For those list members twisted enough to actually care about the Schwinn fillet-brazed models, I completed my collection of these models today with the receipt of a 1972 Super Sport to go with the 1973 Sports Tourer and the 1962 all-chrome Superior. Well, almost completed. According to the Sheldon Brown's article on these bikes, the original models were the Superior and the New World in 1938. But even Sheldon didn't have much information on the New World, and did not say how long it was produced. Anyone on the list have a New World? I'd love to see pics or info.
Rather interesting that although I paid $179 for the complete bike and was the only bidder, it was extraordinarily well packed. I've received bikes three times the price, hell six times the price, that were not half as carefully packed. Absolutely complete, everything was there, even to the extent that after arriving home at 6:30 PM, I was able to unpack it, assemble it, and ride it around the block before dark. I've seldom been able to do that with a $1,000+ bike.
So to compare the Super Sport to the Sports Tourer, they seem to have identical fillet-brazed CroMo frames except the the Super Sport has stamped DO's albeit thick ones, whereas the Sports Tourer has forged Huret DO's. The Huret DO has an integrated RD hanger, while the Super Sport stamped DO does not, requiring a separate hanger. Both bikes have similar Huret Allvit FD's, assuming the Allvit model applied to FD's, but the Super Sport has Huret Allvit front and rear, while the RD on the Sports Tourer is a Schwinn badged Shimano Crane GS, same as on the World Voyageur and mid-70's touring Paramounts. The Sports Tourer has DiaCompe CP calipers and levers, including suicide levers. The Super Sport has the same except the levers are Weinmann, rather than its very good DiaCompe clones. Not sure if the Schwinn Approved calipers are Weinmann or DiaCompe. Same "S" stem and unmarked alloy randonneur bars on both. The Sports Tourer has a TA Cyclotourist double, while the Super Sport has the venerable Ashtabula cranks. My 1962 Superior, a higher end model than either, also has Ashtabula cranks, but that was a decade earlier, plus the Superior has Huret rings. Pedals are Lyotard (or maybe Atom) rattraps on both. The Super Sport has Schwinn-approved AFA toeclips.
As I speculated before I received it, the Schwinn-approved hubs on the Super Sport are Normandy Sport, while those on the Sports Tourer are Normady Competition. Examining the original wheels on the 1962 Superior, they do not match either, but I'm pretty sure they are Normandy. Somehow, they look like top models, so I'm guessing they are early Competition or whatever top model preceded the Competition. Both bikes use Weinmann Alloy 27" clinchers.
One dilemma is what to do about shifters. Both have the Schwinn stem shifters, but the catalogs indicate the Suntour barcons were optional on each. I've pretty well decied to go with the SunTours on the Sports Tourer, but I imagine the Super Sport would only rarely have been sold with barcons, so I'm considering keeping the stem shifters. Opinions?
BTW, on a somewhat related matter, I've found the fillet-brazed Chicago-built Schwinns have low bottom brackets which make them unsuitable for 650B conversions, while my Japanese-built World Voyageur has a high BB, which made for a great 650B conversion. What about the Japanese-built Voyageur 11.8? Did it have a high BB like the World Voyageur?
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA