Stingray Gear Ratio?

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Kevin B

Kevin B

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Was there a standard chain wheel and rear cog size used on Schwinn Stingrays? My searches are not yielding results. Most of the spec descriptions are describing style like Lucky 7 or mag and omit the tooth count.
 
The 60's one speed Sting Rays had the lucky 7, which was 36 teeth. The rear cog is a 16 or 18, I tried to find a pic that showed the cog but none were clear enough.

1691665911828.png
 
So 2:1 with the 18. Yesterday I went with a 40/19 on a 26" and it is almost too low. I was wondering about trying replicate the torque of a Stingrays on a 26" cantilever frame. Thanks Wildcat.
 
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I rode a couple Sting Rays back when I was a youngster. It didn't seem to be geared that much lower than other bikes. I had a neighbor who would let other kids ride his coveted Sting Ray, but you had to take a punch in the gut afterward. We all got in line to ride it. :21: That's how cool a Sting Ray was.

I ran the numbers to see how it stacked up against a "normal" ratio on a beach cruiser. A 44/19 on a 26 x 2.125 bike is a ratio of 2.32.
For a 36/18 with a 20 x 2.125 slick, it's 2.0, but it's 2.25 with a 16 tooth cog, so that might be the size of the cog. They had shorter crank arms too, so it would make sense that they had a 36/16 setup.
 
Bicycle Heaven is selling a 14T / 28T 5 speed freewheel as being appropriate for use on Stingrays: https://www.bicycleheaven.org/products/bicycle-cluster-gear-cog-fit-schwinn-other-5-10-speed

That looks about right to me, compared with this image of a '74 5 speed:
1691767955590.png


I always use wheel size in my calculations of ratio. I like to use "gear inches", which is a measure of how far you'll go with one spin of the pedal crank. My brain has been calibrated, by long years of riding 26"x1-3/8 (590) three speeds with Sturmey AW hubs to know what 50 inches to 100 inches of progress per crank spin gets me vs what it feels like. Sheldon Brown came up with the even more sophisticated "gain ratio", which factors in the length of the crank arm. https://www.sheldonbrown.com/gear-calc.html

Discussing ratios without considering wheel size only makes sense when everybody is running the same size wheel.
 
I was actually planning gear inches once I had a baseline for single speed Stingrays. I keep a chart on the garage wall of rolling inches per crank based on gear ratio and tire OD. Thanks for your insight. I thought crank length enters in too.
 
Wildcat said:
I rode a couple Sting Rays back when I was a youngster. It didn't seem to be geared that much lower than other bikes. I had a neighbor who would let other kids ride his coveted Sting Ray, but you had to take a punch in the gut afterward. We all got in line to ride it. :21: That's how cool a Sting Ray was.

I ran the numbers to see how it stacked up against a "normal" ratio on a beach cruiser. A 44/19 on a 26 x 2.125 bike is a ratio of 2.32.
For a 36/18 with a 20 x 2.125 slick, it's 2.0, but it's 2.25 with a 16 tooth cog, so that might be the size of the cog. They had shorter crank arms too, so it would make sense that they had a 36/16 setup.
Click to expand...
Kevin B said:
I was actually planning gear inches once I had a baseline for single speed Stingrays. I keep a chart on the garage wall of rolling inches per crank based on gear ratio and tire OD. Thanks for your insight. I thought crank length enters in too.
Click to expand...
Yes the 36 lucky seven was usually paired with a 16 tooth rear. The later '69 till the end Stingrays used a 48 tooth mag on the front and 18/20 on the rear. It all depends on what you are looking for. I know my 36/18 Stingray is quick but it took all day to get anywhere. Only the real early '63-'65 short frames used the 4.5 crank in '65 when they lengthened the stays and changed the angle of the Chain stays did the switch to a 5.5 and all Stingray used 5.5 untill the end unless it was a Jr. frame
 
axeman88 said:
Here's some info: https://www.schwinnbikeforum.com/index.php?topic=5979.0

This source says the rear on a '64 was 18T, but I have seen Stingray wheels with 19T on them as well. https://bikehistory.org/bikes/stingray/ Seems like a lot of Stingrays had Bendix blue band ( high speed) 2 speed kickback hubs on them also, and those came with 20T, if I'm not mistaken.
Click to expand...
The blue band is an over drive hub intended to be used with a 36 tooth sprocket. The yellow and red are intended for a 48 tooth. The blue band gears up when engaged for cruising the yellow and red are under drive and give a low gear they were used on Tandems and 26 inch bikes. I have seen the yellow in 28 hole for Stingrays and 24 inch bikes. I do not know if Stingrays came from the factory with a yellow band. Blue bands are different hubs then red and Yellow.
 
musclebikemadman said:
I do not know if Stingrays came from the factory with a yellow band. Blue bands are different hubs then red and Yellow.
Click to expand...
I don't know how reliable this source is, but it appears to be based on original Schwinn catalogs.
https://bikehistory.org/bikes/stingray/
They are showing '65 as the first year that the 2 speed Auto Hub was offered. For this year, they don't say whether it's the Red, Yellow, or Blue band, but, I believe that this was the first year for Yellow and Blue, so likely one of those, and not the Red, although who knows, they could have had abundant old stock of Red Band Auto hubs to use up.

For '66 until '68 the listings say explicitly "2-speed overdrive" so those would have been Blue.

In '69 and '70, the listings are saying just "2-speed", and by '71 the 2 speed is gone from the catalog. Some sources say that the Bendix Auto was only produced through '69, so again, perhaps hubs already sitting in Schwinn stock in '70. '61 to '64 for the Red Band, and '65 to '69 for Yellow and Blue, are the numbers I've seen for the Bendix autos.

Interestingly, they are listing a 3 speed hub as an option on Stingrays for '65 through '72, inclusive. I don't recall ever seeing a Stingray with a 3 speed hub. Presumably these were internal geared hubs? In '67 they list a choice of Trigger or Stik shift, then for '68 thru '72, only the Stik Shift with the 3 speed. What sprocket would have been fitted to these 3 speed hubs, and which chainwheel?
For reference, this photo from the thread I linked to earlier on Schwinnbikeforums appears to show a 3 speed Stingray.
1691884542494.png


My guesses from this picture would be a SA AW hub and that looks like a 36 tooth chainwheel. Just eyeballing the picture, I'd guess 16T on the rear?

Cranking these guesses through Sheldon Brown's calculator, gives 31.5, 42, 56 gear inches in the three ratios, but I don't think that Schwinn was using a 44-406 BMX wheel, were they? Didn't they have their own, proprietary 20" size?
 
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Looks like the 3 speeds had the 36 t chainwheel also. A yellow band 2 speed was probably not offered as it would be geared too low with the lucky 7 36 tooth chain wheel. Here's a 68 3 speed, probably Sturmey Archer.
1691884692644.png
 
axeman88 said:
I don't know how reliable this source is, but it appears to be based on original Schwinn catalogs.
https://bikehistory.org/bikes/stingray/
They are showing '65 as the first year that the 2 speed Auto Hub was offered. For this year, they don't say whether it's the Red, Yellow, or Blue band, but, I believe that this was the first year for Yellow and Blue, so likely one of those, and not the Red, although who knows, they could have had abundant old stock of Red Band Auto hubs to use up.

For '66 until '68 the listings say explicitly "2-speed overdrive" so those would have been Blue.

In '69 and '70, the listings are saying just "2-speed", and by '71 the 2 speed is gone from the catalog. Some sources say that the Bendix Auto was only produced through '69, so again, perhaps hubs already sitting in Schwinn stock in '70. '61 to '64 for the Red Band, and '65 to '69 for Yellow and Blue, are the numbers I've seen for the Bendix autos.

Interestingly, they are listing a 3 speed hub as an option on Stingrays for '65 through '72, inclusive. I don't recall ever seeing a Stingray with a 3 speed hub. Presumably these were internal geared hubs? In '67 they list a choice of Trigger or Stik shift, then for '68 thru '72, only the Stik Shift with the 3 speed. What sprocket would have been fitted to these 3 speed hubs, and which chainwheel?
For reference, this photo from the thread I linked to earlier on Schwinnbikeforums appears to show a 3 speed Stingray.
View attachment 245567

My guesses from this picture would be a SA AW hub and that looks like a 36 tooth chainwheel. Just eyeballing the picture, I'd guess 16T on the rear?

Cranking these guesses through Sheldon Brown's calculator, gives 31.5, 42, 56 gear inches in the three ratios, but I don't think that Schwinn was using a 44-406 BMX wheel, were they? Didn't they have their own, proprietary 20" size
Click to expand...
Yes you are on with the production dates and no not their own rear tire just front 20 x 1 3/4 S-7 on Stingray. Bendix did not make the 2 speeds for long but I imagine they made a lot of them.
Wildcat said:
Looks like the 3 speeds had the 36 t chainwheel also. A yellow band 2 speed was probably not offered as it would be geared too low with the lucky 7 36 tooth chain wheel. Here's a 68 3 speed, probably Sturmey Archer.
View attachment 245568
Click to expand...
They continued to offer a 3 speed Stingray with the 48 tooth after '69 the last 3 speed was 1972.
 

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