Skinny tire bike build, 10 speed

woodtickgreg

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Anybody interested in seeing a schwinn 10 speed build? This is to build a nice rider for me, not a perfect restoration. Here'some pics of what I started out with. A 1981 Schwinn sport tourer. The rear derailer came loose on the previous owner and got caught in the back wheel, broke a few spikes and bent the frame drop out a bit. I was going to part it out at first, but then I saw potential in it and decided to build a nice rider for myself.

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So I brought it home from storage and tore it down to bare frame.
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Once it was stripped it was off to the powdercoater. They sandblast and powdercoat ot for a very reasonable fee.
 
While the frame was away being powdercoated I started to work on cleaning and inspecting the parts. I started with glass bead blasting the chrome tipped fork at work to remove the old paint.20181020_150554.jpg20181020_152513.jpg20181020_152533.jpg
Some of the chrome was in really bad shape, pitted and flaking. A chrome shop near me wanted $200 to the chrome it. So I decided to sand off as much of the bad stuff as need and just repaint it and shorten up the chrome tips a little.
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Since the wheels where steel, pretty rusty, and the rear was bent and had broken spokes from getting the derailer cought in the wheel I picked up some nice sealed bearing alloy's with quick release axles. I cleaned the gear freewheel and it showed very little wear so I re used it with a new clear plastic spike protector. I greased the threads on the rear wheel hub and spun the freewheel on and tightened it up.20181021_113506.jpg20181021_170439.jpg20181021_170457.jpg20181021_170522.jpg20181021_170636.jpg20181021_171042.jpg
 
The wheels came drilled for presta valve stems, I do not like them and I never have, I guess I'm just old school. So I drilled them out one drill size st a time until I got to the right size hole for a shrader valve stem. Then I debured and chamfered the hole. Now they will take a standard size inner tube. I installed new rim strips, tubes, and new gumwall tires.
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Here's all the parts off the bike, there's lots of cleaning to be done. Rusty parts where cleaned with wd40 and a fine scotchbrite pad. Most alloy parts got a trip to the glass bead blast cabinet which leaves them with a very nice satiny finish.

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I picked up the frame from the powder coated and it came out great! A nice bright lime green. The powdercoated usually do a good job keeping the PC out of the holes but it still gets in after it goes in the oven and flows out. A wire brush on a drill at high speed is the trick to remove it from the threads in the bottom bracket for the crank. I then filed the PC off the flats to leave a flat surface for the bearing cups and lock ring to register against.
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And just to clean up any burrs on the threads I ran a bottom bracket tap through the holes to clean it up further. The threads will get greased before everything is reassembled with new crank bearings.
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Great job on the bike Greg. One more saved from the scrap bin. Mike
Thanks Mike. This is one of the last Schwinns made before they where sold to the Chinese. Schwinns today they are really just a name. This 1981 bike is a lightweight lugged high tensile steel frame. This one is also a very tall frame for me, I can stand flat foot over the top bar but barely, lol. But once on the saddle I'll get full leg extension. It's going to be a nice rider for me to put some serious miles on. I'm really more into the old school middle weight and heavy weight Schwinns. My collection of them is growing. I love to ride them around the neighborhood and car shows. Bikes and restoring them is something I can do with limited time available, I can work on a part at a time and walk away and come back to them as necessary. I'll be doing a nice cruiser for my girl after this one is done. Hers will be built up from a Schwinn American. But first I have to finish my 10 speed, lol. More to come.
 
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