I have seen this bike locked up at my local grocery store the past few times I visited, so I snapped a pic. Not Chicago made, but it has a nice lugged frame made by Giant in Taiwan. Hardly a scratch on it.
Schwinn World Tourist
- Thread starter wheelbender6
- Start date
Help Support Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum:
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2019
- Messages
- 2,104
- Reaction score
- 6,235
This blue Schwinn is super cool. I have a collegiate I’m going to restore: what is the crank and chain ring you used on this?
I got one, it's a little on the heavy side but fun to ride around town.
A rare custom build I did for my friend's birthday; a bit faster version of the previously posted blue Schwinn: Schwinn "World Tourist" (May 1980 per serial, Taiwan built?) I finished last summer. He is a University of Florida fan so I gave it a little school color, but trying to be subtle and not make it into a "Gator" circus bike. Started out as sluggish 5 speed; replaced steel components with mostly new aluminum parts. Now it's a rather fast 7 speed (52T x 14,16,18,20,22,24,26T) with '79 vintage SR "Silstar" triple fluted crankset "mirror" polished (removed anodizing on ring) with custom embellishing, and Sun "Levanter" rims with Schwalbe 700 x 25 tires. I ride European racers, but I thoroughly enjoyed test riding this bike before gifting it. Has a Cloud 9 saddle (w/QR clamp) which was after I already gave him a somewhat newer Schwinn saddle to try out, and then another saddle to test against the Schwinn's ride. He was still a little uncomfortable so I threw on the "C 9"; third time's a charm (probably make for good advertising). Modern Schwinn branded aluminum rear rack painted to match. Original paint fenders and chain guard on hand if needed. I tried to make it as best as I could within a fairly small budget, about $140-$150 total.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2019
- Messages
- 2,104
- Reaction score
- 6,235
This is great! Thank you!
So, did you have to modify the bottom bracket?
Where did you find the crank pieces and chain ring?
So, did you have to modify the bottom bracket?
Where did you find the crank pieces and chain ring?
Hey Jude,
I usually don't do any major modifications to bikes. I had some of the parts on hand, but the crank arms and chainring (it's not SR like the crank) I believe were gleaned from the bike co-op's "junk" bins. I generally eschew ebay for parts due to cost/shipping. I wouldn't mind finding those cranks again, nice looks (even without the paint) and decent quality to add onto most bikes. The BCD is a little odd (120mm) so I had to dig for that ring, even more so because I had a 48T on it when I first gave him the bike, but he thought he was spinning too fast in top gear so went to the 52T (I think the steel OE Schwinn crankset had 48T also, still have that crank in excellent condition if someone needs one). The spider arms had been "shortened", not sure why. It was set up for a twin ring crankset, but again everything seemed a little odd when I got it. I had to bore out the spider bolt holes to fit the hardware and ring I used. No mods to the BB assy, but replaced with new parts anyways. Dropped a lot of weight; I have no problem cranking it over 20 mph. I knew that my friend not being a cyclist (he quickly seems to be turning into one) needed something a little different both in function and looks to get him out riding. He loves the thing! Of course now that he's riding more, he's also demanding more; wider tires, bike computer, etc. This project will never end!! I'm easy though since we'll be hitting the pavement this weekend for some leisurely cycling; I'm doing my standard hard ride before hand to avoid wanting to sprint away from him on stops/slowdowns. He already said he's not going to try and chase me down; I built it with an upright posture for him; for me there'd be drop bars, racing saddle, clipless pedals, etc. It would be a killer trainer for me if my size, not that the size would stop me anyways; I still ride 60cm racing frames even though I should be in the 52-53cm range. He's got 5" on me.
Last edited:
