One less old Schwinn in the landfill!

[smead]

My neighbor in his late 60s wants to start riding. He knows I wrench, so a month ago he tells me about this "nice road bike" he has in his barn and asks if I can get it on the road for him. I take a look at it and it's of course bad - rusty, all bearings notched/froze, HS and seatpost stuck, and it's a relatively entry level bike of its day (late 70s Schwinn Prelude w/ Suntour Cyclone 6 speed). I try to tell him it'll cost at least $100 in parts and he'll end up with a $50 bike, but he insists ..., OK I'm not scared.

I tell him I'll do all the work for a 12 pack if he buys the parts (tires, tubes, rim strips, cable housing, bar tape, and chain). He goes to LBS and is quickly up to $200. I end up getting all the stuff for him off Ebay for just $65 and used parts from my vintage stash for the rest. I really like to support my LBS, but for stuff like this, Ebay is tough to beat. I honestly don't understand how some Ebay sellers make money (bar tape and cable housing were $6 each shipped which is almost cost of shipping!).

I manage to get the HS unstuck and serviced and it is smooth and all good. BB bearings and races pretty shot, but it repacked good enough. Same with hub bearings. Rear wheel was a bitch to true with all nips froze on rusted spokes, but managed to get it to within 2mm. Seatpost is completely and permanently stuck, no way will it budge with my biggest pipe wrench and cheater bar and also bench vise. Before attempting to cut it out, he came over and I had just the right vintage saddle that gave a perfect fit seat height with the stuck post - yeah!!

Just finished er' up this AM and did final tune - it rides pretty darn good! And is a looker too! It'll be fun when he sees it - you are never too old to get excited about a "new" bike. Was a good fun project, and well worth the 12 pack.

[572cv]

Sweet. Particularly the gesture.:)

[pinkshogun]

maybe a set of safety levers (suicide brakes) so reach isnt that long?

nice machine and worth the effort you put into it

[happycampyer]

Probably one of the earliest examples of an integrated seatpost...

Great story and really great gesture!

[Doug Fattic]

I love reading these stories where someone helps someone else and in a small way makes the world a better place. The fact that it involves a bicycle is a bonus.

[oliver1850]

Nice project and probably a nicer bike than you are thinking. Looks to be mid 80s to me, and Cyclone was third in the line at the time so pretty nice stuff. Well worth the $65 in parts. I get more pleasure (and miles) out of my cheap bikes than my expensive ones. Fixed up two this year: an old Soma that had a crumpled front wheel, and an LX equipped Nishiki Cascade. I really enjoy saving a bike that nobody else seems to appreciate. Thanks to batman1425 for the 27" wheels.

[wildboar]

That Schwinn Prelude is from 1986-87. Columbus Tenax tubing.

[chuckroast]

Yeah, I had a Prelude that looked exactly like that one, same color and graphics. It was '89 or '90. It was a good riding bike.

[Peter B]

Good on ya Steve!

[Frankwurst]

Did the same thing for a friend of mine on his old Trek. He wanted to buy a new bike and I persuaded him to spend a little on the Trek he had and let me refurbish it with more of an upright riding position and fatter tires. I used parts I had on hand, repacked all the bearings and trued the wheels. It was a damn nice bike when all said and done. He took it for a ride and came back with a big smile on his face. He saved money and I felt good. Win,Win.:beer:

[smead]

Yeah, I had a Prelude that looked exactly like that one, same color and graphics. It was '89 or '90. It was a good riding bike.

Thanks for the good words.

Wow this thing has friction shifting 6 speed and 27" wheels, clearly Schwinn was raiding the leftover parts bin in the late 80s!

BTW if anyone has a spare SR non-drive crank arm laying around to contribute I'd appreciate it!

https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=244910&highlight=sakae

I was actually able to rethread the pedal into the stripped crankarm and it's pretty tight, but obviously not ideal.

[Spaghetti Legs]

Nice work on the rehab. The Prelude is a well regarded frame. I would call it a mid-level bike and definitely worth the effort of getting it back on the road. Good on ya.

[Dekonick]

Nice!

I will forever regret selling my bottom of the line Bridgestone MB-6

[wildboar]

You will find that there is AMPLE clearance for big tires on that frame. Definitely a retro sleeper!

http://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1981_1990/1986Ltwt30.html

[oliver1850]

Thanks for the good words.

Wow this thing has friction shifting 6 speed and 27" wheels, clearly Schwinn was raiding the leftover parts bin in the late 80s!

BTW if anyone has a spare SR non-drive crank arm laying around to contribute I'd appreciate it!

https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=244910&highlight=sakae

I was actually able to rethread the pedal into the stripped crankarm and it's pretty tight, but obviously not ideal.

The change to indexing for the Shimano groups below Dura Ace was in 1987 I think. Some 1987 bikes equipped with 600 had friction and some had the latest 6208 bits. SunTour wasn't far behind. My 1989 XCD (mid range) 6 speed MTB had indexed shifting, so I'd guess the upper range SunTour road groups had it for a year or two previously. Other companies stayed with 27" wheels on "sport" and touring bikes for quite a while. I know that Cannondale touring bikes used 27" through 1990. I'm guessing that there weren't a lot of options for wide 700C tires at the time, or that it was easier to find a 27" tire in BFE than a 700C.

How long is the crank arm? Doubt I have an orphan left but might have a pair that don't owe me anything, likely 170 mm. Somewhere (I think buldogge has it) I have a tap to put a pedal thread insert in a crank arm, but I can't remember which side I have. The inserts aren't very expensive.

[dddd]

Good build!

I've used red Loctite to achieve a solid connection where a pedal had stripped the threads in the arm. It held up to a lot of mtb riding, and I found it was still easy to remove using a pedal wrench when I replaced the pedals six months later.

The trick is to saturate the cleaned threads of both mating parts, and give it 24 hours to set. I use a hair drier to cure the Loctite faster, good and hot makes it set up within minutes.

[oldpotatoe]

Good on ya, great Christmas present for the guy..karma coming your way.
WE need a karma emoji-:)

[weisan]

This reminds me of an old post of mine...

https://forums.thepaceline.net/showpost.php?p=2135799&postcount=18

Walter pal is long gone but at least we still get to see his widow and kids every once in a while when we invite them over during the holidays like this past Thanksgiving. The last I heard, his 21-year-old son still have the bike. He said it reminds him of his dad and his love for the bike.

Bikes connect people.

[Red Tornado]

Very nice work! Always good to see an old bike brought back to life.

Regarding the Suntour group, I had Cyclone II on my first road bike, a Bridgestone 500. 6-speed freewheel & friction shifters. Kept that bike for a long time & it saw a few different drive trains/wheel sets while I had it. Kinda wish I still had it sometimes. It was a very comfortable frame.