The Schwinn Bicycle Co. is an American bicycle company and a bicycling history icon. From 1948 to 1982, Schwinn pioneered its own models of cruisers, touring bikes and three-speeds, fabricating their own frames and components in-house. After the 'Bicycle Boom' of the 1970s, however, Schwinn's proprietary frame-building technology and heavier bikes became less economically viable in an increasingly weight-obsessed industry--resulting in millions of unique vintage and antique bikes that can be identified by their serial numbers. Dating these bikes is usually the first step toward proper appraisal of a vintage Schwinn machine.
Visit the Schwinn Date Codes website-this is the 'cheat sheet' for identifying Schwinn serial codes on the Internet, and it contains many other related resources and facts. Follow the appropriate link. The Date Codes website has a link for each of the three places mentioned in Step 1 where you might have found the serial number. Distinguish Le Tour or Super Le Tour Schwinn models by looking for the 'S' in front of the serial number. These bikes were produced between 1972 and 1986. The serial numbers will have a letter in the second position representing the month it was produced, and a number in the third position representing the year. Vintage Schwinn serial number lookup. Enter your Schwinn serial number in the box and click 'find' to see what date and year your Schwinn bike was manufactured. This tool searches a database of Schwinn serial numbers and if it finds a match to your serial number then it will display the information available for your bike. THIS CHART APPLIES TO CHICAGO SCHWINN`S ONLY. During the 1980s, Greenville used the old letter-digit (e.g. F8 = June 1988)system which Chicago abandoned in 1965, when it changed to the two-letter system. ON NEWER BIKES: you can find a 4 digit serial number lightly stamped onto the headbadge. The first three digits are the numerical day of the year. Mar 02, 2013 Hello, my name is Patrick Sexton and I am the creator of schwinncruisers.com and I have exciting news. I have taken all the schwinn serial numbers from several databases and made a tool that automatically searches for it. This means you can enter a vintage (1948-1982) schwinn serial number and get info about when it was manufactured. The Chicago serial numbers consist of a letter representing the month of manufacture, a number indicating the last digit of the year (1960 - 1964; 0=1960, 1=1961, etc.) or a letter indicating the year (1965 - 1979; A=1965, B=1966, etc.), followed by a sequential series of five or six digits (e.g. A367584 or CB77584). Later Schwinn serial numbers / years made. Bicycles from Japan made in the 70’s have a production month letter in either the first or second position and a production year number in the other (first or second) position. Examples J677123 = September, 1976, 6J77123 = September, 1976. During the 1980s, Greenville used the old letter-digit.
Find the serial number. Upon production, all Schwinns had a serial number stamped in one of three places on the frame.
The first possible location is on the underside of the bottom bracket. Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Glossary defines the bottom bracket as 'the part of the frame around which the pedal cranks revolve.' Turn the bike upside down to view it better.
The second possible location of the serial number is on the left rear dropout--the 'fork end that allows the rear wheel to be removed without derailing the chain first,' according to Brown's Glossary. Look for the left dropout on the same side as the chain.
The last of the possible locations is on the head tube, which is are on the very front of the bicycle (between the handlebars and the fork) on which the Schwinn logo badge is affixed. Look below and to the left of the badge to find the serial number.
Visit the Schwinn Date Codes website--this is the 'cheat sheet' for identifying Schwinn serial codes on the Internet, and it contains many other related resources and facts.
Follow the appropriate link. The Date Codes website has a link for each of the three places mentioned in Step 1 where you might have found the serial number. For example, if you found your code under the bottom bracket, click the link below the line on the website that says, 'IF THE SERIAL NUMBERS ARE FOUND UNDER BOTTOM BRACKET.'
Schwinn Model Number Lookup
Match your serial number and find out the exact year, month and day your Schwinn was made. For appraisal purposes, this date will be helpful in determining your bike's collector value, though it is not a definite rule. Generally, the value is determined by what those within the community of Schwinn collectors would pay for that specific model and year. Some models are rarer and would command more value than others. Research auction and collector websites for more information.