1972 Schwinn Sport Tandem
I stumbled across this tandem on Craigslist, and noted the seller included the date code from the serial number. It came out to a 1971 Schwinn. From the pics he put up, it was obvious it was a 27", and I went to the online archives of old Schiwnn catalogs to see if I could figure out what it could be. The only tandem options available in '71 were the 26" Twinn and Deluxe Twinn, both 26" wheels, and the Paramounts. I thought I struck gold, and raced over to the guys house to buy the bike. I didn't really look it over too well, as the price was pretty cheap for a tandem ($100), and I threw it in my van, noticed it was pretty light, and brought it home. For the price, regardless what it ended up being, I knew getting it wasn't a bad decision.
After looking over the bike, I noticed a lot of discrepancies between what I bought and the Paramounts. While it was a 10 speed with 27" wheels, the components were not top shelf stuff, most of it being Varsity / Continental vintage. The faded decal on the side clearly had this bike named a "Schwinn Sports Tandem". So I went back to the web, and the catalogs to see if I could determine what it was that I bought, and what the specs were. I was most interested in determining the frame material, as it feels about half the weight of the '75 Twinn I previously owned. After a few hours on the web, I struck out. I can find no info anywhere on this bike. No pics, nothing on Google, nothing speced the same. The only other tandems I could find from Schwinn that were 27" and not Paramount were the Twinn Sport, which started manufacture in '78, and the late 80's DuoSport. Both of those were speced with 3 piece cranks, and had the connecting chain on the left hand side.
So right now, I'm not sure what I have. It's possible it was a one-off I suppose, or maybe a concept bike for what would eventually become the Twinn Sport. As for now, I'm not sure what to do, fix it and flip it, upgrade it and keep it, or restore it and keep it. The components are as follows:
- 27" Schwinn tubular rims - 105ga rear, 080ga butted front
- Huret cranks (appear to be the same as was used on the '61-'62 Varsity)
- Atom drum brake
- Normandy? front hub
- Maillard 5 speed 14-28 freewheel
- Schwinn approved derailleurs (Rebranded Huret)
- Twin Stick shifters (older style)
- Schwinn deluxe headset
- Schwinn Alloy "S" stem
- Schiwnn middleweight handle bars (stoker bars were MIA)
- Center-pull front brake (I'm making this assumption based on the headset mounted cable hanger, the front brake was MIA)
I've posted what info I have to a couple of various forums to see if anyone can help identify it, which will ultimately determine what I do with it. My plan right now is to disassemble it, and see if I can find any date codes on the various parts.
More pics here.