"Red Rodster" - Never Done - New Pics 4/14

[the_undecider]

This build is going to take a while, so this should be fun updating as I go. My last built "El Raton" was a 63 Schwinn Typhoon that I bought mostly ratted out and all I did was throw on some apes and a layback post. That is hardly a build. The bike was fun, but I quickly lost interest, so I sold it.

I have been seeing some cool fat tire Schwinn Varsity builds and thought about doing one. Then, I decided I wanted to build one to look like something out of the 30s or 40s, but instead run 700c tires with cream tires. Also, I want a 2 speed kickback hub and front drum brake. I've been scouring Craigslist when this 80s Schwinn Le Tour came up for sale. The red really caught my eye and it got the creative juices flowing. I thought how awesome would a red bike look with brown saddle and grips with cream color tires? I think quite awesome.

The seller wanted $100 which was way too much for as rough as it was. Its also a low-end bike, but with what I have planned, no matter. I noticed it had a nice looking Sugino Maxy crank and a decent alloy stem which I could reuse. Everything else is getting ditched. The seller ended up taking $40 for it. I've paid less for these bikes, but it had everything I wanted.

Here is the bike as found:

Crankset that I will remove the small ring and run that 52T with a 22T rear cog which will be a decent low gear when combined with the 2 speed KB:

Chicago Schwinn Badge:

Most of the parts stripped off the frame. Keeping the wheels on it for now so I can roll it around:

I am planning to polish the frame and make it looks as good as possible. There are a lot of scuffs I think will come out. I also plan to remove all the decals except for maybe the Schwinn medallion at the upper end of the seat tube:

Looks like these are Union pedals. They say made in Germany. I think they will clean up nicely, but will only put effort into them if I can get them apart so they can be rebuilt. I have no idea if I will be able to adjust the bearing preload:

The general look of the bike will be dictated by the handlebars I plan to use. So far, my favorites are these Velo Orange Porteur bars:

Next step is cleaning up the frame. I am going to hold off on ordering some parts since there is a swap meet this weekend. The most expense parts will be for the wheels. That may take a while. Such is live and I must delay gratification.

 

[MplsCoaster]

Re: Red Hot Roadster or Rojo'dster

Lookign forward to your build.
I like fat tires on triangle frames and love my Portuer bars too.
Is that a huge frame or is it just me?

 

[the_undecider]

Re: Red Hot Roadster or Rojo'dster

Lookign forward to your build.
I like fat tires on triangle frames and love my Portuer bars too.
Is that a huge frame or is it just me?

It's 64 cm which Schwinn called a 25".

If I have some time tonight, I am going to test fit some 700x40c tires I have on my other bike to see how much tire I can fit.

 

[the_undecider]

Re: Red Hot Roadster or Rojo'dster

I did a little mock-up using the wheels and tires from my single speed commuter (that I don't use to commute, haha). These are 700 x 42c tires and they just fit the chain stays with enough room to hopefully allow some clearance from rubbing in what I expect may be a whippy frame.

Fork has a decent amount of room:

Here I have it all stripped down so I can start detailing the frame with polishing compound. I have begun removing some decals. These dryed out water transfers come off pretty easy, but I gave up as it was getting late and had not yet started dinner.

As I was going to leave the original paint, I think I am going to leave all of the cable braze-ons attached. I thought about getting one of the brown leather top tube protectors sold by Velo Orange (when they ever get them back in stock) which would cover up the spots from where I cut those braze-ons from the frame. Their brown color looks someone similar to honey brown used on Brooks and other knock-off saddles.

After studying the stance of the bike, I realized that this is not just a really tall bike, but also rather compact in length. The top tube on this is only 58cm despite having a 64cm seat tube. I found that the seatpost is 25.4mm in diameter which will allow me to run a slightly laid back post. That will visually lengthen the bike, let me run the saddle a tad lower and thus keep the bars lower, so I hope that it doesn't make the posture too upright. The gearing on this bike is going to be such that it will fly down the road and I need to be slightly stooped over to cheat the wind.

I am looking forward to the swap meet this weekend and hope to find a few pieces for the build.

 

[iven]

Re: Red Hot Roadster or Rojo'dster

'little Roadbike newb question'
i have a similar schwinn..
whats the difference in 27in' tires verses 700cc?

i know not much of anything about roadbikes 'im more of a bmx musclebike/chopper guy' :|

 

[gobble_doc]

Re: Red Hot Roadster or Rojo'dster

'little Roadbike newb question'
i have a similar schwinn..
whats the difference in 27in' tires verses 700cc?

i know not much of anything about roadbikes 'im more of a bmx musclebike/chopper guy' :|

Not alot . 700c have a 622 bead diameter where as a 27'' has a 630.
You can't mix and match the rims and tyres but your can certainly swap 700c wheel/tyres onto a 27" frame.

The other thing to consider is brakes, if your running 700C in a 27" frame you need to investigate the brakes.

I know they make calipers with a longer than normal adjustment so they will drop down an extra 10mm or so, I don't know about cantilever stuff.

 

[iven]

Re: Red Hot Roadster or Rojo'dster

i dont know.. the wheels are 27x3/8 or 27x1in Arayas.. can i run 700c tires?

also do you know if this is Letour or Tour 2 or what model it is?
would be apprieated..

'i want to Flip this ride' for money on my MotorStingray build..
sofar only $10 invested in this Schwinn ??? whatever roadbike

 

[the_undecider]

Re: Red Hot Roadster or Rojo'dster

Iven, what you have appears to be a Japanese built Schwinn (notice it says Schwinn Approved on the head badge). Not sure if that's a Le Tour 2 or not. Appears to be slightly older than mine based on some of the components. Also, my understanding of Schwinn's entrance into the lightweight bike market was that they originally produced their own bikes (Varsity, Continental, Super Sport, Sports Tourer), then in the early 70s imported from Japan, then in late 70s began producing lugged/brazed frames in Chicago, and then switched production to Taiwan by having Giant make their bikes.

You might be able to run 700c wheels and tires if your brakes still have some adjustment. The brake pads will need to be able to move about 4mm in the slots on the brake caliper arms. If you are just trying flip your bike, it isn't going to be cost effective to switch the wheels unless you find some for free or cheap. If those 27s are serviceable, I'd just go with those and replace the tires if needed.

My bike isn't going to have brake calipers, so I have no worries about switching wheels.

 

[the_undecider]

Re: Red Hot Roadster or Rojo'dster

I have made a slight bit of progress by purchasing some handlebars. Originally, I was thinking the VO Porteur. After seeing them in person, they were all wrong (too narrow, not enough room for grips and a brake lever, too much back sweep). Instead, I grabbed a set of VO Milan bars and flipped them upside down. I really like the overall look and they feel similar to what I have on both my mountain bike and singlespeed, except narrower. Here they are:

Then, I paid a visit to the local community coop bike shop to see if I could find a layback seatpost (struck out) and a narrower bottom bracket spindle to experiment with dialing in the chain line since it was way too wide:

Looks like I need a 113mm spindle. I will end up with a seat cartridge unit, but will probably start out rebuilding what I have. I mocked up the bike with the wheels and tires from my other bike:

That is all I have done for now. My next step is to prep the frame, rebuild the headset, and clean up the parts I am going to reuse (stem and crankset). I have some ideas floating around in my head to make this frame pop a little more. The funky orange stripes will go along with the rest of the Schwinn script. The fork appears to be fully chromed from what I can see in some paint chips at the top of the legs. I haven't decided whether I want to remove all the paint. I may leave the paint and redo the strips covering the seam between paint and chrome. Question is, what color?

The frame has a bunch of little chips and scratches. I am going to touch up what I can, but the dropouts are a little rough and wouldn't touch up that well. I recently saw a bike on this site where someone had used a chrome spray paint that actually looks a bit like chrome. If I can find a decent chrome paint, I might paint the dropouts and a few inches up the seat and chain stays to make it sorta match the front.

I was also thinking about lopping off some of the brake and shift cables braze-ons. The ones on the top tube aren't much of a concern as far as hiding where I cut and ground the frame since I will be wrapping the top tube with a leather protector. I was thinking the shift cable fittings on the down tube could be concealed with some tape strips. I was thinking brown and cream (cream on the outside) and then lining the lugs with cream paint.

 

[the_undecider]

Re: "Red Rodster" maybe "Dead Rodster" - no so fun updates

This evening started off great after my cream Schwalbe Road Cruiser tires arrived and earlier in the day I picked up some honey brown leather-like grips which are a great match for a honey Brooks which I had later planned to pick up. Here is the bike with the new tires mounted on my other bike's wheels, loving it:

These tires are taller than they are wide, which is good because they are just about as big as you can get away with on this frame. They are slightly narrower than my tester tires pictured previously:

These are XLC brand grips, but they are nicely stitched and shaped like the ergonomic grips I have one two of my other bikes:

With all my mocking up complete, I needed to tear this down to start detailing the frame, and overhauling the headset. That is when I noticed a funny looking spot on the front of the lower head-tube lug.:

Wanting to get a peek inside the head tube and the backside of the lug, I pulled the fork and was about to grab my headset cut remover when I grabbed the bottom cup and it pulled right out, not good. You can see how the bottom of the head tube lug is deformed and the head tube just above the edge of the lug is crushed a bit. It looks as if something impacted that spot without there being a headset cup in place. I bent it back as best I could and in the process chipped off some paint. The headset cup went back in nice and tight and here I have it masked for touch-up paint:

I have some Testors brand model paint I use to touch-up bicycle frames and the "stop light red" looked like a good match. So far, it looks close enough, but I won't know until it is dry.

If it wasn't so late, I'd do this now, but my next step before I move forward with detailing the frame and ordering any more parts is to make sure this frame is safe to ride and that the headset cups are going to still be parallel. I don't think this frame is going to break, but I would surely keep an eye on it.

 

[sleepy]

Re: "Red Rodster" maybe "Dead Rodster" - no so fun updates

Excellent work thus far. 8)

I really like your part and color combos....classy and subtle.

 

[the_undecider]

Re: "Red Rodster" - It Lives!

My headtube repair which involved some tweaking of the bottom lug seemed to do the truck. It still isn't totally pretty, but the headset cup went in since and tight and after I overhauled the headset and repacked it, everything is smooth with even bearing preload when you spin the fork. I think I dodged a bullet on this one. So, I proceeded to strip off all the decals except this one which, though tattered, it cool:

Then, I removed the brake cable braze-ons along the top tube and ground them down. Because I am wrapping the top tube in leather, I didn't spent a lot of time getting them perfectly smooth. I touched up all the big chips and scratches and applied rubbing compound and then polishing compound. I am digging the slight patina from all the scratches and scuffs. It still looks presentable, but shows its age:

This is also my first try at hand striping the lugs. It is a little sloppy, but works for me. I like how it makes the lugs pop and will compliment the cream tires:

The big question is whether to remove the remaining shifter cable bosses. I've made use of the ones on the chainstay by mounting a spoke between those, so it is disguised as a spoke holder (unfortunately the spoke is too short to be used as a spare in the event I break a spoke).

My thought on removing the bosses on the downtube is that I will conceal those areas with painted stripes or possibly leather strips wrapped around that spot. I mocked it up with some masking tape since that is cream colored:

I like the look on the seat tube, but not so much the downtube. Maybe 3 is overkill? I am also thinking that once I get the bike built-up, the eyes won't be drawn to those cable bosses as much.

 

[iven]

Re: Red Hot Roadster or Rojo'dster

If those 27s are serviceable, I'd just go with those and replace the tires if needed.

thats just it.. i want to replace thet tires.. i looked in bike shop for 27x1in tires and only could find 700c tires..

what the heck is the difference?? :?

 

[the_undecider]

Re: Red Hot Roadster or Rojo'dster

If those 27s are serviceable, I'd just go with those and replace the tires if needed.

thats just it.. i want to replace thet tires.. i looked in bike shop for 27x1in tires and only could find 700c tires..

what the heck is the difference?? :?

This will either answer your question or confuse you further:

http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html

It is my understanding that 27" wheels and tired became the standard in the US due to our general disdain for the metric system which is employed on 700c wheel and tire sizing. Perhaps it would have been too confusing for tire and rim manufacturers to make items of identical specifications but with two different sizing labels. That is purely speculation on my part.

What I do know is that 27" rims are 8 mm larger in diameter than 700c. There are also far fewer choices for 27" tires. Most bike shops will carry some sort of 27" tire, usually in 1-1/8" or 1-1/4" widths. You can use a 700 x 28-32c inner tube in either of those 27" tire sizes. If your shop doesn't carry 27" tires, they can order them.

 

[the_undecider]

Re: "Red Rodster" - Dressed in Leather - 11/28 New Pics

My Velo Orange leather top tube protector came in the mail today, so I laced that up. Also, I did some striping on the frame this weekend and am fairly happy with the results. I bought a gloss antique white rattle can and then a satin color called "leather boots." The antique white went down nice, but I ran into problems when I taped off to spray the brown. I didn't do a good enough job taping, so the line is a little sloppy. Also, the paint crinkled a bit. The texture actually looks like leather, which I like. I wish I had done a better job taping off for the brown, but it looks ok. I will leave it. I did have to do a little touch-up on the middle stripe on the downtube, so that is a little sloppier than the rest. Oh well, blame my impatience and lack of prep work. Here are a couple crummy inside photos:

 

[iven]

Re: Red Hot Roadster or Rojo'dster

If those 27s are serviceable, I'd just go with those and replace the tires if needed.

thats just it.. i want to replace thet tires.. i looked in bike shop for 27x1in tires and only could find 700c tires..

what the heck is the difference?? :?

This will either answer your question or confuse you further:

http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html

It is my understanding that 27" wheels and tired became the standard in the US due to our general disdain for the metric system which is employed on 700c wheel and tire sizing. Perhaps it would have been too confusing for tire and rim manufacturers to make items of identical specifications but with two different sizing labels. That is purely speculation on my part.

What I do know is that 27" rims are 8 mm larger in diameter than 700c. There are also far fewer choices for 27" tires. Most bike shops will carry some sort of 27" tire, usually in 1-1/8" or 1-1/4" widths. You can use a 700 x 28-32c inner tube in either of those 27" tire sizes. If your shop doesn't carry 27" tires, they can order them.

humm.. well thanks for the bit of info there..
so would a 700 x 28 - 30c tire be fine?

 

[the_undecider]

Re: "Red Rodster" - Dressed in Leather - 11/28 New Pics

A 700c tire of any size will not fit your existing rims. The bead of the tire will be too small to fit around the rim. Even if you managed to get the tire mounted, the bead will never seat properly. They are totally incompatible.

If you want 700x28-30c tires, you will need to change out your rims. You can either get an entirely new wheelset (rims/spokes/hubs) or put new rims on your old hubs which may require new spokes if the old ones are too long (remember, 700c rims are smaller in diameter). Either way, it's going to be expensive unless you can find some cheap used wheels. If you change the wheels, you also have to make sure your new rear hub isn't too wide to fit the frame and that it is compatible with your freewheel gear cluster.

If you do change to 700c rims, your final challenge is making sure your brake calipers have enough reach to allow the pads to properly contact the rim's sidewall. The smaller rim means that the sidewall is further away from the mounting bolt for your brake caliper. If your brake caliper arms aren't long dnought to let you adjust the pads down, they will rub your tire, not good.

 

[the_undecider]

Re: "Red Rodster" - Brooks B17 Honey - 12/3 New Pic

I picked up a gently used, not broken-in yet, Brooks B17 in the gorgeous honey brown color which was to complete my color scheme. I previously purchased some vinyl grips which just don't quite match. I think I have a better idea.

I had a little scrap of leather left over from my top tube protector that you see draped over the handlebar in the below photo. I decided to order another leather protector from Velo Orange so I have enough leather to make a set of stitched grips. I will need to put something under the leather so when I stitch it up, it fits since and snug. I plan to use handlebar tape.

Still need a seatpost with more setback. The stock post is a 25.4mm which will allow me to use a bmx layback post if I so desire. The frame had a thin shim in the top of the seat tube, so I measured the inside diameter without the shim and its 26.2mm. I may see what sort of old-school mountain bike seatpost I can find. I have seen some with a lot of set back, so that may work. Anyway, this gives you an idea of how my colors are coming together. I also rebuilt my bottom bracket and put in a shorter spindle, so once I get my wheels built up, I'll see how far off I am to get a good chain line.

 

[MplsCoaster]

Re: "Red Rodster" - Brooks B17 Honey - 12/3 New Pic

Keep up the good work!

 

[the_undecider]

Re: "Red Rodster" - Honey Leather Stitched Grips - 12/11 New Pic

I ordered another leather top tube protector from Velo Orange after I decided to make my grips out of one and it arrived yesterday. I also ordered some brown cloth handlebar tape to ensure I am able to stitch the leather nice and tight around the handlebar and to give it a little more girth for my paws to grab. Here I have wrapped the cloth tape and am ready for stitching the leather on:

I am really happy with the way they look. I whittled some wine corks as handlebar plugs, but I am not terribly happy with how that looks. I had planned to get some champagne corks with the rounded tip, but I haven't hunted any down just yet. That should really finish the end of the grips off and look a lot nicer. Still, looking pretty cool.

I have enough leather left over for another top tube protector as well as plenty of black thread. I used cream thread to match my tires and pin stripes.