Schwinn Le Tour (continued)

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alistair clark said:
Looks great! The color might lighten up over time. Love the way the handlebar grips turned out.
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Thanks. I pretty pleased with the results too. Sometimes things don't always turn out the way you expect but its all about making the best of it with what you have. Life lessons learned through bike building;-)
 
True that. If I never had an accident I would have never found this forum or bikeforums. It is always the times when things aren't going to plans when the greatest amount of growth happens.
 
I decided to take advantage of the sun today via a ride through a park by my house. I saw this play structure that's pretty much the color I want to paint the bike in. I think that will l look pretty classy. Anyone know where I can get the decals for this model?
 
I sort of like the looks of it right now. But I love red. I don't know about the decals. But there is another forum that I hang out at it is bikeforums.net Ask in the section called classic bikes or do a search there. On second thought I might have seen them at fleabay too.
 
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alistair clark said:
I sort of like the looks of it right now. But I love red.
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Yeah I know me too. And it's making more sense to leave it red now that I have this cool red lettered crate. But red and green do go together too... I don't know we'll see.
Anyway, I got the new MKS pedals so now I have that part if the build done. Also I got this cool crate off ebay. The plan is to take it apart and cut an inch off each end. This will allow enough room to carry two grocery bags and it won't look so massive. I started sand blasting the rack but with the compressor I have it's slow going. But once that's all striped I'll polish it up and mount the crate.
Any one ever see a similar setup with a crate on a bike?







 
LukeTheJoker said:
That crate looks cool! It looks a bit big, even with 2" off it may still look a bit big, can you go to 2-3" each end without upsetting the lettering on the side I wonder?

Luke.
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There is an inch and a half of space on either side of the lettering to the inside edge of the metal band. So at most I could get another inch total of shortening for a total of 3". Which would mean I'd have to squish the grocery bags in, witch might not be that big'a deal. But yeah I do agree it looks big, but I do intend to use it for hauling stuff so perfect looks can take a back seat on this point in favor of utility.
 
I was also thinking I might shorten the sides by an inch so it's not so deep. I think that would help slim down it's look.
 
Love the rattrap pedels. I saw a crate set up like that in Germany except it was off the back end of the bike. I have a friend that put LED tracing lights on his rear crate. The French do something like that, their crates are smaller and turn 90 degrees having the long side running parallel with the handlebars. Look up on the net Porteur Bikes.
 
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The problem with sideways is that one end has a big stain on it. Other than that it looks good though. Maybe I can wash it with some soapy water to take that off.


 
Actually I kinda like the water stain on it. It makes it look like you been working. Put a French loaf of bread and some other food goodies and bottle or 2 of wine and you are set for a French pinnic.
 
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alistair clark said:
Actually I kinda like the water stain on it. It makes it look like you been working. Put a French loaf of bread and some other food goodies and bottle or 2 of wine and you are set for a French pinnic.
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Yeah its not a water stain its like oil or paint. I can scrape some off with my fingernail. So ill try cleaning it off it just kinda bugs me. I do like how it looks with the big "Portland" out front though.
 
With it out in front like you had it I would be concern about the way the bike balances or handles on the road. I'm ex racer I'm kind of fussy about a way a bike handles. I guess I dive into a cruve a little more the you ratroders do.
 
alistair clark said:
With it out in front like you had it I would be concern about the way the bike balances or handles on the road. I'm ex racer I'm kind of fussy about a way a bike handles. I guess I dive into a cruve a little more the you ratroders do.
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Yeah I was wondering about that whether it would be better to have the load close to the center line of the bike or if it's better to have it closer to the pivot point (head tube)? I can think of reasons why both would be better. I just don't know whats the best. I guess I'll just have to put some weight in it and try it both ways.
 
It will handle better with the crate turned sideways. Long loads have more leverage and may cause handling issues. The Schwinn Cycletruck had it's basket sideways for a reason.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
 

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