bigwoo

Well, it is strange to me anyways....
As always, I set out on my once-per-week Fri run in the hope of finding a bike with the following 3 words: "Schwinn, Chicago, Paramount" and of course as always, I didn't see a bike like that

I'm pretty happy though! I found a nice lugged metallic blue (winter mint?) Traveler which, as far as I can tell was riden less than a handful of times.... looks like somebody cast it aside almost immediately....why would a person do that to such a nice bike??

For some reason, I just cannot remember a 1985 lugged Traveler with a decal stating: "CRO MOLY 4130 Double Butted Main Tubes Frame Built in America"...... the "...Frame Built in America" part is what I dont remember seeing in the mid 80's.....

Schwinn Chicago Serial # 1505
It has Suntour shifters on the stem
Schwinn Approved hubs, Made in France
Dia-Compe sidepull brakes
SR LAPRADE seatpost
Suntour AR derailleurs
Sakae Custom Road Champion bars
A very nice Sugino 52 crankset

I also dont remember seeing rims stamped "Weinmann 16x630- 27 x 1 1/4 Made in Belgium"
(I think none of my other Schwinns have the "16x630..." I'll go down to the basement to have a look)

I guess my memory is getting fuzzier

silversmith

Bigwoo,

From my 87 (or is it 86? Too many bikes) Traveler

They're Mississippi Schwinns, I believe.

bigwoo

Thanks SS.... that's another thing that is strange to me. It doesn't say "True Temper" anywhere.....
Something about this bike is strange to me and I should maybe try to post some pics....

Scooper

Is this it?

Photo and specs are from the 1985 catalog. The timing is right for it to have been built in Greenville, MS. The color is "Bright Blue"...

bigwoo

Thanks Scooper, that is the exact same bike... decals and all. The only difference is the hubs not being stamped Maillard...(I thought most of my other "Schwinn Approved- Made in France" hubs were made by Normandy..??) I guess I'm just a little bit to used to pre '77 Schwinns and not familiar enough w/ their work from the 80's......
other than my Super le Tour, this is the only other 80's Schwinn for me.....
I originally thought "Great!, at this price I'll pull some fenders off the shelf and just use it as my backup bad weather day bike" but, it almost seems too nice for that.....

FYI, this bike is in nearly as nice of shape as the bike in the catalog photo

Scooper

I've no idea what you paid for it, but these are very nice bikes. If yours is in the shape you say, you've got a real gem.

bigwoo

Well, the sweet Latino lady who marks the bikes at one of my favorite stops almost always goes $7.99-14.99 however, she obviously also saw the beauty in this bike and pulled a rare change-up on me..... I paid the astronomically high sum of $23......

I'll post some pics when my girlfriend gets back from the mountains w/ the camera next week

bigwoo

I'm also going to post some pics and ask the best of the best to help me out.....
I recently purchased the greatest find of my life (not on the cheap either)

I just picked up the most breathtaking 1972 Gitane (or so I thought) I've ever seen from a priest at our local church, it is all original except for the seat (a newer Brooks) however, I have no idea what this bike is.....the man who willed it to the church passed away several years ago.
I just took it for a first ride and am blown away! No matter how fast I went, it wanted to go faster....

Campy N. Record derailleurs
Campy headset
Campy Superleggeri pedals
Campy shift levers on the downtube at the "pentagon" braze-on
Normandy hubs
"72" stamped on the riders' R side of the seatlug and "72" stamped on the riders' L side of the head tube Stronglight 93 crankset
3TTT RECORD mm. 105 stem
Head tube is stamped "BCM" (which I believe is now Ducatti)
and here's the 2 part mystery... rear dropouts are simplex but front dropouts are Huret
but more importantly... the bike is all chrome and Reynolds 531!


The only thing I feel confident about is that this bike was handmade in 1972 and everything about this bike screams French (to me anyways)

Scooper

You stole it.

Scooper

A chrome 531 Gitane! Hooah!

..or, not a Gitane. It sounds great. If you find out what it is, let us know.

Take some pictures. The lugs may tell a story.

Walter

1972 is possible to be sure but numbers stamped into lugs usually indicate angle degrees.

What's the stamp on the NR rear der.? That's a date code and, if it was OEM should tell us when the bike was assembled at least.

BCM = Bocama (sp?) lugs. Very nice.

Full chrome and 531? Very nice indeed.

I'm envious and resentful, never find anything here.

Need pictures.

bigwoo

I promise I will post pics this coming week...
The R derailleur is stamped "Patent 72"
Also, the L rear dropout is stamped "40 C? 42"

I believe you are correct about the 72 stamps being the geometry.....
I have decided that whoever nails the bikes' identity will be recieving a free old bike... nothing too special but, my way of saying thanks!
more to come......

jordanb

It was not made in Chicago.

It could have been made in Greenville but my bets are on it being made by Giant. (Bike manufacturers had a habit of doing final assembly in the US and then printing "made in USA" on them.)

Schwinn contracted with Weinman quite a bit. I've seen several Schwinn Approved Weinman bearings. I don't think I've seen a Schwinn approved Weinman rim before thoough.

Schwinn also used tons and tons of french hubs.

OrangeOkie

Sounds like she may have picked it up at the "Midnight Bicycle Shop"

bigwoo

No, no... nothing like that. She's a very sweet old lady and the thrift store is staffed entirely by and for the purpose of employing physically/mentally challenged.....

I think they are also smart enough to have a guy who checks for clear serial #'s. That gentleman really knows his stuff about the serial #'s of every make since the 1940's....

SecondSkin

I passed on one exactly like this today -- it was the scartlet color, except it had a bolt-on rear hub and was labelled "built in Taiwan" for Schwinn. Nice bike, but they wanted $40...a bit too much for me, but I'm sure someone will flip it on CL for $100.

crazyb

[QUOTE=jordanb]It was not made in Chicago.

It could have been made in Greenville but my bets are on it being made by Giant. (Bike manufacturers had a habit of doing final assembly in the US and then printing "made in USA" on them.)


I really doubt that is the case. I have two Travelers, four Le Tours, a World Tourist, several World sports, a Sprint, all from from 1979-89, and all are prominently marked as to country of origin, be it United States, Taiwan, Japan, or China. If the bike says made in America, it more than likely would have come out of Greenville.

well biked

[QUOTE=crazybI really doubt that is the case. I have two Travelers, four Le Tours, a World Tourist, several World sports, a Sprint, all from from 1979-89, and all are prominently marked as to country of origin, be it United States, Taiwan, Japan, or China. If the bike says made in America, it more than likely would have come out of Greenville.[/QUOTE]

I agree. I've heard people say Schwinn tried to mislead when it came to the origin of their bikes. I don't see how putting a large decal at the top of the seat tube stating that a bike is "made in Japan/Taiwan/China for Schwinn Bicycles, etc." is misleading..........and that goes back into the '70's with the le tours, Travelers, Voyageurs that were made in Japan and all through the '80's with various models that weren't U.S. built. With that in mind, I think it's safe to say a Schwinn with an original "made in America" decal has a frame that was built in the U.S.-