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Are old schwinn bikes worth anything?

IHateMyJob2004

IHateMyJob2004

Lifer
My mom has one in her basement. No rust. Nees lcenaing I suppose. But it must have ben one of hte first bikes with gears. The gears are actuallly inside of hte rear hub assembly.

Do people buy these? I keep telling her to keep it. She wanrts to put it in the trash. Anyways, any idea what these are worth?

EDIT: I am almost positive it is a StingRay!
 
is it a stingray, lemon crate, apple crate?
if it is, the frame alone is worth $$$. I would try to restore it if I were you.
 
If it's a Phantom, one of the Krate Stingrays, those are worth a bit of money.......UNRESTORED by a non-professional. Most collectors don't want a poorly done non-professional restoration done to a collectable of any sort, bike, furniture, you name it. Leaving it in its original condition is vastly better than trying to restore it yourself which will probably give less-than-desired results in the end.

An internally geared hub, which Schwinn did not pioneer, is not the earliest geared bicycle, unfortunately. Externally geared bicycles were more commonplace than you realize in the '50's, as the derailleur system was in production long before then.

In 1896, E.H. Hodgkinson patents a 3-speed Gradient gear, a pre-cursor of the modern derailleur.

Also in 1896, William Reilly patents a two-speed hub gear. His later three-speed version was put into production by Sturmey Archer in 1902.

In 1910, The first, easy-to-use derailleur is invented by Paul de Vivie (Velocio) that shifted among four gears at the pedals.

There were LOTS of bicycle inventions during the late 1800's and early 1900's......so many in fact that at the turn of the century there were two buildings in Washington DC that held every patent in the U.S. One building held patents covering every type of product you can think of. The other building was reserved specifically for bicycle patents.

That Schwinn in your Mom's basement is probably just another "routine" example of the typical cantilevered frame Schwinn popularized in the late 1930's. But, get it looked at by a pro......he'll give you a much more honest and fair evaluation of the bike.
 
Like others have said, which Schwinn IS it?

I'm thinking if it has gears, it is NOT a Phantom.

Is it a mens frame or a womans frame?

The mens tend to pull down a good amount of $$, the womens don't.

I also doubt it's a 50's if it has gears. Look on the left rear drop-out (The flat area to either side of where the wheel goes into the frame) and you will find the serial number. Then do a google search for Schwinn serial numbers. There is a data base out there that can tell you what year it was made.

AND PICS dammit!

Does it look anything like this?

This is my Schwinn. It's a (Sorta) Black Phantom though the chain guard is not right (yet) and it should have a red front half. (I prefer all black myself) And the wheels are updated with MTB alloy wheels instead of the crappy old steel wheels they came with. It also has a Bendix 2 speed kick back hub. (The originals did NOT come with this option)


THIS is what a Black Phantom should look like.

Another note.
With some of the old bikes, the head badge alone can be worth up-wards of $50 alone!

And yet another note. People are paying good money just for PARTS off of the old Schwinn's. Bolts with the Schwinn "AS" on them for the springers $20-$25 The seat bolt clamps with the "S" bolt, same. The ones with a "AS" are even harder to find and worth more. I just scored a "AS" seat bolt yesterday! 🙂
 
Originally posted by: Hammerhead
is it a stingray, lemon crate, apple crate?
if it is, the frame alone is worth $$$. I would try to restore it if I were you.
Click to expand...

Wow, I remembvered the name when you mentioned it. StingRay! I am postive it is that model.

I'll be checking EBay later. What exactly is it worth in very good condition?
 
If it's a crate, I have seen the Apple Crates it good shape bring $7K on Ebay!
Does it have a small (16 inch) front wheel? Does it have a stick shifter on the top tube?

If so, DO NOT LET HER TOSS IT OUT!

It is worth BIG BIG bucks!!!!!!

Example

OH, and just so you know, they didn't make stingrays in the 50's 😉
 
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