I have a bunch of older Collegiates and I can tell you they used it on all of them, at least up to '71. I have an '80 that doesn't have it.
I have a '64 Racer, a 65 Collegiate, a 67 Collegiate, and right now a 69 ladies Collegiate that's apart in the back of my car, and they all have the setup you're describing. I had 3 other '69 Collegiates, a 71 Continental, a '72 Varsity, and a number of 72-73 Breezes, that all had it. I have a 75 or so Breeze and I believe it has the standard headset (same cups top and bottom).
It's a bit weird, I don't see what advantage it provided for anything, except maybe to keep water out. The bottom bearing does carry just about all the load.
The good thing is that bottom bearing is the same as the top and bottom bearing in all those other bikes, so if you damage one it's easy to replace it.
I think it's a cool looking arrangement but most of them are hidden by stem-mounted shifters.
(Which by the way I like to paint in the little (S) in red.)
--Rob
B607 said:
Schwinn used the smaller #73 bearings on the upper and lower cups on all prewar bikes. The #73 bearings were too wimpy for the lower cup so after the war they went to the heavier #2552 bearings. All top end post war bikes used the "deluxe headset" with the #73 bearing and race insert on the upper head. The Phantoms had an upper adjustable cone for the #73 bearings that was made from hex rod. Jaguars and bikes like your Racer used the knurled (non-hex) upper adjustable cone in the late 50's and 60's. If you look at the way it is designed, it does a better job of keeping rain from running down into the headset than the usual upper adjustable cone. Actually, Schwinn probably had 1 million #73 bearings left over from prewar times and had to use them up and that's the way they did it. Gary