2011 SCHWINN KRATES????

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Rat Rod

Rat Rod

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Okay...I was over at my LBS today and they are a Schwinn dealer. I'm friends with the owner and he showed me something kind of cool.

He said that his Schwinn rep called him the other day and said that they were offering some limited edition 2011 Krates to their dealers. He said that he was able to buy an Orange Krate, 2 Lemon Peelers, and a Grey Ghost. He said that they were all numbered and they made 222 of each model. They cost the dealer $399 each and apparently they were not easy to get. All of the ones that he had were still in the box and he had sold two of them the first day that he got them. Dealers with a certain rating were offered these bikes so not all dealers had access to them.

Here's all that I could get picture-wise. He said that he thought that they had glitter seats and sissy bars with the shocks.

I suspect some of these may make their way to Ebay soon. :mrgreen:

IMG_0980.jpg


IMG_0979.jpg
 
What is the retail? I wonder why Scwhinn bothers with such limited numbers? Maybe to look like they care about the dealers.
 
That's a good question. I don't know enough about the world of bike dealerships to know how these things work.

I do know that my friend said that dealers were fighting over them so everybody obviously knows that they can sell them for more.

The only thing I'd be worried about is them flooding the market with these next year for half the price like they did with their Phantoms back in the 90s.

Maybe it's just an incentive for dealers to sell at a certain level so that they get perks like this.
 
Rat Rod said:
The only thing I'd be worried about is them flooding the market with these next year for half the price like they did with their Phantoms back in the 90s.
Click to expand...

OR selling some cheapie BFK at Wallworld next Thanksgiving.
 
I could just barely see the top tube through the box and the orange color almost looked fluorescent.

I have a feeling these were probably made from the BFK base.

He may put one together to have sitting out at the Vintage BMX show that he hosting in October.
 
Pricey! :shock: I'm gonna see the prices when they become "old" and try to pick one up :wink:
 
my lbs had mentioned that orange krates, lemon peelers and grey ghosts were going to be available again, but i didnt think his info was right ... last time they were trying to rid theirselves of the 5 speed grey ghosts i was getting them at $220 a pop in the box ... wish i would have gotten more of them at that price :shock:
 
Murray-Eliminator said:
There was one on eBay for sale. they look like a mix of the 2005 Krates, & the BFK bikes, with Alloy Wheels. not worth the $$ IMO..


2012krate.jpg
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if that is it count me out :lol:
 
Yeah...I'm not so sure that Dorel is going to even produce the same quality as Pacific did...which isn't saying much. :lol:
 
My LBS has them. He called me over tocheck out the first ones he got. He bought 1 of each of the 4 colors.

They're building 900 of them, 225 in each color, and they're numbered "123 of 225" on the frame.

Some items on them are real cool. The colors are great. The weld quality on the frame is lousy by American standards, and frankly doesn't even look as good as the BFK bikes. But the components are better. The seats look good. The bars look good, the other chrome is better than the 2007 BFK's.

The ones I saw had weird raised white letters on the tires, like they'd been done by hand and not well. I have no idea what's up with that.

The front wheel is weird. It says Superior on the tire. No drum brake of course. It's a 16x1.75, not an S-7, but looks correct like a Krate tire. Much better than the whatever-brand used on the BFK.

Hopefully this link will work for you to see at least a taste of the two he brought to our Bike Fest:

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These bikes aren't cheap, retail I was told $429. I love them at $250... at that price I have to think twice and pass.

But they're numbered classics and may never be issued again... it was a huge surprise to me that Pacific Schwinn even went ahead with these. The limited numbers should attract buyers, I think.

--Rob
 
If people are willing to pay $300 plus shipping for a BFK on Ebay right now...they shouldn't have trouble selling these.
 
Rat Rod said:
I could just barely see the top tube through the box and the orange color almost looked fluorescent.

I have a feeling these were probably made from the BFK base.

He may put one together to have sitting out at the Vintage BMX show that he hosting in October.
Click to expand...

As for the colors, the Lemon Peeler seemed right on. I haven't seen the Ghost yet.

The Orange Krate is supposed to be Sunset Orange like the 73 Krate and the 73-74 Fastbacks. It does look nearly fluorescent.

The frame is not the same as the BFK though it may share some components. The rear fender bridge on the BFK is made sort of like a 5-speed Krate but not like anything Schwinn built in America. The bridge piece on these is close to correct for a Stingray coaster frame.

The BFK's had a welded on painted seat clamp. These have chrome. The hardware is metric and cheap looking. The fenders have screws sticking out of stays instead of old style rivets. (I have one of the last sets of repop fenders that Pete sold at Hyper-Formance, and they're riveted but I think he did the rivets himself.)

The rear reflector is really cool and old style. It's embossed with the (S)tingray logo on the back of it, a real 3" Gulco style reflector. BFK's had a square thing hanging off the sissy.

Chainguards look ok, chrome is not mirror finish like older stuff but very nice. (Surprised to see that these are being made and Hyper-Formance can't seem to get any sheet metal.)

The seats are a weird shape. They are not done on vintage tooling. They look much better than the awful flat BFK seat, but these also lack a Stingray tag and extend very far to the rear. Just a little odd. They've chosen to do the seat stripe like a '68 pattern, so it's color-on-white-vinyl. I don't know yet what the Ghost seat will look like. I assume white stripe on black but we will see.

They did a great job for a new China-bike with some details like the crank, the coaster Mag sprocket, the kickstand, and the pedals look a lot like mid 70's style. They had to add a front reflector and it's kind of interesting. Handlebars don't seem to have quite the right curves but they're close. Grips inexplicably have the very old style large teardrop and big 50's script Schwinn logo.

I like that the company is supporting the hobby with products like this. I'm a little disappointed that they're sort of cheap knockoff versions, but if I had the extra money they'd be in my collection. I'd call them a tribute to the original, not an exact copy.

--Rob
 
If you look at that shot of the Orange Krate box above you will see that it is number 222/222.

I pointed that out to my friend and he said he didn't even notice that. I said it looks like that was the last one made. He said that he had sold that one already for just about what he paid for it and if he would have known that it was the last one made he wouldn't have let it go.

DOH!
 

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