Ultimate Bike Thread....

[herr_oberst]

Merckx and his version of FFS (Famous Featherweight Sprockets)

[Scott Watkins]

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by Scott Watkins

My little slice of Heaven! Thanks

[porsche930dude]

No names on the frame I can see they sanded it down and spray painted it black.

[David]

^ It looks like a Schwinn Varsity. They had a front freewheel so you could shift gears while moving without pedaling. I think a Schwinn Continental had the same set up. The Continental was a little higher end, maybe aluminum rims and more chrome but that doesn't look like a Continental.

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by David

^ It looks like a Schwinn Varsity. They had a front freewheel so you could shift gears while moving without pedaling. I think a Schwinn Continental had the same set up. The Continental was a little higher end, maybe aluminum rims and more chrome but that doesn't look like a Continental.

Definitely Not a Schwinn.

[fanaudical]

Might be a Schwinn, but I don't think I've ever seen a Varsity with a sloping top tube. Are there indications of two rivet holes in the head tube where the Schwinn nameplate would have been installed?

[look 171]

How did you guy determine that gray bike is a Schwinn based on the pic? That's likely to be a 24" wheel bike for kids from that photo

[CurtEgerer]

[CurtEgerer]

Originally Posted by porsche930dude

No names on the frame I can see they sanded it down and spray painted it black.

I think that's an early 80s 24" Schwinn Caliente. That drive system was pretty much a 'solution searching for a problem'. It didn't last long. The only advantage it had was allowing gear changes while coasting.

[porsche930dude]

Originally Posted by CurtEgerer

I think that's an early 80s 24" Schwinn Caliente. That drive system was pretty much a 'solution searching for a problem'. It didn't last long. The only advantage it had was allowing gear changes while coasting.

Thats a good possibility. My mom rode a 24" caliente for like 30 years and it is similar. I didnt check the wheel and tire size it didnt even dawn on me. But it is a very low bike

[herr_oberst]

The way the seatstays attach to the seat tube is very schwinn-esque. The tell tale for me would be the very schwinn-ey kickstand boss welded onto the chainstays by the bottom bracket shell. Other companies did that sometimes, but schwinn was adamant about having a 3 pound kickstand on even the smallest child's bike for some reason.

[CurtEgerer]

Drillium brifters. I'd like a set of these for my '99 Bianchi!

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Folks, what you want here is a closeup of the headtube joints.
The schwinns FF of that era were fillet brazed.
(EDIT- googling Schwinn varsity deluxe front freewheel system)- I also see some schwinns with lugged headtube, but they also have a brazed (round) rear brake boss, not stamped steel. The varsity deluxe is a nicer frame.

Other brands, such as Raleigh, etc had lugs. Ross (I think) had lugs, Huffy, and I think Sears and even JC Penny Montgomery Ward. had FF designs, which would be more likely to have cheap welds. The other frame clue is the rear brake mount. It's a flat chunk of pressed steel.
That might be a clue. All of those brands had the pressed rear dropouts on the lower end frames (I think).
Finally, the stem, and even the reflectors are a clue. Some of those brands had some pretty different shaped/colored reflectors

Good luck! I have no idea what it is

[David]

Originally Posted by Racerbvd

Definitely Not a Schwinn.

EDIT: Disregard this: I must respectfully disagree with you. I worked at a Schwinn shop in the early 80's and sold them. It was the Deluxe Varsity and Continental that had the front freewheel.

The Schwinn did have the front freewheel like that pic but a closer look, the quality is not Schwinn so not a Schwinn

From Google:
The Schwinn Varsity equipped with a front freewheel was specifically known as the Schwinn Deluxe Varsity, which featured Shimano's Front Freewheel System (FFS). This unique setup reversed the mechanics of a traditional bicycle drivetrain by moving the freewheeling ratcheting mechanism from the rear wheel hub to the front crankset bottom bracket

[LEAKYSEALS951]

I'm going with ROSS!!!!! (Budget model) A Ross 'compact'

https://backroom.hardsdisk.net/compact.html

Granted - this is not the exact frame... but.... Here are the similarities:
Stem, front fork crown, rear stamped brake mount. shape of rear stamPed dropouts, tops of the seat stay shape (rounded like a schwinn), seat/ and seat mount (mounted forward), Crankset, slotted dork disk (some are round holed) , crap headset welds- not lugged like nicer ross.

edit- another clue (this is like playing "where's waldo")- The cable stops on the frame. On the top tube and downtube. Weird- I would figure that level frame would just have the cable housing run the whole way and use cheap clamps to hold it to the frame. Not here, not only that, they appear to be the same design, even though pics aren't really high res.

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by David

EDIT: Disregard this: I must respectfully disagree with you. I worked at a Schwinn shop in the early 80's and sold them. It was the Deluxe Varsity and Continental that had the front freewheel.

The Schwinn did have the front freewheel like that pic but a closer look, the quality is not Schwinn so not a Schwinn

From Google:
The Schwinn Varsity equipped with a front freewheel was specifically known as the Schwinn Deluxe Varsity, which featured Shimano's Front Freewheel System (FFS). This unique setup reversed the mechanics of a traditional bicycle drivetrain by moving the freewheeling ratcheting mechanism ffrom the rear wheel hub to the front crankset bottom bracket

.
I also worked in a Schwinn shop in the 80s, both Repairing and Selling and those are NOT Schwinn forks, nothing looks the quality of Schwinn Approvedthe Front Freewheel was around in the 70s, as my Ross Apollo has that. Those rear drop out reak of chain market store. I’m only looking at it on my phone, so maybe I’m missing something.