40 - 41 Schwinn DX Klunker

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us56456712

us56456712

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The forks were bent on this frame so I measured the frame using the string method and checked the head tube angle. The head tube angle was the same as Joe Breezes drawing.
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I slapped together a rough Klunker with a new fork and potato chipped wheels. The rear wheel had 2 broken spokes. It rides good so now the plan is to strip it, oil the frame and put better Klunker parts on it. I will post what it looks like when I am done.
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I replaced the rear wheel with one without broken spokes and took it on our "kids" single track trail. I rode 10 miles. I gotta say this is the hardest bike I have ever ridden. I am hoping it is because the grease is all 60+ years old and nothing was adjusted. I can't believe I had to push up even slight inclines. The rear wheel was almost true, the front had a bad wobble. It seemed to handle well enough, but I could not get up the speed to really test how well it tracks in tight twisty trails. I think it is OK though. I was surprised at how comfortable the bare pan seat is. The seat lays to one side a little but I think rebuilding will fix that. I think I will put on a Bendix manual 2 speed and Gigant front drum brake, which were popular on Norwegian bikes in the 60s - 70s. The Gigant drum is a little more powerful than the new Strumery Archer brakes but it howls slightly. The Bendix manual has terrible brakes with a big distance to engage, which increases when it is in low. The coaster brake is also a little weak. It should be good enough for intermediate trails, if you are careful.
 
I decided not to spend any money on bike parts because we are trying to recover from the expense of an August wedding. I need a longer seat post than the usual Schwinn short post for the DX. For my other Klunkers I have used either a cold rolled steel rod or aircraft grade aluminum alloy rods. I didn't want to order an alloy rod from my metals supplier so I took a short piece of 5/8 steel rod and placed it inside a Schwinn seatpost and welded it. I then placed another Schwinn seatpost over the end of the rod sticking out from the first post and welded them together. I used stuff I had laying around. I now have a long enough post but it is a little heavy, but not as heavy as a solid cold rolled steel rod. Next summer I will replace the fabricated post with an alloy one. Such fun figuring out how to get buy on the cheap. I plan to start building Klunkers tomorrow. I will start another one made from a wishbone frame and work on the DX at the same time. When I start the second klunker I will post that built too. I am in a frenzy to get all my projects at least as rollers so they can be stored or hung before it gets too cold to work outside. Trees are changing here, there are leaves in my driveway blowing into my shop, about half the ferns are dead and it has gotten down to 33F at night this week. I have two forks to paint for the Klunkers. Time to hurry up and finish so I can tidy up the shop and put away the bikes for the winter. I plan to rebuild a kickback this winter so I will have bike stuff to keep me busy.
 
That frame looks amazing for being 75 years old! Do you think its original paint? Can you share a picture of the head badge?
 
Venom5sc said:
That frame looks amazing for being 75 years old! Do you think its original paint? Can you share a picture of the head badge?
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The paint is original. It's got a lot of heavy scratches but some boiled linseed oil should keep it from rusting more. Badged as B.F Goodrich but it has Schwinn in small letters. It was in Bob's Cycle Shop when I got it. He sold HD motorcycles, Schwinn's, Whizzer and tricycles. He also had a City Service gas station and sold used cars. This place was out in the middle of somewhere and I guess if you are in a rural place you have to meet a lot of needs to get by. His sister gave me the DX plus all his bike parts. Bob died in 1960 so it was very dirty but had been in dry storage for years. The first picture is what it looked like before I stared to clean it. I used Simple Green and then paint thinner and then a little rubbing compound on the stubborn places. I don't think I am going to acid etch the rust for fear of doing damage to the remaining paint. I plan to replace the BB cups and the head set. Some of the frames she gave me had so much dried grease on them that the only thing that would remove it was gel paint stripper and digging with a cut off spoke. I found a wheel that had been trued and the New Departure coaster rebuilt with the original bill on it. One dollar to true it, $2.00 to rebuild the hub and $1.40 for new brake discs, axle bearings and driver. I guess the owner never came by to get it. I am going to have the bill mounted and framed and give it to his sister. There is no date on the bill but the paper is yellow and about to crumble so it is old.
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Cool Story. I used Barkeepers Friend and a brass brush to clean mine. Did not take off any paint in the process.
 
deorman said:
Oil on the plates, not grease. http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/index.php?threads/new-departure-model-d-rebuild.30484/ :thumbsup:
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I have rebuilt several ND hubs. This one was rebuilt with all new parts, but no date on the bill of sale (the owner never picked it up). It was very stiff, even with new brake plates, new bearings, new axle and new driver. I squirted PB Blaster on everything (including in the oil hole) and now it is loose, but still stiffer than it should be. It will have to be disassembled and greased and oiled. This cycle shop went out of business in 1960 so the rebuild was probably older than that. The wheel was hanging on a pipe rack along with a bout 10 others when I got it. It's amazing how stiff grease can get when the volatiles evaporate out. It is on a very old rim. Not steel clad wood but made out of a similar thin steel. It is not really drop center but more like wavy U in cross section and flimsy. I have a matching rim and I want to try and lace up a matching front wheel to put on one of my old frames. A winter project; rebuild the ND hub and lace up a matching front wheel.
 
The rear wheel is mounted up. It's built from a junked mountain bike alloy rim and used spokes laced to a Bendix manual 2 speed. I am using Bontrager 2.1 inch tires that were used for one race so they are new. The bullet valve cap is homemade.
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THe BMX style front fork from an 80s bike that I plan to use. It has a tab welded to it for the front drum brake to retain the braking arm and is painted a red that kind of matches the Schwinn, but not as dull.
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I have that very same BF Goodrich red and cream DX...I cannot seem to whip it into a great rider. I've swapped wheel sets around, different seat and bar positions...just a jar of molasses :)

Maybe that 2speed aluminum rear wheel combo will fix the issue...?
 
Jaypem said:
I have that very same BF Goodrich red and cream DX...I cannot seem to whip it into a great rider. I've swapped wheel sets around, different seat and bar positions...just a jar of molasses :)

Maybe that 2speed aluminum rear wheel combo will fix the issue...?
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You could be on to something there. It didn't ride well for me when I first tried it. I wanted to get an idea of how it rode before I built it and it didn't work that well with a partially frozen coaster, bent wheels and loose headset. It had too many issues to really tell but it seemed sluggish and didn't do tight corners all that well. I hope with proper fittings it works better.

I have the fork and headset mounted. Tomorrow is a century ride with our club so I won't be able to work on it again until at least Monday.
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I am riding the DX. I am still waiting for my bear trap pedals so in the meantime I am using 1980s Huffy Mountain bike pedals. It has the seatpost made from two welded together Schwinn posts. This winter I will replace it with aircraft alloy. As usual the 2 speed Bendix manual took quite a bit of fussing around with to get it to shift right.
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My bear trap pedals came when I was out test beating the DX. The bear traps were set up so the are very stiff to turn. Perhaps this is a misguided safety measure to avoid the infamous shin gouge that bear traps are noted for. I have one dismantled and there are ball bearings in there so I backed off the adjustment and now it work better. I will mount them up tomorrow. I went for an 8 mile single track ride and I can see why people want DX frames for Klunkers; works fantastic.
 
horsefarmer said:
Quite the tiny front sprocket! Does the Bendix 2 speed give much overdrive?
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Its got 24 tooth chain wheel and a 19 tooth cog. I think that high gear is 24 x 19 and low is an under drive, but I'm not sure, it feels that way when riding. Low gear is a nice big step down. This combo works well for intermediate and single black diamond trails, unless there are a lot of long descents. The brakes are weak and the Bendix gets too hot to touch on the big descents. Otherwise it works well but you have to really plan your braking. The low gearing allows you to slowly pick your way through rock gardens with the rigid frame. If you go too fast through the rocks with this rig you will end out bouncing off the trail and into a ravine, so it works well to slowly pick your way through, at least for me. It also allows for fairly rapid acceleration in high when you need to clear an obstacle. If I ride the same trails on my full suspension fat bike all you have to do is put the handle bars between the trees and not worry about the rocks/roots and you won't bounce off the trail at a much higher speed than with the DX. The most enjoyable thing for me with Klunkers is the challenge of seeing what you can ride on. I am getting so I can run stuff that most riders can't on full suspension, but there are a lot of poor riders. The poor riders pass me because I go so slow but they walk where I am now riding. Riding these rigid Klunkers seems to improve my skill with the full suspension bike as well. I sold my hard tail as the Klunkers pretty much fill that niche for me and I wasn't using it. I also have a sleeper rigid bike. Everyone dismisses it as junk and they can't believe that I can keep up and ride on difficult stuff with our group rides. I like to take the sleeper out with the B rides in our club. They really kick my butt but I act like it was nothing. The bike is a 1992 Giant ATX 760 and is all double butted chromo with a butted fork. It has cantilever brakes and I have replaced the BB, crank, chainwheels, freewheel, chain and rear derailleur. I bought the bike for $25 but I have a lot of $ into it. I modified the crank to accept a 20 tooth chainwheel and the freewheel is a 7 speed with 11 - 34 cogs. It has 2.35 by 26 inch Hans Dumpf tires which measure 27 inches and just fit between the chainstays. It weighs 26 pounds and I want to put a carbon seat on it which will save another pound over the jell seat that is on it now. I can really climb with this rig. No one looks at the bike components, all they see is an old bike. It really has them scratching their heads. They ask me why I don't ride a good bike. To be fair I tell them that this is a good bike but they don't get it. That's why it is a sleeper. One of the B riders tells everyone that I ride bikes that are so old they don't have forks on them.
 

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