... a 1973 Schwinn Speedster.
Lately, the list of Craig has been luring me into the land of vintage Schwinn bicycles. I have been on the lookout for a non-Krate, five speed Stingray for a while. I stumbled upon this little gem last night. It's not exactly what I was looking for, but it was cheap, close and remarkably original.
I decided that I needed a bike with wheels smaller than 26 inches to chase my five year old around the driveway with. Today, I ventured deep into the hood to pick up this 1973 Schwinn Speedster. It's in surprisingly good condition and still wears it's original paint, decals, seat and tires, which have "Schwinn Stingray Fastback Speedster" molded into the sidewalls. They're dry, but they still hold air.
Original MSRP: $76.95. It's only depreciated by $1.95 in 40 years. That's a solid value.
I had way more than $75 worth of fun with this thing today.
Nice! I've always loved those old schwinns.
Fine steel wool will clean up those rims. Schwinn's are cool.
With that seat and those bars you should be able to wheelie that thing for hours. 
Datsun310Guy wrote:
Fine steel wool will clean up those rims. Schwinn's are cool.
I gave the bars and fenders a quick once-over with 000 steel wool. The rims are going to come off to get cleaned up and trued. Actually, everything is coming off.
In my bike mechanic years (and there were many) I worked for a while for the family who owned the Schwinn shops, back when they were fully corporate-branded one line shops.
The old Chicago Schwinns (With their "Electro-forged" frames) weighed a ton, but they'll be the last bikes left after the zombie apocalypse.
Can't wait to see the finished product. Sweet Schwinn!
If I knew how to subscribe to a thread; I would subscribe to this thread.
I used to buy $5 Schwinn Varsity's and Collegiate's at garage sales and clean them up. I begged somebody to buy them when the Trek popularity was high. I still have a coffee can full of brake and shifter parts.
Now that rules. Nice score!!!
I love that lots of things back then were inspired by the age of muscle cars. My snowblower, for instance, has a big T-handle shifter on it. So does your bike. 
My Taiwanese built '87 Sprint and I are absurdly jealous.
LSx swap starts when?
Cool bike, very nice to be able to go slow on two wheels, in style
You got a crazy good deal on that!
No way anything created in the 70's could ever be considered "vintage." Grats on your "Almost new" bike. 
poopshovel wrote:
No way anything created in the 70's could ever be considered "vintage." Grats on your "Almost new" bike.
Weren't you created in the 70's?
