Fred,
The illustrations are all most exactly as you describe. The "racers" appear to look like track riders but on what I would call "country" roads. British term of "path racer" comes to mind. I love those old Schwinn lightweights.
Jerry, (3 Paramounts, 2 Superiors), Corcoran Canby, OR -----Original Message----- From: Fred Rafael Rednor [mailto:fred_rednor@yahoo.com] Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2005 2:17 PM To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: Re: [CR]Schwinn Track Bike on e-bay
Jerry,
Thanks for the information. So I think it's clear the bike was meant for
American road races of that era, which were typically on flat roads, perhaps
even with cinder of hard dirt surfaces. In fact, when I think of American
road races of that era, I almost view them as "track racing on the open
road".
Wht I do wonder about is this: How well do wooden rims tolerate really
rough surfaces? E.g. would a bike set up for Paris-Roubaix in that era use
the same wooden rims that were used in other events?
Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia
> My copy of a '39 Schwinn catalog has "New World Lightweight Racer"
> model W3R that is very similar to the e-bay bike. Description
> includes; Finest American seamless tubing, one piece wood racing rims,
> popular oval shaped 5 pin type 3 piece crank and Lawson or Progressive
> drop bars.
> It also has an
> option of a one piece 6 1/2" fluted straight crank. Stem appears
> different than e-bay bike and I can't tell which way the rear dropouts
> are facing but it appears to be sold as a "racing" bike.
> Illustrations on the page are of the bike being ridden on the road not
> the track but in a race enviroment..
>
> Jerry Corcoran
> Canby, OR