Long story but cool!
I was cruising through a neighborhood looking for an old bike clinging to life in some bushes or leaning cool against a shed when I spotted an rust bucket cantilever leaning cool against an old shed. I stopped, knocked but never got a reply. Came back a few days later and the homeowner was home. I asked about the old bike and she said it wasn't for sale. I asked if I could look at it anyways and said "Sure!" So we strolled back to her shed and she told me that she bought the bike new for a 59 year old son when he was a kid. Turns out the bike wasn't a schwinn but just a cool Columbia. She said that the son wanted it fixed up and rideable but the guy that was going to do it wouldn't show up. I offered to fix it and have it done before Christmas...well that was like December 20th...what was I thinking, but I took the challenge and went for it. We got a truck and picked it Dec. 21st at a dark and started the next morning. We dropped it off last night. I asked if the bike looked like it did and she thought it was pretty close. The son was out of town but should be riding it soon.
I rode the bike and it was...AWESOME! Rode smoothly, took the corners easy and just overall felt great!
We replaced the following:
Wheels
Tires
tubes
Hubs (came with the wheels
Crank
Sprocket
Pedals
Chainguard
Seat
Bars
Neck
Grips
Chain
What we took off were great Rat Rod parts but too much work for our time period. So the wheel hoops, Hubs, Chainguard, sprocket and maybe bars will be posted for sale if anyone is interested. Thanks and Merry Christmas!
