First official ride on the Schwinn

Wednesday, Sep 2. 2009  –  Category: Outdoors

Chucked the too-long brakes, salvaged one of the original ones, replaced it with the new brake cable + lever + pads, finangled it back onto the frame (front brake only!) and did what any sensible rider wouldn’t do:

rode it into work.

And it rode! The seat angle was too steep, the brake required me to manhandle it with two hands for quick stopping, but it sure rode. Was a trippy sensation riding a single-speed… I kept reaching for some gear shifters and not finding any. I ordered some new brake calipers that should be arriving soon. I also got the new crankset (Pake 46T-165mm) and chain today. Looking at all the tools needed to get the bottom bracket and crankset on though, I’m inclined to just take it to Wheels of Justice or Tip Top Bikes and have them install those.

Next up: powdercoating the frame. Found a place in South San Francisco called West Coast Powdercoating that’ll do frame + fork for $120. I’m going to take it over there next week and get this baby done up right… so time to strip the frame back down again!

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4 Comments to “First official ride on the Schwinn”

  1. kreeger Says:
    September 2nd, 2009 at 22:31

    rides good too

  2. Chris Gerhard Says:
    September 3rd, 2009 at 01:05

    Do you have a freewheel or is it fixed?

    If you are going to get the frame powder coated then don’t fit the crank until after that is done and let a bike shop do it. They should have the tools that will clear the bottom bracket threads which invariably in my experience end up with paint/powder on them so need to be cleared.

  3. Stephen Lau Says:
    September 3rd, 2009 at 05:45

    @chrisg: It’s a flip/flop hub. I’ll probably try it out fixed a couple of times just for shits and giggles, but will probably leave it as single speed freewheel most of the time since it’ll be my commute bike.

  4. Blake Says:
    October 18th, 2009 at 16:07

    Nice! I’me working on fixing up my grandpa’s late 60′s early 70′s Schwinn Super Sport. Did you have to get any kind of adapter for your new bottom bracket/crankset? Good luck! Please post photos of the completed project!

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