Another Classic Schwinn Shows Up

 The Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective has a few missions, but the original idea for this collective focused on one thing. That was keeping bicycles out of the landfill. 

To that end the non-profit Collective has gathered donations of bicycles from the community since 2014. There have been thousands of old bicycles kept out of the local landfill because of the efforts by the Collective. The mission has expanded since those early days and now we do advocacy, education, events, and we facilitate putting people in need on bicycles for their transportation needs. 

As I've said here before, it is very rewarding work. But sometimes a bit of the old cycling nerd gets brought out when an old, unusual bicycle gets donated to the Collective.  This happened this past week. We received two old cruiser bikes, and one of them had a couple of features I had not seen before. 

It is a green Schwinn American cruiser style bicycle which would have been a youth model in the Schwinn range at the time. Schwinn called it a "middle-weight" range bike. If we are describing the bike by weight, I would hate to have to heft a Schwinn "heavy-weight" bike in a stand because this bike probably weighs about 40- 50lbs. 

From doing some online research, I found that Schwinn named the model "American" because every part of the bike was American made. Wow! Imagine that today. Every part from the USA? Tires, tubes, chain....everything? I cannot imagine it. But there you go. At one time it wasn't unusual. 

 The next thing I learned was that this bike came with a two-speed lever action shifter and hub. The Bendix lever was in low gear, as you see it here. By pulling in the lever you shifted to a high gear. Flicking the lever back out gave you the low gear again. Note the original Schwinn logo grip. 

The cable operates a typical clevis/shift rod arrangement similar to a Sturmey-Archer 3 speed hub. The hub works and the gears can be selected but it needs a good cleaning, lube, and possibly a little adjustment to the cable. 

The Schwinn American came into Schwinn's range in 1955. It ran for three years and then was dropped until 1962, according to a page I found on the internet about Schwinn Americans. When the American model returned it had a kick-back style, color-banded rear hub, and not the lever action shifter. This version of the American was in the range until the late 1960;s. Near as I can tell this is a 1957 model which was donated to the Collective. The American was offered in four colors in the 50's: Opal Green, Blue, or Red. and a Black enamel. Along with the lever action two-speed Bendix drive train, the checkerboard seat tube decal was also only found on these 1950's Americans. 

 While most folks think of the two-speed kick-back hubs, which had ridges in the hub shell and colored bands, this Bendix two speed hub is rather plain and unadorned. I read on another site that this hub is finicky as far as cable adjustment goes. Perhaps this was one of the drivers for Schwinn to ask for a kick-back style 2 speed hub which would not rely on cable actuated shifting. It may also have been done as a cost-saving measure, but I am only speculating here.

The cantilever front brakes are clamped around the classic Schwinn flat, forged steel fork legs. The cantilevers pivot on a plate which is part of the clamp. The cable is most unusual as it resembles the type of split cable you might find on a 20" trick bike with a detangler set up. Interestingly there is no exposed cable in this design. The brake works effortlessly, by the way. 

Does this reflector have "BIKE" spelled out or am I seeing things which are not there?

The images show the bike as it was when it came into the door. I did inflate the tires and so far, they hold air. I am pretty certain this bike is 100% original, and for a boys bike from 69 years ago, that's pretty outstanding. I thought it was unusual and perhaps some of you might find this bicycle interesting. It certainly is a fine example of a Schwinn from the company's heyday. 

I'll probably get it all cleaned up and rideable this Winter and yes - it is for sale, along with our other two Schwinn cruisers, a 1963 Schwinn Typhoon with a two speed kick-back hub and a 1959 Jaguar three speed.  Call the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective on Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:00pm to 6:00pm or on Saturdays from 8:00am - Noon.