.

Metacortex

The 15-speed Schwinn bikes from '62-'64 came with Huret cranksets having 40-47-52T chainrings.

Here you can see the 47-50T Huret crankset as used on the '60-'63 Varsity/Continental: https://flic.kr/p/j7aBB7

Here you can see the 40-47-52T Huret crankset as used on the '62 Super Continental, '63-'64 Sierra and '62-'63 Superior: https://flic.kr/p/iZKpVN

As you can see the 40T ring on the triple attached to the inner 3 bolt holes, which were not used on the double plateau (10-speed) version.

From '64 through *'67* the Schwinn 10-speeds used the 39-50T "Sprint" crankset, which I always thought was made for Schwinn by Nervar.

dddd

I naturally would have assumed those later Ashtabula Sprint rings were produced by Huret, like the earlier ones, but it only says Made in France with no name other than Sprint.

I see the triples are like you said, with the 3-bolt attach for the 40t smallest ring.

Did Schwinn perhaps eventually produce the Mag-wheel-style chainrings themselves during the 70's? They did cease to have any Made in France stampings at some point by the late 60's iir.
Oh, and are those your Schwinns? Very, very fine examples!

Metacortex

Actually I'm unsure (they could be either Huret or Nervar) but the Sprint chainrings and guard looks like other 5-bolt Nervar cranksets and nothing like Huret ever produced. In addition Schwinn did later use Nervar alloy cranksets on '71-'75 Sports Tourers (along with TA) and '76-'78 Superiors. If anybody has any more specific information as to who made them I'd be interested to hear!

Schwinn did indeed produce those, and I must correct my previous post. The Schwinn (made in Chicago) "mag" style double-plateau chainrings replaced the Sprint (made in France) in '68 and not '69 as I indicated earlier. You can see the patent on them here, filed in Nov. '67: Patent US3477303 - Double plateau sprocket assembly - Google Patents

They are indeed *very* fine examples, but unfortunately they are not mine. They belong to a friend who is also bikeforums member schwinn499.

dddd

That is an impressive design and patent. No wonder these chainsets shift so well and are so sturdy, if not quite as "light" as the patent alludes to...

Sierra

Here is about the best photo that I could find, though it only shows the front section. The two lines ran a good ways back along the top tube.

I don't think these were decals. I think they were hand painted, probably by the pin striper(Joe Brilando?), or perhaps they were screened.

1964Supersport

Thanks for sharing all the great information and pictures ! I really enjoyed seeing another old Supersport.

The Golden Boy 

Yours is quite special as well!!!


I always think of this bike- Back when Bob had it for sale on his site- I'd sit there and ogle it, trying to think of a way to make it happen... but I'm glad Top got it.

Vintage Schwinn

I don't know this ebayer, I am not this ebay seller, & I have never dealt with this ebayer.
I am saying I just saw this on ebay. It appears to be a KOOL LEMON circa early seventies SUPER SPORT in what appears to be 22 inch frame.
There is no wheelset shown there. It currently has zero bids with a starting bid of nine dollars ninety-nine cents, shipping cost seems reasonable.
Bidding ends early on Thurs Nov 3rd.
Might be a reasonable frame as a starting project. Decals aren't too good.
Just a heads up in case anybody is seeking a YELLOW 22 inch...... I HAVE NOT SEEN IT IN PERSON! I've only seen the ebay listing a few minutes ago.
I don't know anything about it & I do not know the seller, and I have never dealt with this ebay seller. His/her's EBAY % rating does appear good.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/255797075420

Just a bit of information: SINCE THAT Super Sport IS MISSING THE WHEELS, should anyone go for that otherwise complete 22 inch Yellow frame, my suggestion would be to then just obtain the MODEL J (shimano built) freewheel from the 1970 - 1977 COLLEGIATE & 1970 - 1976 SUBURBAN five speed (***NOT the 10 speed!!!!!***)
Why? Because the gear cogs on that freewheel is the same as what the SUPER SPORT had in 1971. **32----26----21----17----14
I think that you will find that the SUPER SPORT featured that throughout the bike boom era and remainder of the seventies as long as it had the one piece 52/39 ashtabula crank of the Varsity.
You also want to get rid of the POS Huret rear derailleur. The shimano built Rear derailleurs from the 1970 - 1976 Suburban FIVE speed & 1970 -1977 COLLEGIATES are ten times better than that Huret rear derailleur. If not Shimano, then you'd definitely want to use a Maeda SUNTOUR rear derailleur that handles the 32teeth LOW GEAR cog. Huret is the best overall of the Europeans but it is still a far distant, second rate rear derailleur when compared to any rear derailleur from Shimano or SunTour.
So given that the oem wheelset appears gone, just scrounge up a quality aluminum used wheelset or a new aluminum wheelset, and then utilize the MODEL J freewheel from the Seventies era COLLEGIATES & FIVE SPEED SUBURBANS. **32----26----21----17----14.
Now, certainly you DON'T have to retain the original TEN SPEED configuration with the narrow axle spacing with an old timey freewheel with 5 cogs.
Having said that, remember that Maeda SUN TOUR also produced some very fine freewheels during the seventies with 5 cogs with a large 34teeth LOW GEAR COG.
For example, the MAEDA SUNTOUR PRO-COMPE 34 - 14 Freewheel might offer certain advantages if perhaps you are older than 40 years old and/or if you typically ride in an area with steep hills. Here is a random USED example of a Maeda Suntour Pro-Compe 34 - 14 freewheel that is currently on the bay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/334481483851

Anyway, whats not to like about a KOOL LEMON colored complete 22" circa 1972 super sport frame that assuming that just a sole bidder grabs it for the 9.99 bid, could have it show up at your doorstep for not much total cash outlay. It would make a neat winter project, if you don't already have an aversion to Chicago Schwinns. You cannot beat the one piece crank, and yet its geometry is different (angles are NOT as slack as Varsity/Continental/Suburban/Collegiates, etc), and it is NOT an electroforged frame, though it retains the great ole one piece crank hanger set, and it has the great Twin Stik (s) (s) stem shifters. Having that Twin Stik (s) (s) would allow you to make an upright Tourist rider if you wanted to. (BE FOREWARNED THOUGH THAT THE Varsities/Suburbans/Continentals/Collegiates etc RIDE BETTER IN UPRIGHT TOURIST FORM THAN THE SUPER SPORT DOES).