1941 Schwinn New World - Summer Begins

 

Summer officially began today, which is also the longest day of the year. The weather was excellent for a ride this evening: just a touch on the cool side but still plenty warm to be outdoors. There were plenty of other bikers on the roads and trails after work this evening. 

 

I took the 1941 Schwinn New World project for a ride. I reset the left pedal bearing tension, fiddled with a few fine fittings and brake pad positions, and checked to see that everything was still in place after the first "shakedown" ride. So far, so good.

 

 This bike is quite comfortable, apart from having to break in the new Gyes leather saddle. 

 

The ride is fairly upright, being somewhere in between my sportier 1950 Superior and the more upright Raleigh Sports type bikes. The 1941 New World is not an especially fast or sporty bike, but it's well-balanced and comfortable to ride. 

 

The bike has my usual treatment of retro lights with LED bulbs so that I can be seen more readily by drivers on the road. The Acorn small saddlebag is also a nice addition, being a moderately priced but high quality item. It holds enough for a short ride: wallet, cell phone, a few little tools, keyring, etc.

The kickstand is a new Greenfield. These stands are a "low profile" type stand that will not interfere at all with the cranks, and which are fairly lightweight. The black painted ones go nicely with an old bike like this and look the part. They can take an add-on rubber foot so the bike is quite stable on the stand. These stands are also still made right here in the USA, which is perfect for an old, American-made bike.

 

I must say that I am certainly looking forward to more summer riding. We had a very cool spring, with a fair bit of disruptive weather. At times it was wet and rainy, and at other times it was very smoky due to wild fires. We're into the long days of the year and I want to make the most of them.

This bike has the classic "Schwinn Built" caliper brakes. These are the right brakes for the bike, though I will admit that from a purely functional standpoint, they are nothing particularly special. They're on a par with similar steel side-pull calipers made by Phillips, Hercules, and others from that time period. They appear to have been copied from English designs (my guess is they copied a 1930s era Hercules or Phillips caliper).

 I topped off the bike with a retro Plymouth motors lapel pin for the bag and an old spiral decoration bell. I enjoy adding a "period" type lapel pin to the bags on some of my bikes. My 1950 Superior has a period "Pontiac 8" pin, the 1947 New World has a Chevy pin, and my 1942 New World has a WWII aviation themed wings pin.

This bike even still has its old, red glass reflector. It rattles a bit but certainly goes nicely with the bike.

 

 I still have a couple more projects this year: a 1949 Raleigh Clubman that is being cleaned up and rebuilt, as well as a 1951 New Hudson Silver Arrow that I need to get reassembled and back on the road. There's still plenty to do, but ride time comes first. I'm glad I added this bike to my collection. It's another variation of the New World bikes, which are among my favorites.