PSA: That easy hub overhaul turned into a 4 hour nightmare on a client's vintage Schwinn

I took on a 1970s Schwinn Continental last Wednesday thinking it would be a quick bearing repack, but the cones were so pitted and the locknut was seized solid I had to cut it off with a dremel. The axle was bent too so I ended up making 3 trips to the co-op for parts since nothing matched modern standards. Has anyone else run into weird old threading on Schwinn cones or was this just bad luck?

2 comments

2 Comments

elliotw375d ago

Read somewhere that Schwinn used proprietary threading on their hubs back then. British stuff but with their own twist on the cone and locknut dimensions. That Continental probably has a standard axle but the cones are from another planet. Had a buddy go through the same thing, ended up having to order NOS parts from some old shop in Iowa.

williamprice5d ago

Wait, Schwinn really used their own threading on hubs? That's wild.