Schwinn Three Speeds - Adapting a Rear Fender to Fit

 

 This entry is intended mainly as notation for people deeply into Schwinn three speeds. The goal is to understand the adaptation of a "standard" rear fender (suited to the 21-22 inch frame) to a "tall" frame (23-24 inch frame) bike.

 

Many of the English three speed bikes use a generic fender set among the models with 26 inch wheels. The rear fender adapts to differences in the frame size using a part called a "bridge clip". This clip can be placed almost anywhere along the fender, allowing a proper connection to the rear brake bolt. It is not difficult to take a good rear fender from a donor bike and to move or change the bridge clip so that it is placed correctly for a different sized frame.

Schwinn three speed bikes do not generally use bridge clips. Instead, the mounting point for the rear brake bolt is a simple L-bracket riveted into place. The result is that the rear fender is set up for a specific frame size. Finding fenders for standard size frames (21-22 inch) is not overly difficult. But finding fenders for tall frames (23-24 inch) is very difficult.

The result is that on the Schwinn, unlike the Raleigh, you need to re-position the L-bracket to fit the taller frame. 

There are two solutions to this problem. 

 

Solution 1: Remove L-Bracket, Add Bridge Clip (Raleigh Sports Style)

The first solution is to remove the L-bracket and replace it with a bridge clip similar to how the English Raleigh bikes, like the Sports, work. Drill out the rivet holding the L-bracket, and then loosely mount the bridge clip. Then mount up all the other connection points for the rear fender and determine your bridge clip final position. The advantage of this system is that you can custom-fit the fender to get the best positioning relative to your wheel. 

I did exactly this on my 1959 Traveler. A smooth-headed "riv-screw" serves as a plug to fill the empty hole where the L-bracket was. I smooth down the riv-screw head to blend it into the fender. The bridge clip hides pretty well under the rear brake caliper and in the seat stays.

 

Solution 2: Drill a New Hole and Relocate Your Schwinn L-Bracket

Option 2 is to relocate the L-bracket position to a new and correct position. I have a 1957 Traveler where it appears this was previously done. I thought at first this was an adaptation by an earlier owner, but now I wonder, given how clean the work is, whether the factory did this. It is possible that tall frame three speed Schwinns in that era were rare enough that it was more economical to adapt standard-sized fenders to the unusual tall frame (rather than setting up machinery to make dedicated tall frame fenders). I've seen this same screw and flat retaining plate in still-sealed Schwinn parts bags. I'm now leaning toward this adaptation being stock from the factory. The plug/filler in the normal hole position is a Schwinn factory type flat rivet, another indication this may have been a factory adaptation for an unusually tall bike in 1957.

 

 

 The process is similar to the bridge clip method described above, but you need one more piece of information: where to locate the new L-bracket mount hole. I found that the L-bracket mount hole for the tall frame moves 1+1/8 inches, center-to-center, up the fender (the direction toward the rear of the fender).

Note - the rear of the fender is to the RIGHT

So those are your two methods to adapt "standard" Schwinn rear fenders to your tall frame three speed.

(1) you can use the Raleigh-style method of a bridge clip, which I think is easier.

(2) you can drill a new L-bracket hole and re-mount your L-bracket in the correct tall frame position. This is more in keeping with Schwinn's practices in fitting a rear fender, but requires getting that new hole position right. My measurement is the new hole should be 1+1/8 inch, center-to-center, farther back on the fender.