OK, let me start by saying that as much as I love old bikes, I don't have much experience with anything made before the '70s. I was born in 1969 and played with all kinds of bikes in the '70s and '80s till I got my drivers' license. Fast forward to now... I have a Motobecane road bike from about 1985, a Mongoose Rockadile mountain bike from about 1992, a Mongoose 20-inch BMX from 1982 or 83, and some random 20-inch stuff--mainly a couple of BFKs. None of these seem to flex much when I pedal, although the BFKs with the apes on them are obviously a little twisty if you try to crank them hard. Now, a couple weeks ago, I found this 1963 Schwinn Fleet languishing in the back room of my LBS. I liberated it from the dungeon, aired up the tires, and it was good to go. Today was the first chance I've had to really ride it around at all... wow. It rides nice, very smooth and quiet, just a little squeak from the BB that should go away with a little cleaning/regreasing. But what freaks me out is the way this thing flexes at any kind of pressure or pulling on the bars. I stood on the pedals to ride across the grass in the yard and at first i thought I was gonna twist the stem out of the fork tube or something. I can SEE the bars and stem twist upward and to the side as I pedal. So I backed off and took it easy. When I stand in front of the bike and hold the front wheel between my knees, I can get about 1/2" - 3/4" of twist at the ends of the bars without trying too hard. At first I thought the stem was twisting in the fork tube, but then I noticed the headset lockring was moving some with the stem... and the fork blades were moving and twisting a little too. I noticed that coasting really slow, when I wiggle the bars back and forth, there seems to be a little twist before the front wheel follows them. It was weird, but it reminded me of the only really old car I ever drove--in high school Auto Shop in 1987, the teacher let me bring a '56 Chevy across town to a friend's shop. I still remember the play and wiggle in the steering wheel, and this thing kinda reminded me of that. My '65 Impala has some of that too, actually.
Anyway, enough storytelling... is this normal for this type of bike? Do other bikes (non-Schwinn, I guess) this old flex this much? Might it have something to do with the blade-type fork? I always thought they were stiffer than "regular" ones...
thanks for any insight...
--rick
Anyway, enough storytelling... is this normal for this type of bike? Do other bikes (non-Schwinn, I guess) this old flex this much? Might it have something to do with the blade-type fork? I always thought they were stiffer than "regular" ones...
thanks for any insight...
--rick
