Old is the New New

While I've been taking some time away from blogging, I've been getting emails from a whole bunch of people with old bikes. Some are from readers who want to share photos and stories about their bikes, which I love, while some have been one-liners: "how old and/or valuable is my bike" -- which I hate. Short answers: "I don't know" and "not very."

But anyway. So, I guess I'm back to blogging now. Here are some old bikes from readers. Enjoy!

John's 1969 Schwinn Racer, 1974 Schwinn Breeze, and 1977 Schwinn Speedster:

And Wayne's 1970s Fleetwing and 1964 Raleigh Superbe:

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Schwinn Tire Sizing

Left: Original Schwinn S-5  Right: Kenda Replacement

A commenter recently asked about where to find tires to fit a Schwinn Racer. This is a common enough question, so I thought I'd do a post about it. I should point out that I don't really know anything about tire sizes on other models of Schwinn, just the 3-speeds that supposedly take a 26 x 1 3/8" tire.

The thing is, a 26 x 1 3/8" English-size tire (or tyre, if you will) is not the same as a Schwinn-size 26 x 1 3/8" tire. I know, I know. Schwinn had a different rim/tire sizing system where rims were sized S-5, S-6, S-7 and so on. My 1961 Schwinn Racer, and other Schwinn three-speeds of similar vintage, came with either an S-5 or S-6 rim, which are the same size and will take the same tire/tube (the shape of the rim is slightly different, but does not affect the size).

The only tires that I could find on the market today in this size are made by Kenda, and they're not at all expensive.  Harris Cyclery sells them online here. By the way, the I.S.O. (International Organization for Standarization) number for these is 37-597, which may help if you can get your local bike shop to order them for you. Cosmetically, they're a good match for the original tires (see above).

Clear as mud? For more on Schwinn tire sizing, see a lively discussion here. And, of course, Sheldon Brown weighed in on the topic here. Anyone with other (better) info should post it in the comments below. I just hope Kenda keeps making those tires.

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Be Vewy Quiet...

When hunting old bikes in the wild, it is best to approach downwind and observe them unawares. If they catch your scent, they will often run off, but can be easily tracked by the trail of rusty nuts and bolts they leave behind, as well as their trademark squeals. Spotted in Balboa Park last weekend; a Schwinn Racer, I believe, with a slightly different handlebar shape than mine.

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Meet the "Grocery Racer"

Here's the finished product on the 1962 Schwinn Racer refurbishment. The bottom bracket, headset, hubs, everything, were almost completely pristine once cleaned up, and although there's nothing more I can do with the paint (can't bring it back if it's gone) short of repainting it, which I'm not about to do for a long time, I kind of like the "beater" look. I took the front fender off because it raised a godawful ruckus, even on perfectly smooth pavement (which is hard to come by around here).

The hub shifts well, except for skipping in third. I've done all the exterior troubleshooting I can do, so I think it's a pawl issue on the inside. For now, I'm not going to worry about it, since this thing is so freakin' heavy with the rear rack and crate, and there are hills between our house and the grocery store, ain't no one going to be riding this bike in third for a long time!

It's going to live in the courtyard we share with our neighbors for use as a communal grocery-getter and errand-runner. If, that is, anyone feels strong enough to haul it down the six steps to the sidewalk!

Here's the crate attachment system, which seems provisionally very stable after a short test-run with weight this morning. Just a basic rear rack with a wooden crate attached via wood screws. The crate is not well-constructed and the wood is super crap, but it was free, so I'm not complaining. I reinforced all the connections with copious amounts of wood glue, and put a couple of coats of spar varnish to keep the moisture out.

 

Looking down into the bed of the crate:

Below, the anchor slat under the rack.

(BTW, from the photo above, it looks like the fender rubs, but it doesn't.)

I cut the crate down (it was taller) and used one of the extra slats to anchor to under the rack (see photos), then laid another slat in the bottom of the crate and ran the screws down through these two "sandwich" pieces, going through the bottom slats of the crate for good measure.

All in all, the whole thing is a very solid, no-nonsense, utilitarian machine. It sits you bolt-upright, and the bars come back far enough that you don't have to reach at all. I think it would probably look more at home on a country road, or leaning up against the side of a barn, than in the city, but it'll be great for trips to the farmer's market.

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Chicago: Land of Schwinn

So, I've been out of town for a few days, back to Chicago, where we used to live. Although it was not the primary purpose for my trip, I couldn't help but take a whole lot of photos of all the old bikes hanging around my old neighborhood of Hyde Park (and President Obama's neighborhood, woot!), and the campus of the University of Chicago. There are waaay more old bikes around than when I used to live there, go figure.

In the heyday of the mid-twentieth century bicycle boom, Chicago was to Schwinn as Nottingham was to Raleigh. Nowadays, Schwinns are no longer built in Chicago, nor are they likely to last as long as these bikes have.

I have another post or two in the queue about all the neglected old bikes I saw, but all of these seemed to have been used fairly recently, if not necessarily kept in the best shape.

Many of the bikes I encountered, including several of the above, had stickers from the Working Bikes Cooperative, which I've posted about before.

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Schwinn Resources

Now that I'm working on another Schwinn (we have two now, my wife's 1977 Suburban and this one), I'm taking them a bit more seriously. I'm not sure why, but I haven't always been the biggest fan of Schwinns. Now that I've spent some time with this one, I'm really coming to appreciate their quality and style--especially the quality.

So, here are some links I've been collecting over the last couple of days. Please suggest more in the comments if you have them. There is a real community of Schwinn fanatics out there ("enthusiasts" doesn't seem like a strong enough word!), and I know a lot of visitors end up here at the OBB looking for Schwinn stuff. The few posts I've done on my wife's Suburban are by far the most visited.

Eventually, I'll create a dedicated section of links in the sidebar for Schwinn resources. Until then, here are a few good ones. I get the feeling I'm just scratching the surface here, so please give me more!

Schwinn Serial Numbers

Schwinn Forums

Schwinn Lightweight Data Book

By the way, I keep accidentally typing "Scwhinn", so if you catch one that I haven't corrected, do let me know, since it will affect how people find what they're looking for on my blog.

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