Looking Where to Start

[ThorSonic]

I have a 1978 Schwinn Superior touring bike. Chrom-moly frame and forks. I could never sell it, since it was the first bike I bought with my own money after watching sit in the shop unsold for years (they wanted about $800 list for it.) They finally sold it to me for less than half and it served me well back in the day. Other bikes have come and gone, but I just could sell this.

Not much has been updated and I'm wondering what I would need to do to update this bike, what sort of limitations I might have, and what measurements I need to make to see how much work would have to be done to get modern components on my vintage baby.

Thanks,

Richard

[bigwheel]

I have a 1978 Schwinn Superior touring bike. Chrom-moly frame and forks. I could never sell it, since it was the first bike I bought with my own money after watching sit in the shop unsold for years (they wanted about $800 list for it.) They finally sold it to me for less than half and it served me well back in the day. Other bikes have come and gone, but I just could sell this.

Not much has been updated and I'm wondering what I would need to do to update this bike, what sort of limitations I might have, and what measurements I need to make to see how much work would have to be done to get modern components on my vintage baby.

Thanks,

Richard

Hey, Richard. Nice to see you on the group ride yesterday.

I have a similar situation. My road bike is one that I built from scratch about 20 years ago, and has been a great bike. It has a 27inch cromoly frame, (which is hard to find now), touring wheels with Phil wood hubs, a nice sealed bottom bracket and head set, indexed pinky shifters, etc. I even built up an extra set of 27x1 wheels (also Phil Wood) with slicks and different gearing for when I wanted to try to ride with the fast people. It is a really comfortable bike for long rides, and I'd hate to part with it.

Unfortunately, it has 27x 1 1/4 (not 700c) wheels and Suntour components. Suntour used to make nice equipment for a reasonable price. Unfoutunately, they went out of business about 10 years ago.

Last summer, I added up the cost to upgrade/convert it, and decided I'd be better off to just buy a new bike.

I salvaged the front hub from my extra wheels, and laced it up to my mountain bike, but the rear hub (suntour compatible) is now useless.

My wife's bike is in a similar situation. So, last spring we decided that if we got over 500 miles on our road bikes that summer, we'd buy ourselves new ones. We didn't reach that goal, so, we're still riding our old ones for now. We did some maintenance on them, and they are still riding fine, but you can no longer get good 27-inch tires, and it is impossible to find compatible derailleurs, rear clusters, shifters, etc.:cryin:

[funky-funky-chicken]

I have a 1978 Schwinn Superior touring bike. Chrom-moly frame and forks. I could never sell it, since it was the first bike I bought with my own money after watching sit in the shop unsold for years (they wanted about $800 list for it.) They finally sold it to me for less than half and it served me well back in the day. Other bikes have come and gone, but I just could sell this.

Not much has been updated and I'm wondering what I would need to do to update this bike, what sort of limitations I might have, and what measurements I need to make to see how much work would have to be done to get modern components on my vintage baby.

Thanks,

Richard

Richard, what you have is now called a classic. It sounds like it would be one of the last hand-built fillet brazed Schwinns. While new components certainly offer more technology, you might be surprised by simply tuning up your old bike and just riding it the way that it is. Check out a quick little article over on Sheldon Brown for some more information about the classic brazed Schwinns: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/schwinn-braze.html

Everyone certainly has thier own opinion as to what roll technology has played in the bicycle industry. I will agree that there have been improvements in some materials and their usage in components. Not everything that is new is actually better. I have certainly taken a more "retro" approach. I have put two new road bikes into my collection, both complete with friction shifting.

You might be better off somewhat "leaving" your old bike as a classic favorite, still very rideable and looking for something new to start with... These new kinds of bikes are very affordable compared with your "other kind of bike!"

[ThorSonic]

Yes, it is fillet-brazed. My concern is getting tires for the 27 1/4 rims, but it sounds like there is no way around it. The bike is fully serviceable as it is (except the head is loose) it just hasn't seen the road since '96 so tires and tubes are the main issue. Indexed shifting would be nice, but what do you do?

[bigwheel]

Yes, it is fillet-brazed. My concern is getting tires for the 27 1/4 rims, but it sounds like there is no way around it. The bike is fully serviceable as it is (except the head is loose) it just hasn't seen the road since '96 so tires and tubes are the main issue. Indexed shifting would be nice, but what do you do?

I wasn't saying that you can't get tires. Most shops still stock the 27 x 1 1/4 tires. You just cant get the really good fold-ups. The loose head is probably just the nut under the handlebar stem. However, while you're messing with it, it might be worth re-packing the bearings, and checking that you didn't lose any.

[funky-funky-chicken]

There are still plenty of tires available in the 27 inch (630mm ISO size) size. If you decide that you truly want to upgrade your bike, you might be able to switch over to 700c (622mm ISO) diameter. The limiting factor here will be your brakes. I'm guessing that you probably have some old Weinmann centerpull brakes on there. You could switch over to 700 if you have enough adjustment in the brakes to make up for the 4mm difference in radius between the two sizes of wheels. The other issue will be rear spacing for the hub. I think that you are at 126mm(maybe 120mm) spacing for a 5 speed freewheel. The frame being steel, you could cold-set and reset the spacing to accomodate more modern parts.

You might be able to modernize your old bike, but I would recommend tuning it up and trying it out as it is. Evaluate some other "new" bikes to test out some of the features you are considering for the old bike. Ballpark figure, you'd be looking at the $500+ range for new parts. You might be able to scrounge through the basement at One On One sometime and find some older quality used parts and save a substantial amount of $. Compatibility then would be the challenge. Of course, what I might do would be to convert it over to a singlespeed and just ride it as is. No need to worry about much then....:)

[mtnbykr]

....and it is impossible to find compatible derailleurs, rear clusters, shifters, etc.:cryin:

ever check here??

http://search.ebay.com/suntour_Sporting-Goods_W0QQsofocusZbsQQsbrftogZ1QQsaetmZ1109504248Q QfromZR10QQ
sacatZ382QQcatrefZC6QQftrtZ1QQftrvZ1QQsadisZ200QQf posZ55803QQfsop
Z2QQfsooZ2QQcoactionZcompareQQcopagenumZ1QQcoentry pageZsearch

[you'll need to copy/paste cuz i can't figure ou how to get the text wrap]

kl

[LightWeight]

Sounds like a good fixie project to me... ;)

[bigwheel]

ever check here??

http://search.ebay.com/suntour_Sporting-Goods_W0QQsofocusZbsQQsbrftogZ1QQsaetmZ1109504248Q QfromZR10QQ
sacatZ382QQcatrefZC6QQftrtZ1QQftrvZ1QQsadisZ200QQf posZ55803QQfsop
Z2QQfsooZ2QQcoactionZcompareQQcopagenumZ1QQcoentry pageZsearch

[you'll need to copy/paste cuz i can't figure ou how to get the text wrap]

kl

No, I handn't even considered looking at eBay. Great idea, Thanks!

[jjrsds]

Specialized makes a 27 X1 1/4 tire called All condition armadillo, and I think they have one or two other versions. I am sure that you can find that tire size from a few other manufactors. Good luck.

[funky-funky-chicken]

Continental still makes the Top Tour 2000 in a 27x1 1/4 too.

[el gueche]

and if not a fixe, how about a singlespeed - wonderful for getting into shape

[ThorSonic]

There are still plenty of tires available in the 27 inch (630mm ISO size) size. If you decide that you truly want to upgrade your bike, you might be able to switch over to 700c (622mm ISO) diameter. The limiting factor here will be your brakes. I'm guessing that you probably have some old Weinmann centerpull brakes on there. You could switch over to 700 if you have enough adjustment in the brakes to make up for the 4mm difference in radius between the two sizes of wheels. The other issue will be rear spacing for the hub. I think that you are at 126mm(maybe 120mm) spacing for a 5 speed freewheel. The frame being steel, you could cold-set and reset the spacing to accomodate more modern parts.

Ken, you are a walking bike encyclopedia! Yep, Weinmann centerpulls (always meant to replace those) and rims. The bike was stolen and recovered at one point and I may have replaced the SunTour components, at least in the rear. I also put a 6 speed freewheel on it. The thief removed the "Superior" graphic, which is a bummer.

What I like best about it is the fork flex (frame too?) for riding on city streets and the occasional dirt trail. I was really hoping to at least get components to improve shifting, but it sounds like it's best to just ride and enjoy my vintage bike. Now, if I can just get my 1956 Schwinn Corvette working - it is in sad shape.

Richard

[GearDaddy]

If you're interested, I do have some 6-speed components originally from my '87 Trek. I have SunTour Cyclone front and rear derailleurs (they work great) and crankset (not the greatest). Also, I have a set of 700c wheels, namely Mavic MA40's with Campy hubs with a 6-speed freewheel (largest cog is 21T - in my younger days I actually rode with a 42T/21T as my smallest gearing - not anymore!).