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- Apr 26, 2020
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I picked up this pile of parts yesterday for $30 primarily for the 7 speed Nexus hub. I believe the bike is made in Taiwan and an Australian branded Apollo retro cruiser. Once i got home i gave the lot a bath and discovered the rims were Japanese Arayas which was a nice bonus.
The paint is not original and someone spent a fair amount of time painting and pinstriping it as well as making the aluminum panels with Eldorado etched into them.
I decided to build it and soon found out the fork was bent and had been cut short. I pulled a Chinese Schwinn fork from my parts pile which was 40mm too long. I spent the next hour or so cutting an extra inch of thread and then proceeded to shorten and paint it. I was working at a fast pace and forgot to take pix.
Next I found a section of the old seat post someone used as a shim so they could use a 22.2mm post. Luckily i was able to remove it and fit a 25.4mm post.
I fitted a stack of parts I already had including a pair of really old Electra whitewalls, Schwinn stem, saddle, chainwheel and bars, newish cromo 175mm crank and nos union diamond block pedals. I cleaned and regreased all the bearings.
The fenders were too narrow for the 2.125” wide tyres so I left them off.
The final touch was the Cadillac water transfer decal that was one of a number of extra decals that came with a stencil kit i bought some time ago to repaint my 1936 Schwinn.
The front wheel needs to be trued and i intend to fit an 80’s canti front brake
but other than that it rides well and the 7 speed nexus works perfectly. The rebuild took just under 6 hours and I’m now on the hunt for a hood ornament off a Caddy.
The paint is not original and someone spent a fair amount of time painting and pinstriping it as well as making the aluminum panels with Eldorado etched into them.
I decided to build it and soon found out the fork was bent and had been cut short. I pulled a Chinese Schwinn fork from my parts pile which was 40mm too long. I spent the next hour or so cutting an extra inch of thread and then proceeded to shorten and paint it. I was working at a fast pace and forgot to take pix.
Next I found a section of the old seat post someone used as a shim so they could use a 22.2mm post. Luckily i was able to remove it and fit a 25.4mm post.
I fitted a stack of parts I already had including a pair of really old Electra whitewalls, Schwinn stem, saddle, chainwheel and bars, newish cromo 175mm crank and nos union diamond block pedals. I cleaned and regreased all the bearings.
The fenders were too narrow for the 2.125” wide tyres so I left them off.
The final touch was the Cadillac water transfer decal that was one of a number of extra decals that came with a stencil kit i bought some time ago to repaint my 1936 Schwinn.
The front wheel needs to be trued and i intend to fit an 80’s canti front brake
but other than that it rides well and the 7 speed nexus works perfectly. The rebuild took just under 6 hours and I’m now on the hunt for a hood ornament off a Caddy.
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