Just want to say I am loving this thread… I can’t really contribute anything in terms of old… I’m working on making mine look that way with still learning to ride though!
I do love those old whitewall tires. And they could clean up with a little bleach/water solution, unlike most tires that followed.
The detailed pictures show the main identifying feature of older Schwinns; cottered cranks. Those went up to about 1979. Also I think the older Schwinns came with some funny-looking pedals, thick and kind of tapered, but I don’t know years, or if they were indeed original equipment.
The split fork is indeed a sturdy design, and it’s also much, much simpler to manufacture than a tubular frame with lugs, welds, etc. But it has two major faults and some other minor ones:
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I didn’t think about the frame being twisty, but that makes a lot of sense.
The reason I like the way the seat post attaches and has holes at 1" increments is because it gives me two benefits, both involving slight OCD when it comes to adjustments:
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It’s virtually impossible for me to get the saddle misaligned. With a standard seat post clamp, I never feel 100% sure that is aligned, and with both bikes and unis the saddle can come loose and twist on you, and again, I’m always ocd about checking the alignment on those. With this thing, I never give it a second thought. If it were out of alignment, there’s little I could do anyways.
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I like the fact that there’s not infinite different saddle heights to adjust for. With having an almost infinite number of seat height adjustments with a standard clamp, that drives me nuts. I always wonder if I might just move the saddle slightly up or slightly down. With this thing, there’s really only one hole that comes close. I can install it and forget it. Plus, who’s going to ride a 20" old Schwinn for miles and miles? It’s pretty much for casual use only.
I have a newer unicycle that I ride regularly, and it has a standard seat clamp with double bolts. It’s sturdy and not likely to come loose, and I ride that unicycle for long distances and do need to adjust it as accurately as I can. Still, it drives me nuts always wondering if it could be adjusted a little better.
There was a really neat Ted Talks that I watched the other day where the speaker, Barry Schwartz, talked about how too many choises cause depression in modern society. It’s called the Paradox of Choice. Check it out -> here
At about 12 minutes in, he uses an analogy of his experience buying jeans that really drives the point home. If you don’t want to watch all of it, at least check that part out. You can also view the transcript if you don’t want to watch the video, and it’s time indexed as well.
It really spoke to me. It seems like we all go through this when trying to buy just about anything these days, including unicycles!
I just found out one of the flaws in the Schwinn design. This past weekend I was riding with a guy who was riding an old Schwinn. The main bearings are apparently pressed into the frame legs, and after about a mile one of the pressed-in bearings worked its way out. I carry a pretty good tool kit in my pack, but with that he was pretty much dead in the water and walking back to the car. So I would have to say the older Schwinns are mainly for historical value (they are pretty cool) and maybe riding around the block. But not something you want to rely on.
Well, that really sucks!
Agreed. I think at the time they made these, it was adequate for what we were doing with them back then. When I starting riding it again after many years in storage, I realized almost immediately that I needed something better if I was going to do any serious riding. The bearings in it have also gotten a little loose, and as you said, it looks like they’re pressed in there, and I’m not sure I would want to mess with it. (Of course, it would give me a good excuse to buy that press I’ve had my eye on at Harbor Freight!)
The bearings are held in by a snap ring on each side. One of them was probably missing, and may have stayed in place for a long time without it, but eventually worked its way loose.
Those were also fairly simple to take out and put back; just wear eye protection as they tended to go SPINNNG!! and fly across the room when popping them off…
I agree. It should also be an encyclopedia of unicycles. I would buy that book.
Thanks for that info, John. I just went by the appearance, and should have studied the other side before making that judgement. I guess it’s easier to repair than I thought. (Assuming one can get the appropriate size snap ring.)
Oh, no! How am I gonna justify to the wife that I need that new press from Harbor Freight now? 
No, that’s really cool, though. I wondered if that might be the case. I did see those rings in there, but I’m ashamed to say that I really never investigated it. I was afraid if I ever went to digging into it, I’d never get it back together. Thanks for the info! Now you’ve got me thinking…
Does anyone know what these are worth, and how rare they are? I get the feeling that they’re very common and not worth much. I paid $25 for this one in 1991, which is $43.49 in today’s dollars (source: http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl), and I’ve seen at least two on Craigslist for around $50 over the past two months (see the attached screenshot taken today). That doesn’t really tell me much, though. People sell things all the time for cheap not knowing what they’re really worth, especially at garage sales and Craigslist where the main goal is usually to get rid of unwanted stuff as fast as possible without just throwing it away.
The reason I ask is that I’m considering painting and overhauling the old girl, but if it’s worth someone or rare, etc. I guess I should leave it alone. The Antiques Roadshow is coming to town in the near future, and I guess I could schlep it over there, stand in line for hours, and then find out the gas I spent driving there cost more than it’s worth!
As a side note, I paid $116.68 in 1986 for a similar 20" Schwinn. In today’s dollars, that’s $252.22. Seems like a lot for an entry level unicycle. Glad they’re much more common today and that the price is relatively much lower for an entry level one.
Unless it was built by the ancient Egyptians, there is no such thing as a valuable antique unicycle. There are “old” unicycles, but they are not accruing value.
^funny and true^ 
Yes, no collectors’ market for old unicycles. And Schwinns, whatever else they may be, are probably the least rare “old” unicycles in North America, at least. Unless you count all those cheapie, tricycle-technology pieces of crap. Those might actually be more rare because they’re less likely to have been kept and not thrown away, run over with cars (on purpose), beat to death with baseball bats, etc. 
Probably one of the most valuable “old” unicycles you can get is a Schwinn Giraffe, but the value comes from their solid build, and the buyer wants to ride it!
As for an encyclopedic history of old unicycles, it’s comforting to know that I would probably sell at least three copies.
I WISHED I had bought a better giraffe such as the older Schwinns then the cheap Torkers. The sprocket was held by a nut vs being held by bolts or welds. It had gotten loose and became scary and dangerous to ride. I ended up epoxying it but lost the confidence in it to ride it again:(
So in that sense, the older giraffes were much better, but of course, I was buying a cheap POS , and should have expected it…
Yeah, I think it really says something that these old Schwinns are still being ridden and working after all these decades. I kind of doubt that the new ones we’re riding today will last that long, especially entry level ones.
Now, that was funny! I figured they weren’t worth much. I found some folks on eBay who managed to get as much as $159, looking through recently closed auctions. Many have listed as high as $219, but it appears they settled for less, although it doesn’t say exactly how much, just that they took “the best offer”. I’ve also found them as low as $19.50.
Guess there’s no real reason to preserve this one in its original state.
I think the frame in your picture looks pretty nice. Do you mind sharing a bit about how you prepped the surface and what kind of paint you used?