Red Rider

[Jude Ephesus]

Here we go!!!!!

So, the traveler won the poll !!!!!

Man! Those step through bikes can’t get any love here!!!! I’m telling you, that Jonesey bike will be super cute!!!!!

At any rate here is the Red Rider: I didn’t pay much for it, and the closer I look at it, it looks like I still paid too much!!!!

As you all know, I’m soft on rust and patina, so, we’ll keep this skinny-mini original on the finish.

As I LOVE how my varsity party bike came out, it’s not a particularly comfortable ride.

I’ll try to make this guy a little more friendly on my lower back for rides around 20 miles.

 

[sdframe]

Those Schwinns hold up better than we do. Have fun with it.

 

[Jude Ephesus]

Those Schwinns hold up better than we do. Have fun with it.

Thanks!!!

Interesting find on this: I think this bike was one of the earlier Schwinn bikes made overseas.

As I was taking pictures, I noticed both the decals and the head badge don’t say Schwinn they say “Schwinn approved”

 

[Jude Ephesus]

Plenty of patina on this old girl

 

[Jude Ephesus]

Found these in my shed….. maybe!!!

 

[OddJob]

Hmmm...flat bar. Interesting.

 

[Jude Ephesus]

Hmmm...flat bar. Interesting.

I’m getting old OJ! And those drop bars kill my back!

also, as of right now, I have 7 100% functional bikes that all have drop bars of some sort!!!!! I need to change it up!

I’ve been wanting to do a road bike with flat bars for some time.

I‘ve had these green bars in my shed I pulled off a trash-pick bike I was saving for my baby-blue collegiate 5 speed build…. But I thought this would be as good of a time as any as I’m trying to do a super budget build on this guy!

-I may need to trim these down a little but I’ve got A few friends that have flat bars on their road bikes and they look super cool.

 

[Wildcat]

On my 76 Traveler, someone pointed out the head badge to me, not made in America! Not a real Schwinn. It was one of the Japanese Panasonic bikes, only 75 and 76 for Traveler, then later made by Giant. It actually was a better bike than a Varsity. After 76, you couldn't find a one piece crank with a lugged frame, they were all 3 piece.
I liked the randonneur bars, the curve fit my hands nicely.

 

[Karate Chicken Industries]

Low Riser Bars make for a great comfortable Fast Townie

 

[Jude Ephesus]

Got a rear derailleur for this off of 500 bike Bruce.

Soak in some carb cleaner. It definitely needed some help. I’m not sure it’s the right one, but it’s a Schwinn unit, and the one that was on there originally was WHACKED!

will this guy work or should I look for the le tour derailleur that came on the bike?

 

[Jude Ephesus]

Ironically, much like the decals and the head badge, the derailleur is also Schwinn “approved”

lol

 

[Wildcat]

Looking at the little cogs, it hasn't seen much wear. I'd use it.

I looked at the Traveler history page and learned a little more. They were always an upright handlebar bike 1950-1966, then were gone until 1975 with drop bars. Yours is either a 75 or 76 with the name on the downtube. That same Panasonic model carried over to the 77 year but had the name on the top tube. That's the bike I had. Then they went to Giant and became Traveler III in 78.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

That's a pretty bike, Jude! The crown on the fork, the chrome lowers, the hubs... It's gonna clean up nicely

 

[Jude Ephesus]

I had some loc-tite rust dissolver laying around and thought I’d give it a shot over my traditional vinegar scrub.

I’d used it in the past…. It was ok.

I have been soaking the rust in vinegar every few days, but have not applied any elbow grease

This guy’s going to need plenty of rust removal.

I’m going to do scrub #1 shortly and see where we’re at.

 

[Jude Ephesus]

Tires hold air!

Here we go initial scrub!

 

[Jude Ephesus]

So….. super impressed with the loctite rust dissolver. I had used it in the past and wasn’t overly impressed: must have been a nasty project

-used as directed, it worked great on the surface rust this thing had. It was super easy: I brushed on with a tooth brush, let it sit for 15-20 minutes, then scrubbed off with a nylon brush and soapy water.

Scrubbed up good; I was about out of the loctite, so, after the pics, I hit it again.

I’ll let it soak all night and do scrub number 2 tomorrow and get it ready for disassembly.

 

[OddJob]

Cleaned up nicely!

 

[Jude Ephesus]

Super pleased with my salvage Schwinn derailleur:

She’s rolling like silk now

She needed A LOT of work:
Degrease super scrub
Soak in carb cleaner and/or WD40 for 1 week
Degrease super scrub
24 hour soak in vinegar
Aluminum Foil scrub
Hot soapy scrub
I’ll do a final lube at time of install and be gold

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Bling bling, yo! That's jewelry!

 

[Jude Ephesus]

Wasn’t easy…. Got these off.

Into the vinegar bath they go