Great job on fabbing up brake mounts! I really like the rear brake solution you came up with. Keep it up!
ORBO Belle: Round 2!
- Thread starter Bike from the Dead
- Start date
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Thanks Pondo!
It doesn’t look like your rims have a surface for brakes. Will you be replacing the wheels?
Yeah, I'll be saving these chrome wheels for something else. I was originally planning on just using some late-model department store mountain bike wheels similar to what I've used on other projects, but I just picked up a possibly better set of wheels just last week. Give me a few minutes to post my update, and you'll see.
Okay, last week wasn't remotely as productive as I wish it was. I had hoped to have Belle either ready to ride or close to it by Friday, but that didn't happen. The primary causes were an inconsistent sleep schedule, my ADHD, a minor headache, and some small roadblocks with the bike. Regardless, I still made some progress on Belle this past week, including finding some parts I needed for free!
The biggest hurdle that had me stumped was whether or not the front brake would 1. clear the bottom bearing cup and 2. clear my custom truss rods.
I was worried the front brake wouldn't clear the bearing cup because, despite our best efforts, the drill bit cut the hole higher on the fork than Dad and I wanted. When I tested the fitment without the fork on the frame, the top of the brake was level with the crown race. I was worried I'd either have to grind off a substantial amount of the front brake to clear the bearing cup, or Dremel out a slot on the fork, which I was worried would weaken the fork. Fortunately, when I mocked it all up on the frame, it turned out to be a non-factor. Yeah, I'll want to sand a little off of the top of the brake, but even as tight as it looks in the photo, the fork still turned just fine.
I don't know if I'll use the front brake I have mocked up though, as I have parts from a Schwinn Approved brake I'd like to use instead. The bolt for that brake was bent (in fact, half of my collection of old front brakes had bent bolts. Why is that?), so I'd like to make a bit of a "Schwinn UnApproved" front brake using pieces from the other brakes I have. I mean, the rest of this Schwinn is built using non-Schwinn parts, why not the brakes themselves? It shouldn't be too much of a difference in fitment, but I'll want to build this "Frankenbrake" and test-fit it before I make my final decision on the front brake.
Saw this cool little fish on the rear brake I mocked up. Anyone know what's up with it?
As I said earlier, I wasn't sure the front brake would clear the truss rods I made for this bike, and between that and the other concerns I had, I was worried I'd have to replace the fork and ditch my whole setup with the truss rods and handlebars I had. I ended up stalling because I was afraid to find out, but once again, mocking up everything revealed that it wouldn't be a problem at all. The brakes will clear the truss rods just fine. It looks a little tight, but there's enough room for everything.
Another holdup I was struggling with were the gear shifters. I had plenty of options for the rear derailleur, all handlebar-mounted and usable for 5, 6 or 7 speed rear cassettes, but for the front derailleur, nearly all I had were click-shifters for a 3-speed chainring. The only 2-speed shifters I had was one from another bike that was of questionable condition, and the other was this stem-mounted Suntour shifter setup. I don't want to take my hands off the handlebars to shift gears, especially going off-road. Fortunately, I may have a solution for that (more on that later.)
I also found some old cable clamps that I might use, as well as a small... I want to say 3-speed shifter, but I don't know. The 4 at the bottom came off an old Schwinn Suburban I parted out before I joined the forums, and now I finally have a use for them again. I just wish I had a 2nd one of those single-cable clamps like the one on the upper-right.
This one's too loose.
One other concern I have is that the rear tire will catch on the rear brake cable. The step-thru bikes I've parted out had the rear brake set up like this, but I'm wondering if I could have the cable travel up the seat tube and out by the seat stays... I don't know if that'd risk bending the cable too much, or if it'd be a good solution to keeping the tire away from the brake cable. But I've seen other step-thru mountain bikes do it, so I'm trying it anyway.
I also tested just how well my new Schwinn 2-speed chainring would clean up with some fine steel wool. Thankfully, I think it'll turn out just fine.
Late Thursday night, I saw 2 bikes come up for free on Marketplace. The main one I was interested in was this radically '90s Magna Classic Multi-Sport 12-speed mountain bike. The main reason I wanted it was for the shifters, as I could use them on Belle, but I think I'll use the chrome wheels as well. I don't know who built this bike, but I might even be able to use the bearings and bearing cups on another project of mine. It's just funny, because I got this bike for parts, but it already has a totally '90s look going on, with the teal, purple and pink paint, and it even has a splatter effect paint job at that! Who knows, maybe after I take whatever parts I need off of this bike, I'll just rebuild it with other parts later!
That's all the updates I have on Belle for now. I'll try to make some more progress on her this week, but it's going to be another cold one. The garage is heated, but when it's below freezing like it is, there's only so much that heater can do.
The biggest hurdle that had me stumped was whether or not the front brake would 1. clear the bottom bearing cup and 2. clear my custom truss rods.
I was worried the front brake wouldn't clear the bearing cup because, despite our best efforts, the drill bit cut the hole higher on the fork than Dad and I wanted. When I tested the fitment without the fork on the frame, the top of the brake was level with the crown race. I was worried I'd either have to grind off a substantial amount of the front brake to clear the bearing cup, or Dremel out a slot on the fork, which I was worried would weaken the fork. Fortunately, when I mocked it all up on the frame, it turned out to be a non-factor. Yeah, I'll want to sand a little off of the top of the brake, but even as tight as it looks in the photo, the fork still turned just fine.
I don't know if I'll use the front brake I have mocked up though, as I have parts from a Schwinn Approved brake I'd like to use instead. The bolt for that brake was bent (in fact, half of my collection of old front brakes had bent bolts. Why is that?), so I'd like to make a bit of a "Schwinn UnApproved" front brake using pieces from the other brakes I have. I mean, the rest of this Schwinn is built using non-Schwinn parts, why not the brakes themselves? It shouldn't be too much of a difference in fitment, but I'll want to build this "Frankenbrake" and test-fit it before I make my final decision on the front brake.
Saw this cool little fish on the rear brake I mocked up. Anyone know what's up with it?
As I said earlier, I wasn't sure the front brake would clear the truss rods I made for this bike, and between that and the other concerns I had, I was worried I'd have to replace the fork and ditch my whole setup with the truss rods and handlebars I had. I ended up stalling because I was afraid to find out, but once again, mocking up everything revealed that it wouldn't be a problem at all. The brakes will clear the truss rods just fine. It looks a little tight, but there's enough room for everything.
Another holdup I was struggling with were the gear shifters. I had plenty of options for the rear derailleur, all handlebar-mounted and usable for 5, 6 or 7 speed rear cassettes, but for the front derailleur, nearly all I had were click-shifters for a 3-speed chainring. The only 2-speed shifters I had was one from another bike that was of questionable condition, and the other was this stem-mounted Suntour shifter setup. I don't want to take my hands off the handlebars to shift gears, especially going off-road. Fortunately, I may have a solution for that (more on that later.)
I also found some old cable clamps that I might use, as well as a small... I want to say 3-speed shifter, but I don't know. The 4 at the bottom came off an old Schwinn Suburban I parted out before I joined the forums, and now I finally have a use for them again. I just wish I had a 2nd one of those single-cable clamps like the one on the upper-right.
This one's too loose.
One other concern I have is that the rear tire will catch on the rear brake cable. The step-thru bikes I've parted out had the rear brake set up like this, but I'm wondering if I could have the cable travel up the seat tube and out by the seat stays... I don't know if that'd risk bending the cable too much, or if it'd be a good solution to keeping the tire away from the brake cable. But I've seen other step-thru mountain bikes do it, so I'm trying it anyway.
I also tested just how well my new Schwinn 2-speed chainring would clean up with some fine steel wool. Thankfully, I think it'll turn out just fine.
Late Thursday night, I saw 2 bikes come up for free on Marketplace. The main one I was interested in was this radically '90s Magna Classic Multi-Sport 12-speed mountain bike. The main reason I wanted it was for the shifters, as I could use them on Belle, but I think I'll use the chrome wheels as well. I don't know who built this bike, but I might even be able to use the bearings and bearing cups on another project of mine. It's just funny, because I got this bike for parts, but it already has a totally '90s look going on, with the teal, purple and pink paint, and it even has a splatter effect paint job at that! Who knows, maybe after I take whatever parts I need off of this bike, I'll just rebuild it with other parts later!
That's all the updates I have on Belle for now. I'll try to make some more progress on her this week, but it's going to be another cold one. The garage is heated, but when it's below freezing like it is, there's only so much that heater can do.
I find cabling the rear brake on a step thru to be challenging. In my observation the extra curves needed in the cable cause a loss of braking power. Especially if it is an S shaped curve. They also tend to have a low spot that can collect moisture and cause the inner cable to rust in place and lock up. My only suggestion is to grease the inner cable.
I also suspect the front derailleur may be a challenge. You might want to mock that up before you get too far. Finding the right fit could be difficult. I did something similar and moved the drive train from a 10 speed varsity to a single speed bike. I just made it into a 1x5 and only used one chainring up front.
Your bike art is fantastic by the way. Please let us know if you ever sell prints. I want one.
I also suspect the front derailleur may be a challenge. You might want to mock that up before you get too far. Finding the right fit could be difficult. I did something similar and moved the drive train from a 10 speed varsity to a single speed bike. I just made it into a 1x5 and only used one chainring up front.
Your bike art is fantastic by the way. Please let us know if you ever sell prints. I want one.
Good advice. I'll try to mock up everything this week and see what works best. I'll definitely grease the cables either way.
What do you think the biggest challenge with the front derailleur will be? I'm never messed with derailleurs before, so I don't know what to really expect. I'd like to get at least 10 speeds out of this Schwinn if I can, so any advice on setting up derailleurs would be appreciated.
Thank you! I'll be sure to let you know when I have everything ready to sell. I just need to figure out what the best way is to do that on the forums. I don't know what the rules are regarding that.
The derailleur clamp needs to be the same diameter as the seat tube. The reach from the seat tube to the chain rings need to match. I imagine distance and angle are both important. If you have an indexed shifter that also needs to match to cable pull ratio of the derailleur. I recommend friction shifters like your suntours. You also have to consider how you are cabling it. Some are top pull, some are bottom pull. Either way, your frame doesn’t have cable stops or guides, so you will need to figure that out.
It’s not going to be impossible, but there are a lot of variables to overcome.
It is also possible that someone has already figured this out. There might be an easy answer out there.
It’s not going to be impossible, but there are a lot of variables to overcome.
It is also possible that someone has already figured this out. There might be an easy answer out there.
Alright, thanks. I know I have at least a couple front derailleurs that are for a 1" seat tube like what this Schwinn has, and I do have handlebar-mounted friction shifters that I like better than the stem-mounted Suntour shifters. Pretty much all the front derailleurs I have to choose from are bottom-pull, as they're from step-thru frames like this one. I can mock up the chainring and derailleurs and see how the reach looks, but I think I should be okay there. And as for cable stops/guides, that shouldn't be a problem. I've got full-length cable housings I plan to use, so I can just clamp or zip-tie those to the frame. They even match the blue paint! That's how some of my older donor bikes did it, so I'll just go that route.
That said, I suspect there will be a bunch of fine-tuning and adjustments required once I start putting it all together. I don't really know how to find the correct length of chain this bike needs, since it isn't like connecting just 2 gears on a single-speed. I also suspect that I'll have to adjust the height and angle of the front derailleur a bit before I get it just right. I also don't know how to clean and maintain derailleurs, so if I need to grease some of the parts or disassemble them to thoroughly clean everything, I need to find that out.
