Anybody know? serial #FTP00009
Thanks

Your frame was built in June of 1982. The P doesn't jibe with a Sting frame, though.The Sting has a T for a third digit. The F is for June -sixth month, sixth letter in the alphabet. Schwinn started in 1965 with an A as a year symbol. Just count up from there, leaving out I and O and get T or 1982.

Post up some pics. Here is my Sting. Does yours look like this? Maybe you have a Sting Comp?

It does look like yours, it has the round head badge screwed on , 5" head tube, brazed at the head tube, tig welded every where else, the seat tube is tri or bo ovaled at the bottom bracket. I will post pics when i figure out how to.

thanks for the replies

TIG doesn't sound right. Are you sure?Stings are brazed all over.Some of the later versions with 5" head tubes were welded, but were made overseas. There is an intresting thread on a Schwinn collectors site from a couple of years ago that explained alot of Sting mysteries. I"ll see if I can find it.

http://www.schwinnbike.com/heritage/showthread.php?t=25897

This is the thread. Many great facts from people that know.

Thanks for the link, very interesting. That is why I am confused, i't has a brazed head tube and welded rear triangle. Here are the pictures.

The rest of the pics.

From your photos, it looks loike you have a standard Sting frame.The rear end does not look welded to me.It looks to be brazed like all the rest.Are there beeds around the drops? I didn't see any but your pictures are a little tough to see much detail in.Maybe some close ups of the dropouts?

I saw that frame on ebay and was real close to trying to win it. It is a unique Sting no doubt about it. From the pics in the auction you can see that Blake is correct in that it's brazed at the head tube and TIG welded everywhere else. I think it is a frame from the transition of the last days of true brazed Stings and the first Predator Stings. It may even be a prototype or team issue frame. I have seen a pic of one other similar frame in the last 5 years but that's it.

A "normal" Sting serial number is a little different than the rest of the Schwinn line since they were built in the Paramount room. Typically the 1st letter is the month code, the next digit is the year (9=1979, 0=1980, 1=1981), the third character is always a T in a Sting (Not Sting Comp) which means Tri-oval tubing, the last numbers are the sequential production #'s

Blake's serial # FTP00009 I think designates the 9th Tri-oval Predator (TP) made. Based on this I would put the date of the bike at early to mid 1982 because that was when Schwinn was phasing out the "true" Paramount style Stings and was experimenting with ways to cut the costs of production with the upcoming Predator line.

Either way, Nice bike and I'm jealous! I was really thinking hard about adding it to my Sting collection.

Here's a pic from the auction showing the TIG welded rear dropout:

Scott and Smokin Steve,
Thanks for even taking the time to solve this mystery of mine. I owned one of the first Stings made back in '79. I saw this one on the Bay and just jumped on it without doing any research. When it arrived I noticed the "non" brazed rear triangle and thought "what's this". I'll probably do a light resto on it and continue my "wiser" search for an earlier Sting.
Thanks again

Glad I could help Blake. Sorry It isn't what you were looking for though. Good luck in your search and you are welcome to contact me if you need any help in your research. If you want to sell the Predator Sting you have now, let me know.