[Steve Barcak]

[QUOTE=Steve Barcak;4186968]

In the abve post I mention 'prior to late 1963' because that was the time Schwinn introduced a new type of bike that changed everything. Introducing the new Schwinn Stingray! Almost overnight, the trend in kids bikes went from somewhat blause' 26" med weights to sleek 20" Stingrays with butterfly handle bars and banana seats.


The Sting Ray was an enourmous success and soon there were variations from Schwinn including the Deluxe, the Slick Chic, etc. In 1968 the ultimate Stingray was released by Schwinn.
Known as the 'Krates" they were originally offered in 3 colors- Red "Apple Krate", Orange "Orange Krate" and yellow "Lemon Peeler".
These bikes had a smaller 16" front wheel/tire with a motorcycle style front drum brake, springer front fork, pogo type front seat post, colored ( to match the bikes indivdual color ) rear slick, 5 speed with car style shifter, 'mag' chrome front sproket, etc. These were the ultimate "muscle bikes' and were patterend after the popularity of musclecars.

If you were a kid in the '68 to '73 time frame, this was the ultimate Christmas or birthday present.



Note this early photographed version does not have the rear slick matching colored striped tire that the production versions had.

With 5 speeds they were very fast too!