Need help identifying this bike
09-30-21, 04:50 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
Need help identifying this bike
BACKSTORY: I picked this bike up locally this week. It was a frankenbike with non original parts and a phony Schwinn Paramount head badge. But the frame is super interesting and I'd like your expertise in identifying it! Here are some brief details followed by photos:
- British threading BB
- 26.4 seatpost
- appear to be remnants of reynolds sticker (can't confirm if original)
- tange TF fork dropouts
- previous owner appears to be religious and put various decals around the bike (just so you are not confused by photos)
Remnants of a reynolds sticker on bottom of seat tube
- British threading BB
- 26.4 seatpost
- appear to be remnants of reynolds sticker (can't confirm if original)
- tange TF fork dropouts
- previous owner appears to be religious and put various decals around the bike (just so you are not confused by photos)
Remnants of a reynolds sticker on bottom of seat tube
09-30-21, 08:56 PM
#2
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Any ideas?
Does anybody have a guess as to what make this is? Id really appreciate any insights 
09-30-21, 11:50 PM
#5
Junior Member
Thread Starter
What about the lugs?
Thanks guys. Can we at least get a positive ID on the lugs? Here are my thoughts...the Tange dropouts and British threading make me think Japanese make, but the reynolds sticker, lugs and overall style are throwing me off. Plus there are no braze ons, so early/mid 70s. Lots of questions and no clear answers! But a fun riddle to solve, I hope
10-01-21, 01:48 AM
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10-01-21, 04:18 AM
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Well, I find this frame a bit confusing.
Aside from the wraparound stays and the missing cable guides on the top tube, I'd say this was a Schwinn Voyageur 11.8 (or Voyageur SP) from the early 80s. And judging by the serial number, this one was manufactured by Bridgestone.
The head lugs are consistent with Voyageur 11.8's, Voyageur SP and Super Le Tour 12.2 models (the 12.2 had a different fork crown than the other two).
That style of down tube triangular pips (one near the top and one near the bottom of the down tube) is also consistent with the models above, as is the tubing sticker, the rear dropouts and the fork crown (not sure about the Tange TF tips) on the 11.8/SPs.
The main thing that puzzles me is the stay cap treatment. I have never seen any of the models I mentioned above with wraparound stays like that. I can't think of any Schwinn models, in general, that had wraparound stays during this period (late 70s/early 80s). Later in the 80s Panasonic made frames did have them.
Head lugs:
Fork crown:
Dropouts:
Pips:
The remnant of a tubing decal isn't a Reynolds one but one that Schwinn used ("Double butted '4130' Chrome - Moly Top & Bottom Tubes"):
Aside from the wraparound stays and the missing cable guides on the top tube, I'd say this was a Schwinn Voyageur 11.8 (or Voyageur SP) from the early 80s. And judging by the serial number, this one was manufactured by Bridgestone.
The head lugs are consistent with Voyageur 11.8's, Voyageur SP and Super Le Tour 12.2 models (the 12.2 had a different fork crown than the other two).
That style of down tube triangular pips (one near the top and one near the bottom of the down tube) is also consistent with the models above, as is the tubing sticker, the rear dropouts and the fork crown (not sure about the Tange TF tips) on the 11.8/SPs.
The main thing that puzzles me is the stay cap treatment. I have never seen any of the models I mentioned above with wraparound stays like that. I can't think of any Schwinn models, in general, that had wraparound stays during this period (late 70s/early 80s). Later in the 80s Panasonic made frames did have them.
Head lugs:
Fork crown:
Dropouts:
Pips:
The remnant of a tubing decal isn't a Reynolds one but one that Schwinn used ("Double butted '4130' Chrome - Moly Top & Bottom Tubes"):
10-01-21, 08:34 AM
#9
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Brilliant!
Thank you so much, this matches the Schwinn Voyager exceedingly well! The wrap around stays are still a mystery though...
10-01-21, 04:42 PM
#10
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Update
I put my serial in the schwinn bicycle database and it said the bike is from 1959. Anybody here find that credible?
10-02-21, 08:59 AM
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The serial number format is consistent with Bridgestone of Japan, a known Schwinn contractor. If so, it indicates October 1979, which is late enough in the calendar year that it would typically be a 1980 model. As previously noted, with the exception of the stay caps, it is largely representative of Japanese built Schwinn models of the early 1980s.
10-02-21, 12:32 PM
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Does the style of the serial number conclusively say it was built for Schwinn or just that it appears to built by Bridgestone?
could it be an Araya, SR, Sekine or other higher end end Japanese frameset?
could it be an Araya, SR, Sekine or other higher end end Japanese frameset?
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“One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"
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