Mike G’s 1972 Schwinn World Traveler

Posted

It’s been a REALLY long time since our last backsidagarägdorotype, fortunately, we have a few in the queue right now. This is Mike G’s one-owner ’72 Schwinn World Traveler.

Hello,

I am not a Passionate bicyclist, I do enjoy riding, instead of taking an automobile, whenever I can, and occasionally take joy rides, . I am pretty, passionate about my ol’ 1972 Schwinn World Traveler, though. I bought my World Traveler when I was a Junior in High School, and after graduating and going to work I had lost the desire to ride, and I figured I had no use for the bike any longer. The World Traveler was given to one of my cousins.

In 2005, at age 48, my cousin returned my World Traveler to me. I was thrilled to have it back; it did need a bit of TLC. I was grateful for the care my cousin had given the World Traveler; it needed no more than a bit of surface rust removed and bit of polish.

I discovered your website and noticed your invitation to send pictures and descriptions; I took the liberty to send these photos of my 1972 Schwinn World Traveler; serial #2K01667.

Thanks for this opportunity.

Mike G. – Mazon, IL

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  • Bob H.

    Gorgeous bike, Mike!

  • Bob H.

    This was the very first Schwinn model imported from Japan. Interestingly it’s not listed in the ’72 Schwinn catalog.

    http://www.schwinncruisers.com/schwinn-documentation/1972-schwinn-bicycle-catalog/

  • Raincity

    Very pretty. What kind of components does it have on it? Thanks for sharing

  • Beater RezQ

    I have the exact same bike manufactured in 1971 for the 1972 year, Panasonic made as well. ‘Course, yours was cared for a little bit more carefully than mine was. The blue color is amazingly bright and nearly glows, my Traveler is yellow with touring bars instead of drops. Wanna trade…chuckle, chuckle. NICE!
    Beater RezQ

  • Ryan Surface

    Wow what a clean machine! I can see why you love it.

  • Hugh

    This is a very interesting bike.. It really shows Schwinn making the move towards building lighter bikes with Japanese components .You can see they were not willing at this point to fully commit, as they were still using the One-Piece “Ashtabula” Crank.
    I wonder if they had made the changes sooner and were more committed to building lighter faster bikes? Maybe they would still be around today. Now they are just a name plate that someone else owns the rights to. A sad ending for a company that was once considered “in it`s hay day” to be the finest bike builder in the USA. I know this is true because I was there on my Blue 1967 Sting-Ray.

  • Mike Grieff

    Cameron recently sent me a Thanks for Sharing email, so I came to this page to check out the pics of my WT that I submitted. I was surprised, and I am flattered, with the comments on my WT; Thanks to you all.
    Better RezQ, I am a bit partial to the color Yellow; I did pause for a second at your comment; LOL!
    The only, components that I replaced during it’s ‘refresh / clean up was the front sprocket shift mechanism; not aware of what brand it is; I ran to the Schwinn store in Morris, IL and got one to replace the worn out / broken original.
    Thanks again, all for the nice comments.

    • BeaterRezQ

      Mike,
      If you ever come back to this old post, just thought you might like to see my WT. My serial #2F18340 makes it just a few months older than yours.
      Someday maybe we can compare components, I don’t believe that mine is totally original seeing that I added a Mesinger seat and maybe a derailleur.
      I have read and believe (IMHO) the WT and the WV were the first nails in Schwinn’s coffin; an introduction of a well made Japanese bike (Panasonic aka World) into the American market.
      Any wonder why this model was not listed in the Schwinn catalog, coincidence..?
      BRQ

  • allen frierson

    how much is a 1972 world traveler worth to day