Removing wheel on vintage Schwinn

Hi gang,

Just picked up an old Schwinn that needs a new tube but am not sure how to get the cranks or wheel off. It looks like the axle just goes straight through either fork, which look like pieces of flat bar.

I’m thinking crank puller but am not sure. Any ideas?

Attached pic for reference

This thread should help:

Jim

My bike doesn’t have the cotter cranks. I took of the retaining nuts but the cranks don’t slip off. Don’t want to damage anything by being heavy handed!

Do you have a crank puller? Looks like a standard crank puller that is used on cotterless or ISIS cranks would work.

Jim

I’ll be grabbing one first thing tomorrow.

What about replacing the bearings while I’ve got it apart? Are they a standard item I could grab at a shop or would it be a special order deal?

I don’t know about the bearing but looks like a special bearing with the snap ring grove on the outside. I’d bet based photo and the good condition of the uni that the bearing is good. Maybe a little oil and it should be good to go for another 50 years.

Jim

The bearings are held in by a snap ring on each side. I believe there’s a “proper” tool to remove those, but you can also pry at that little gap with a screwdriver or something, until it goes ping! and disappears under your workbench, or in the rafters, hopefully not after bouncing off your eyeball first. That’s my experience, anyway. :slight_smile:

So mechanically it’s very simple. You need a crank puller to get the cranks off, or just take it to a bike shop, which should be able to do the whole job pretty simply.

The bearings might be proprietary, due to the two slots where the snap rings go. But I bet you can get a “new” set from The Unicycle Factory if you’re willing to listen to Tommi Miller on the phone for a while.

BTW, you don’t need to do any of the above to change the tire. Just remove the seat post bolt. :slight_smile:

Haha, well that turned out to be pretty obvious… I’m going to save myself some grief and just clean it up the best I can, change the tire, and get it back together.

I was reading about Schwinn S7 rims having funny sizing. The tube I picked up is a regular 20". Hope I don’t have any issues with it. The tire itself could stand a replacement too but I’m just going to air it up for the time being.

Should I be looking at a special tire size?

S.

If you can find them, S7 is what you need. Schwinn created the math that 1 3/4" is not the same as 1.75", at least when it comes to tires! Or rebuild the wheel with a 28-hole, conventional rim.

For now, any 20" tube will be fine, as long as it’s not too fat. You can also try eBay (or The Unicycle Factory) as a possible source of Schwinn tires, but they will be at least 35 years old. If they’ve been kept out of sunlight they might still be in decent shape…

Got it back together, pumped up the HD tube to 55psi!

The highest setting is a little short for me and a bit unstable, but the kids are loving it. My ankles hurt from it but I rode a full 3 turns so felt I am getting the hang it.

I’m gonna keep riding until I get it figured out, then I could see another in my future.

I fail to see why do you want to get the wheel out if you only have to replace a tube. Please explain.

Look twice: the cranck puller will only pull the crank.

First timer. Didn’t realize that removing the seat split the thing in 2.

I got the tire changed and it is running fine. It’s a little small for me unfortunately but good size for the kids