Father's day bike

[expjawa]

I put this together for my father. It's a 2009 Schwinn Classic AL3, which I found new in the box still. As noted by the "AL" in the name, it's an aluminum framed bike, so even fully dressed it weighs less then my Schwinn American, which is fairly stripped by comparison.

I added the front and rear carriers, which are vintage parts that were pulled off of old bikes and cleaned up. The headlamp is a modern piece. But together, they make the bike resemble the Columbia Apache III that he had as a boy (the color helps too). I also swapped out the head badge for screwed-on one that matched the colors of the frame. I also installed the lever-strike bell, the white tires and the Stingray-style grips that match the tires.

Also, the round rear reflector on the fender is something I added, since the one it came with was a modern rectangular one with a plastic seat post bracket. It bugs me that companies use this sort of thing on vintage-looking bikes. They just didn't look right. The funny thing is, I snagged that reflector out of box of old bike parts that my dad had in his shop just the day before...

Here it is with the purple Schwinn that I built for my mother and my '61 American rat:

 

[KJV]

very nice; now you can ride with your parents.
enjoy the time spent with them. :mrgreen:

 

[expjawa]

very nice; now you can ride with your parents.
enjoy the time spent with them. :mrgreen:

I'm not sure if the comment was made in jest or not, but that's part of the idea. I've got no objection to going riding with my parents, especially if it helps keep them active and exercising. These bikes make them more enthusiastic about riding - my father practically bolted off down the road as soon as he adjusted the saddle to his liking. He was "gone with the Schwinn", to quote a certain frog. Like I said, that was the idea.

 

[KJV]

no jest :arrow: i'm all about spending time with Parents.
mine aren't able to ride cycles...
so, we go walking . :mrgreen: spend every minute you can with your parents. give them honor.
Exodus 20:12
Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
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The fifth of the Ten Commandments instructs us to honor our parents. Stable family relationships are important in the Bible--and while the realities of our sinful world sometimes make it impossible, whenever we can, we are called to show respect to our fathers and mothers.

 

[1manta]

What a great gift.Enjoy the ride!

 

[GameBent]

Any father would be thrilled and proud to own that beauty!

 

[SCHWINNRAY69]

Nice and classy...COOL 8)

 

[expjawa]

Nice bike!

What brand of tires are those? I like the squared off look.

They say "INNOVA" on the side walls. I ordered them (and the red version for my American) from Luxlow.com. I agree, I like this tread pattern better then the brick tread that's more common on colored tires. The tread is deeper as well - I had clearance issues getting the rear wheel on with this tire mounted. The tire ran into the front of the fender before I could get the axle into the dropout. I had to remove a spacer that was factory installed between the forward fender mount tab and the fender itself to allow room to get by.

 

[Santee]

You do nice work! I love old round reflectors on my bikes also. I am always on the lookout for them.