Schwinn Cruiser info...Help!!

[foes 17cc]

I want to import to Oz a new Schwinn Cruiser with the best brakes and front suspension for my GXH50 in-frame mount project.Can telescopic forks be fitted?......i would like the Springer forks but they don't seem to have any damping?
Are there springers with damping?.......HELP!

 

[gone_fishin]

moved to the "bicycle" forum...you'll get more help on basic bicycle stuff in here...not criticizing, only pointing it out because i know (by you clueing us in) that yer new to this

by researching the head-tube dimensions of the bicycle you're after, you can shop for a fork of your choosing...i've seen basic (telescopic) suspension mtb forks for as low as $60usd...tip: consider your final (front) braking needs before you buy a fork, don't get caught by surpise.

 

[Hollywood]

Damping can be done on a single spring springer with the spring bolt.

 

[foes 17cc]

foes 17cc Thanks for the relevant info.......time for some more research.Thank god for the web.

 

[Irish John]

I want to import to Oz a new Schwinn Cruiser with the best brakes and front suspension for my GXH50 in-frame mount project.Can telescopic forks be fitted?......i would like the Springer forks but they don't seem to have any damping?
Are there springers with damping?.......HELP!

I bought the Schwinn Alloy Seven in Oz cos it has V-Brakes which are a must for a motor I reckon. Coaster brakes are hard to service if you have to take the hub off etc. and a front brake is a must. Sportz Australasia in Mentone Victoria are the Scwinn importers. So far they only import whole bikes so you can't mix & match and put a springer fork on an Alloy Seven. Soon they hope to import parts so the sooner the better. I'm sure you can find a good set of telescopic forks that will fit the Schwinn head tube but they won't look very well matched. Sadly the Electra springers won't fit the Schwinn but you could buy an Electra cruiser which are as good if not better than the Schwinn. I'm going with rigid forks on my 4-stroke and if it's too bumpy I'll get Schwinn springers from somewhere. I'm wary of modern springers cos they are very badly built and the pins break on bumps when used on a push bike. It's a quandry really. The old springers of the 1970s were very well made but since they started being made in China the quality has plumeted to a real low. There's a pic of my Alloy Seven with a 70cc HT motor in the Photo Gallery under Irish John's Bikes but here it is again.
Good luck with your hunt.

 

[Irish John]

I want to import to Oz a new Schwinn Cruiser with the best brakes and front suspension for my GXH50 in-frame mount project.Can telescopic forks be fitted?......i would like the Springer forks but they don't seem to have any damping?
Are there springers with damping?.......HELP!

From my searches I seem to have come to the conclusion that the only springer that will fit a Schwinn cruiser is a Schwinn Phantom Springer which you can't buy separately. All the other springers are too short to fit a 180mm long threaded tube. The Schwinn tube is 1&1/8" and although you can get adaptor kits from 1" to 1&1/8" they only work on a threadless tube and they are all too short anyway. It's a bummer cos a good springer would be ideal. Don't know about telescopic forks but al least most of those allow for a front brake which is essential.

 

[darwin]

After seeing bunches of used bikes for cheap surely you could find one just for the forks you want plus have plenty of other parts too.

 

[Irish John]

Darwin, Schwinn bikes aren't that common in Australia and the recent models with springer forks are even less common. Only a couple of Cruiser models down here have springers. They have to be recent models to fit the 7" long tube so finding a second hand one isn't easy. I could buy a new Delux 7 and use the springers but if I was going to go down that route I'd buy a Felt Heritage in the US and ship it over here and get a better bike with everything I need. They have a springer with V-brakes front and back. A lot of models just don't get into Australia cos it's a small market. I'll keep looking in case recent model Schwinn Phantom Delux 7 is going cheap. They make Phantom Delux 7 replicas in Indonesia but you have to buy a container load of them and they are probably pretty badly made.

 

[JemmaUK]

The proper schwinn springers are bomb proof and also so are the aftermarket ones if you pay a reasonable price..

I have the Schwinn deluxe 7 with coaster/v brake and kelvar pads fitted with a spring type fork and that is perfectly ok for road use.

have fun with your ride

Jemma xx

PS there are also old style webb springers and open springers available but they are pricey

 

[Irish John]

The proper schwinn springers are bomb proof and also so are the aftermarket ones if you pay a reasonable price..

I have the Schwinn deluxe 7 with coaster/v brake and kelvar pads fitted with a spring type fork and that is perfectly ok for road use.

have fun with your ride

Jemma xx

PS there are also old style webb springers and open springers available but they are pricey

Looking at the Deluxe 7 Jemma it looks like it has a 6" headtube whereas the Alloy 7 has a 7" headtube and I think this is the problem why none of the aftermarket springers will fit. I'm now resigned to staying with the rigid forks but I would have wasted time looking for a second hand Deluxe 7 until your message prompted me to overlay a photo of one against the other. Schwinn themselves don't produce or supply aftermarket parts. Strangely enough the Schwinn Alloy DX 2007 model has a springer that looks to be of a length halfway between the Alloy 7 & the Deluxe 7 but that's still not the right length. The 2008 alloy DX uses the Schwinn Ashtabula Style Flat Blade w/ Forged Crown & Truss Rods which isn't really a springer fork and now the only model with a true springer is your Deluxe 7.
You said you have a V-brake and I wasn't aware of any v-brakes on any Schwinn cruiser except the Alloy 7 which is why I bought it. Maybe you have an aftermarket springer that has the v-brake bosses welded on like what Micargi sell. The reason I like the new Felt Heritage so much is because it has springers and v-brakes front & back plus it has a long wheelbase and looks like it would be supremely comfy with a Honda motor. Don't know if they sell them in UK but they don't sell them here in Oz.
The Monark fork came closest to fitting the bill for me its 7&1/8" long and 1" dia. but the adaptor kits they supply for the newer 1&1/8" dia. headtubes are only for threadless tubes & mine is threaded.