Build for my father : Schwinn cruiser custom COMPLETE

[Indyjps]

Rim on the S2C is weinmann zac.
Cant talk my Dad into alloy rims, its his build, so... we're doing chrome.

Measured the flanges / spoke holes on the hubs last night, the front and rear are within a mm. Pulled a spoke on the S2C rim.

I may try to find some 12g 250mm for the front and lace them both 12g.

 

[Indyjps]

Got a color picked and some paint shot. Nothing exotic, rustoleum metal etch, rustoleum cobalt blue metallic, rustoleum clear. Primer gets wet sanded, 2 coats of color, minimum of 3 hours between coats. Only 1 coat of clear so far until I get the fork decals.
Inside and outside pics, plenty of metallic and color shift.

 

[Whirledman]

Im definitely getting away from Schwinn rims on this build, bike shown below will donate the chrome hoops and Ill relace. My best guess is 1970's dept store bike. Unfortunately the frame is no longer available - it got chopped.

Info Im finding on line for ISO size. If this is correct, the 26x1.75 rims should clear any Schwinn cantilever frame.

Schwinn S7 ISO 571
26 x 1.75 / 2.1.25 ISO 559

View attachment 61557

Hi Indyjps,

I wonder if you can tell me the make and model of the bike in this photograph. I think it's the closest look to what I have but haven't been able to identify.

 

[Indyjps]

Hi Indyjps,

I wonder if you can tell me the make and model of the bike in this photograph. I think it's the closest look to what I have but haven't been able to identify.

It was a free spirit, sold by sears. Heres what it got chopped into. Ive got the fenders off it still, no rust, good blue paint.

 

[Indyjps]

Got the fender supports and a bunch of hardware derusted, stripped, zinc plated. Suports will stay zinc and get a light polish, hardware will get nickel plated.
I use zinc as the base for nickel, instead of copper.

 

[Indyjps]

Ordered the decals, mix of years but they are the ones I like best. Schwinn script with stars for top tube, short fork darts, early corvette chainguard. All white on vinyl.

 

[Brunson67]

The white decals will really pop with your blue paint, can't wait!

 

[Indyjps]

Ordered:
Continetal traffic 2.1
Tubes / rims strips
Odyssey chase hawk grips
KMC nickel chain
Chrome axle nut
Blue glitter dice stem caps
14g front spokes, will use 12g on the rear.

Having a lot of fun choosing parts on this one. Grips should match the seat well.

 

[Indyjps]

Seatpost plated out OK. This is 3 coats of zinc with a buff in between each, did the nut and nolt as well, they had some pitting, but came out ok.

Kickstand removed from the frame and got plated, it was pitted, but now is fairly shiny and better coating than paint. Dont have a pic.

Fender supports buffed out. These got 1 coat, scotchbrite, and a second coat then buff. You can see the difference. I also plated these at a higher amperage ( more plate build but rougher finish) still didnt get complete coverage in the backside concave, so i just brushed some silver in there for corrosion protection.

Zinc plating is cheap to do, doesnt take much time, and is pretty simple with readily available stuff. Its not gonna be chrome, but can produce a good shine.

 

[Indyjps]

Niagara cycle order shipped today. They take a long time to fill. Maybe i can build some wheels this weekend. Need to get the frame stripped too.

 

[Indyjps]

Polished the hub and laced the front 2x. Not tensioned or trued yet. First 2X, I usually do 3 or 4x.

EDIT:
Ah crap. Ordered spokes for 3X. Laced it 2X

So now the front would be 14g 3X and the rear 12g 2X. This is too jacked up.

Ordered some 14g 3X length spokes for the other wheel and the blue nipples I wanted to use in the first place. Unlaced the wheel I just did.

 

[Indyjps]

Frame paint. Proving to be a pain in the .... 3 coats of zip strip and wire brushing got me to this. Lots of old rust spots, the original red schwinn paint just softens a bit, stripper barely touches it.

Ended up hand sanding, wire wheeling, deburring etc. Not doing any bondo work. Rustoleum metal etch primer, out in the sun, will let it cure a few hours before wetsand. Hope to get the blue shot on today.

 

[Indyjps]

Cleared over the decal and got a run. Im not used to rattle can clear being so thin. Dried for a day, wetsanded and recleared. Found a fork topper on ebay.

 

[Indyjps]

I'm likin' this combo, blue nips. Front rim laced, need to tension and true it, had to throw the tire on for a pic.

Got the clear all shot, will hand polish after it cures for a few days. Getting that kickstand back in was dicey, 13/16 wrench as a lever did the trick.

 

[Indyjps]

Rear wheel is done, complete with blue sparkle dice cap.

 

[Indyjps]

Assembly is complete, been raining crazy all day here. Will test ride tomorrow, make final adjustments.

Front rack was directly inline with fender supports, had to get creative in the mounting. Makes the rack more decorative than useful.

Original Schwinn seat clamp, that I zinc plated, the bolt snapped, so it got a spaceliner clamp and the special schwinn nut.

Schwinn crank and stem werent in good shape, used a spaceliner crank, Schwinn chainring, wald stem.

Teaser pic, this needs a daylight shot, lotsa bling.

 

[Wildcat]

Those tires look good on there. I need to correct a mistake I made in an earlier post, I thought the S2C and the old Bendix 2 speeds had the same ratios, but the new S2C has a normal and higher gear while the old ones had a low and normal gear. But it looks like you have a good setup, is that a 22 or 24 rear cog? The gearing should be just right for that 2 speed.

 

[Indyjps]

46/22 and overdrive.

I dont think ill ever use a Schwinn rim, no resto's for me. The availability of good cheap 26" rims and tires wins me over.

Dont think the 2.1 would have tucked under the fender on a schwinn diameter rim.

 

[Indyjps]

 

[Indyjps]

2 speed hub works great, it does shift around a bit. I think most of that is me. Im so used to riding freewheel, I notice I backpedal alot, and thats kicking the gear.

Done for now. My Dad will be visiting today and its off to its new home. I built a redline proline expert for my nephew and theyre gonna be riding together a lot.

The swept back bars arent my style, we'll see how my Dad likes them, may switch to a moto cross bar if I find one with removeable cross brace.

I wanna mess with mounting a blue reflector on the fender and I also have a vintage front cat eye stem mount reflector. Just depends on when / where I find post mount blue reflectors.

If I find a speedometer Ill add that as well.