Following up on what was described as an "antique Schwinn" with a picture of a copper-colored bike hanging upside down, I found the latest addition to the museum, a 1960 (built 1/15/60) Schwinn Continental.
This is what it looked like turned right side up. For a 50 year old bicycle, it's in great shape. The frame decals are all intact and the only damage seems to be a fine smattering of old scratches in the "Radiant Coppertone" paint, a fouled up rear wheel with loose spokes and a broken tab on the cable housing stop on the rear derailleur. The rear rim has been replaced with an aluminum rim, but I do not know if the rear derailleur (the one that needs to be replaced since the plastic housing for the cable is broken) is origninal. Everything else looks about as I would expect. It's interesting to see the Weinmann brakes and levers, instead of the typical "Schwinn Approved" badging. The decals on the downtube seem like a random collection of symbols, but maybe I'm missing something on that part. The front chainrings are 47 and 50 tooth rings with the Simplex derailleur activated by a lever that is mounted on the seat tube. I can't wait to put some miles on this bike as soon as I get the funky rear wheel problems worked out. For now, the shifter is rendered functional with the help of two cleverly placed zip ties, but ultimately I will need to replace the rear derailleur. For now, here are some pictures of some of the interesting details on this bike.
This is what it looked like turned right side up. For a 50 year old bicycle, it's in great shape. The frame decals are all intact and the only damage seems to be a fine smattering of old scratches in the "Radiant Coppertone" paint, a fouled up rear wheel with loose spokes and a broken tab on the cable housing stop on the rear derailleur. The rear rim has been replaced with an aluminum rim, but I do not know if the rear derailleur (the one that needs to be replaced since the plastic housing for the cable is broken) is origninal. Everything else looks about as I would expect. It's interesting to see the Weinmann brakes and levers, instead of the typical "Schwinn Approved" badging. The decals on the downtube seem like a random collection of symbols, but maybe I'm missing something on that part. The front chainrings are 47 and 50 tooth rings with the Simplex derailleur activated by a lever that is mounted on the seat tube. I can't wait to put some miles on this bike as soon as I get the funky rear wheel problems worked out. For now, the shifter is rendered functional with the help of two cleverly placed zip ties, but ultimately I will need to replace the rear derailleur. For now, here are some pictures of some of the interesting details on this bike.
This bike will make a nice mate, and contrast, to my 1973 Schwinn Continental that I picked up last year. The 1973 is noticeably heavier - more so than you would expect from the slightly larger frame - and has typcial 1970s gearing with dual stem shifters. The '73 Continental has nice flared, randonneur style drop bars. Here is the 1973 Continental:
