0

Recently bought a used bike, the guy who sold it said it was an 80s/90s Schwinn steel frame. Checked it with a magnet so I'm pretty sure it's steel but I'm not sure about the model, brand, or the year. No identifiers but it seems to have a unique fork and chain guides.

enter image description here

enter image description here

enter image description here

enter image description here

Improve this question
3
  • 1
    What are the stickers/labels on the top of the downtube ? A close photo of them might help.
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented Mar 9, 2020 at 10:25
  • Registration stickers with local law enforcement
    – Alex
    Commented Mar 9, 2020 at 17:49
  • Could be worth contacting the local law office to see if they have other details on file. It may just be the name/address/phone for the previous owner, which will need updating anyway so the call isn't wasted. BTW - nice bike.
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented Mar 9, 2020 at 19:21

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
2

Sorry, can't tell you what it is/was.

How ever some observations:

It was either a track bike from new, or the rear dropouts were replaced with track ends. Could be a modern hipster's fixed gear sold that way, or a proper track bike.

The quill stem and threadded fork suggests 80s or 90s, but the sloping top tube makes it more of a 90s bike in design.

Seems to have a square taper bottom bracket, and it looks like a cartridge because I can't see a lockring in the photo. This could have been a modern replacement though.

That it seems to have a rear brake bridge and obviously support for rim brakes leans away from being a real track bike where brakes are banned, though its not impossible to retrofit brakes.

Improve this answer
3

The frame looks like a 2011 to 2013 Schwinn Madison with many component changes.

The Madison was made in 1985, through 1987 as a lugged track bike.

In 2007 the Madison was an chromoly welded fastback frame and threadless headset.
enter image description here This frame is similar to yours but it does not have bottle mounts.

In 2011 the Madison went to dual bottle mounts and threaded headset with many other component changes.
enter image description here Your frame looks like this one.
This style was made until 2013 - if BikePedia is to be believed.

Further research
Schwinn has sold, and is currently selling, bikes with a "track style" frame in the "Urban" category that looks similar to the bike in the original post with a variety of names. Over the years there have been a variety of components and sometimes differences in frame angles.

enter image description here
I was unable to find a 2013 Schwinn catalog.

Keep in mind that the brand name "Schwinn" is owned by Dorel Industries which owns several other bicycle brand names, like Cannondale, DYNO, Pacific, Roadmaster, Mongoose, Murray to name a few. It is possible for them to use the same frame with one of their other brand names for any given year.

The variety of names and years makes a single model / year identification difficult. There are many serial number decoders for older Schwinn bikes. I didn't find one for the newer bikes.

Improve this answer
4
  • The crankset looks similar too on the 2011-2013, so that's adding some evidence. I don't think the fork on OP's bike looks quite right, like it is too tall and pitching the front of the bike up, so possibly a replacement/aftermarket fork, which is neutral evidence. I wonder if the 11 in the serial number is anything useful or just coincidence heh
    – Swifty
    Commented Mar 9, 2020 at 17:35
  • Yeah the top tube angle is different, but as @Swifty points out, could be a different fork from stock.
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented Mar 9, 2020 at 19:22
  • An observation - this Schwinn has brakes and bottle cage mounts, neither of which would be used on a track bike on a track. Perhaps this was more for fixie riders on the street use rather than real track competition ? I still think its a great match and an excellent find.
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented Mar 11, 2020 at 10:48
  • 1
    @Criggie Good point. The Madison was a track bike when it was originally introduced "The Madison was made in 1985, through 1987 as a lugged track bike." When it was reintroduced in 2007 it became a fixed-gear/singlespeed. For greater clarity maybe I should have left off the history. I included it because the original post mentioned that he had heard the bike was an 80s or 90s bike - and I thought it was interesting.
    – David D
    Commented Mar 11, 2020 at 15:08

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.