Schwinn tandem

[expjawa]

Someone in the local bike club that I'm in just gave me an old Schwinn tandem bike. They're moving to NC and don't want to take it with them. I just dragged it home a half hour ago, so I don't have any pictures yet. At first, I thought it would a Twinn or Deluxe Twinn, but he described as being from the '50s and having drums brakes. So,then I was thinking it might be a Town & Country. Well, it isn't that either. I'm not sure what model or year it is.

Here's what I can say off hand. The serial number is under the rear bottom bracket - X0003. The bike has a double men's frame, not step-through on either end. It has drop bars, 3-speed derailleur gearing, 26 x 1-3/8 tires (Schwinn-issued ones). It has 3-piece cottered cranks with "AS & CO" script as the spokes on the main sprocket. It has an older-style round head badge that says "AS" in the center, "Schwinn" around the top, and "Tandem" around the bottom. The intermediate chain and sprockets are on the left side. It has mount tabs for left and right chain guards, but the guards themselves are missing. The stem (SR) and front handle bars (Modolo) appear to have been replaced, as have the pedals (MKS), saddles (Brooks), stem-shifter (Shimano), brake levers (Shimano), probably the derailleur (a Shimano Tourney), and the bar tape looks recent. The frame is either fillet-brazed or EF welded, there are no lugs. The fork is tubular, with round section tubing, and is lugged. The bike itself is a very dark green color with faded double piping (might have been cream or gold in color) along all of the primary frame tubes. There are Schwinn-script decals on the front top tube and rear down tube (not the keel tube). The striping, cranks, & sprocket are like what's shown here: http://waterfordbikes.com/SchwinnCat/fl ... 39_09.html, although the fork is more like the #4339 fork, shown several pages later.

Any thoughts? The serial is particularly interesting, since I couldn't find anything like it in the records, and of course due to its low number. I'll try to get pictures tomorrow in the daylight. Did Swchinn make a Tandem Superior? That seems like the mostly likely thing at the moment...

 

[B607]

That doesn't sound like any Schwinn tandem I've ever seen. Can't wait for the pic. Maybe a Paramount tandem? :shock: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Gary

 

[expjawa]

My first thought was that it might be a Paramount tandem. But it does not have a lugged frame. The frame detailing and remaining OEM components are most similar to a pre-war Superior, that was why I thought that. Unless the Paramount tandem was fillet-brazed rather than lugged, but I wouldn't think so. The fork does seem to be a Paramount style rather than a Superior. The other possibility is that at the time, on the high end bikes like the Paramount, Superior & New World, Schwinn took special orders (ie, build me a Superior tandem with a Paramount fork!)...

 

[Meeba]

Good score on the tandem. yes it is an early schwinn. my friend actually has one. i need to contact him to find out if he knows what model it is

 

[expjawa]

OK, here are the pictures.

That's about half of them. There are more here: http://s19.photobucket.com/albums/b198/ ... nn/tandem/

I've found that the Paramount tandems were indeed fillet-brazed, only the single Paramounts were lugged. So it could be that, but if so, someone replaced the 27" wheels with 26" S6 wheels. And the crankset appears to be for a Superior, not a Paramount, unless the options changed over the years. It does have foward facing dropouts, so it is probably around a '44 or '45, I would guess. But the serial number seems more inline with around a '38, although, I guess with the Paramount/Superior lines, that might not be as sure of an indicator as it would be for the main lineup. All told, the thing is maybe 45-50 pounds, not 80 like a Town & country would be. It is lighter than my Classic Deluxe 7, so it is definately from the higher-end line with a chromoly frame.

 

[Meeba]

Not the one I was thinking of. the one I was thinking of was a 50's model and that one was a town and country.

I will ask him again, this time with pics and see what he says

 

[scrumblero]

All told, the thing is maybe 45-50 pounds

if its 45 pounds with S-6's , it must be a paramount, my racer weighs almost that and our tango is 75+ with 7X's on it... :roll:

 

[expjawa]

Well, after some fairly extensive searching, I've come to the conclusion in all likelihood, it is a Paramount. There are some inconsistancies, but if it is something else, then it's a model that wasn't publizied. Nearest I can figure on the year is possibly '44 or '45, but it could well be prewar, I don't know for sure. The only thing I have been able to establish is that there seems to be nothing else quite like it out there on the web. I've seen pictures of similar frames, but none that are the same. My best bet, I think, will be to contact Waterford Cycles and see if they have any insight to it. I just haven't got to it yet...

 

[B607]

There's something funny looking about the chain and chainring. It looks thick like a skip tooth but it's a 1/2" pitch. Or am I seeing things? Gary

 

[expjawa]

There's something funny looking about the chain and chainring. It looks thick like a skip tooth but it's a 1/2" pitch. Or am I seeing things? Gary

No, that's one of the things that helped me narrow it down. That chainring, with 3-piece cottered cranks and 1/2" chain pitch, is typical of the early Paramount touring models and the Superior. Those bikes never had skip-tooth cranks. I think the chainring spokes are thicker since they relatively spindley, but the actual teeth are of a normal thickness.