1979 Schwinn Spitfire 5
The Spitfire 5 was an attempt by Schwinn to ride the mountain bike wave without spending too much money. They added a drum brake, heavy duty spokes and 5 speeds to the regular cantilever frame to make a pseudo mountain bike. The Shimano Positron shifting system used a solid wire cable to push and pull the derailleur which has a series of detents that lined up with the gears. This was a very early attempt at indexed shifting. As the "Klunker" craze grew, this same bike was sold with a Klunker 5 name in certain markets. This bike was made in late 1979 which may make it a 1980 model year bike.Click on thumbnails below for larger images:
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