24" Wheel Schwinn Caliente

[rickpaulos]

I first saw this exact bike at my local goodwill store in January. $16. Thought about it. Took some photos and... nope. Didn't buy it. The model decals were too far gone to read. Looks like a Caliente to me. Positron, FFS crank, tubular fork, rest looks like a Varsity.

Did some research. The serial number and head badge date code are from AFTER Schwinn's Chicago factory closed up. AV517588 & 0744. I read some where that Schwinn sent it's electro forge equipment to Murray of Ohio who continued to make Schwinns for a year or two.








Last week the exact same bike got dumped at my local coop. I was working inside and heard a noise out back but didn't go check it out for a couple minutes. The anonymous donor was gone.
I see the front derailleur and the rear shift wire frame clips are gone.



Today I started tearing it down for a rebuild.
Fork bent. Seat post bent. Seat shredded. Bars bent & rusty. Have a fork that fits. On many of my Schwinn single speed conversions I've used coaster brakes. I think on this one I'll be installing a single freewheel and a front v-brake. Need to replace the 5.5" FFS crankset with a normal and longer 1-piece crank. I put some 24" alloy mtb wheels on it for clearance testing. Added some junior sized bmx bars (hey, they are blue).

it was a dark and dingy day, not good for photos but here is a preliminary fitting.

 

[Wildcat]

If the Chicago serial numbers kept going, that would be Jan 1984 by the stamped number on the head tube. The number stamped on the badge shows the 74th day of 1984 as the build date which would have been mid February. Maybe the frame was made then put together a month later. . A Murray plant in Greenville Tennessee made them for a period in the 80's.
Schwinn's catalog for 1983 and 1984 don't show any 24" 10 speeds, but they show the 26" bikes with the same graphics. The freewheel chain wheel shows on the World Tourist but it has upright bars.

 

[rickpaulos]

Nashville. Schwinn opened a facility in Greenville Mississippi where they made the mid-range lugged road bikes. There is a Greenville in Tennessee but it's far east in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains. I think it would be hard to find enough flat ground to build a factory there. Either Greenville is not the least bit convenient for manufacturing a national product.

The Chicago workers voted to unionize (3/28/1980): Went on strike from October 1980 to Feb 1981. "In 1982, Schwinn moved one-third of its overall production (the ef bikes) to the Murray factory in (near) Nashville, Tennessee.". Chicago factory gradually shut down, completely by December 1983. Family owned Schwinn bike company was very anti union and got their revenge by shutting down and obsolete factory and moving out of Illinois where unions were and are strong. Just 1 more step towards bankruptcy.

 

[Wildcat]

Unions also drove Roadmaster (CWC bikes) out of Cleveland where they then had a factory in Arkansas, later in Illinois. As with Schwinn, quality faded. My first brand new bike was a 24" single speed Roadmaster made in Illinois. $40. My brothers got the 26" 3 speed versions. They all lasted about three weeks. I should have kept my old Evans bike.

As for The location of the Murray plant, it WAS Nashville. I stand corrected. I had bad info that is now corrected in my notes, I found some more info on that:

"In September 1982, Schwinn contracted with mass-market competitor Murray Ohio to produce about a third of its bikes - mostly the unprofitable 16-inch and 20-inch kids' models, but also the venerable Varsity - at Murray's plant near Nashville, TN. Schwinn also assigned its mountain bike to Murray, much to the dismay of product manager Fred Teeman, since the factory couldn't produce the chrome-moly frame he needed. Schwinn moved its welding equipment to Tennessee in order to make the bikes at a lower cost and improve profitability."

So if the Varsity was made there, so was your bike.

 

[rickpaulos]

Some progress today. Scrubbed the remains of the decals off the paint. Cleaned up the frame. repacked the headset with the newer fork. Removed the solid rust freewheel and spoke protector.




bonus photo. Got this 1970ish Royce Union 5 speed with WING NUTS.

 

[rickpaulos]

Finished this up today. 40 x 14 gearing. Respaced and redished the rear wheel to get chain line better. Rear brake bridge hole is a bit wonky so I added a big spacer so the brake arms would clear the seat stays.

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

that Royce Union!

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Have a fork that fits

Do you know what it is? I'm guessing that a straight leg rim brake fork for 24" is from a kid's bike? I really like that build.

 

[rickpaulos]

Do you know what it is? I'm guessing that a straight leg rim brake fork for 24" is from a kid's bike? I really like that build.

Our local coop has scraped out hundreds of bikes not worthy and there are bins of all kinds of parts. Take a caliper and tape measure when shopping. The worst bikes are the full suspension 20" and 24" bikes. Far too heavy for kids and the gears and brakes are pretty bad. A 50 pound 20" bike for a 50 pound kid? Try riding a bike that weighs as much as you do. Not fun or even safe. I think the fork was from a Giant Awesome. Older kids mtb. The head angle looks too laid back but it steers just fine.

The bars are kinda narrow but it will probably go to a kid so that will be okay. I put on blue bars, blue brake levers, blue cable housing, all to match the paint. Smoother tires would sure speed it up but I usually leave tire decisions up to the new owner.

Thanks.