Because no official list exists collectors continue to debate this. Lastly you will find pre-Aug 48 lists with exact letter/number ranges that vary from what I’ve provided here.
#Schwinn vin number cr590065 serial number#
It is important to remember that even though there is a date associated with the serial number this was stamped well before the bike was actually built and may, or may not indicate the actual year of the bike. 5) or to see if you can date the hub įor some prewar bikes, especially those sold by Mead and other large volume distributors, the numbers may indicate a year or two earlier than when the bike was actually sold. Of course if it has a Schwinn head badge that can make it easier but Schwinn, like nearly all other manufacturers distributed bikes through tire stores, department stores, hardware stores, and hundreds of other retailers before they installed their own dealer network in the early 1950s.Ī couple of other ways to help identify the year on prewar bikes is pulling the crank to see if it is dated (Fig. The bikes built before the advent of the balloon tire bicycle are very similar to almost every other manufacturer and were usually of a simple diamond frame or motorbike configuration. Dating or even accurately identifying Schwinns prior to the early 1930s can be challenging. Later Murray, Japanese, or Hungarian built Schwinns have a numbering system all their own.Īs discussed above it is possible to at least get an idea if not the exact year on many Schwinns built before August of 1948.
#Schwinn vin number cr590065 serial numbers#
*These generalities do not hold true for Paramounts and some other odd models such as the low priced, postwar Meteor which did not have an integral kickstand mount.Ī couple of caveats on the serial numbers some early tandems, some Whizzer equipped bikes, and many of the early lightweights e.g. Postwar bikes will have front facing dropouts, an integral kickstand mount, and an electro-forged frame which will have a ‘seam’ on the bottom bracket shell (see Fig. My book reviews here įor bikes built before 1952 you need to narrow it down further by determining if the bike is a prewar (WWII) or a postwar bike? The normal ‘tells’ for a prewar bike are rear facing dropouts and no provision for an integral kickstand mount *. Not all catalogs are posted online so you would do well to buy some of the books available if you plan on collecting Schwinns. There are also sites that have many of the yearly Schwinn catalogs which are helpful to identify the model and year of a bike-Google “Schwinn Catalog” and you will get several sites listing these catalogs. A few of the books published also contain the Aug 1948 and up serial number lists. Personally if I do an online lookup I use the Angelfire site. Schwinn duplicated numbers through the years so you really need to know the differences between models/equipment to accurately date a bike. The site has a place where you enter your serial and supposedly it gives you the year. Schwinn only released total annual production numbers as did most other manufacturers.Ī few words regarding the online lists. There are also no breakouts on exact production figures of models. Also keep in mind a serial number will not tell you what model, options, colors or any other specific information like an automobile vehicle identification number (VIN) will. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked “what year is my Schwinn” when, in fact, the bike was another make.
Other things such as how the bike was equipped and who sold it can also provide clues to when the bike was built.īefore using this information make sure you have a Schwinn.
Enough bikes have positively been dated by records such as invoices, build sheets, dealer ledgers, and dated photographs that a decent idea of serial number ranges can at least get us in the ball park. You will read in many places that no serial number lists exist prior to the fire at the Schwinn factory in August of 1948.
Rather than replicate what can be found on the internet in a variety of places I’m just going to offer some prewar information along with some other observations to help locate and approximately date a bike.
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