Using old bikes as parts & large slick tire names.

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pepper

pepper

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If you right click on the pix and "open in new window" they will be bigger.




I found these two Schwinns, both are from the late-late 70's early 80's? The blue one is a Schwinn Collegiate, and the red one is a Schwinn American,

The bad:
The tires are dry rotted, the paint is cooked, bearings are one peace now and the head tube nut holding the bars on doesn't want to budge... and the gears and saddles are poo to.
The Good"
Frames are solid, chrome just needs some XXXX wool, blue bike has two simple dents in the fenders.

On the Pack rat scale of 1 to 10, I'm a shiny 10 and I'm hoping to amend the scale and add 11 through 20...
I want to use these bikes as parts bike, but being new to vintage/classic bikes I don't know if this would be a no-no on these?

On a separate issue
Also I'm trying to find some 26" x ? slick hi/psi. tires, I'm building a "street/urban" version of a Klunker. I wanted to fit it with some very large slick hi/psi tires (75psi)?? is that possible?
Any brand names would be great I can than search it out myself.
EDIT: I wont be using the two bikes I posted above as parts for the Klunker project. They would be for my other projects

Thanks
Pep
 
Hard to tell on the blue one, the red one's going to take 1 3/8" tires. If the blue has tires marked 1 3/4", that's all it'll take. If marked 1.75" or some other decimal#, you'll have a wide variety to choose from.
 
deorman said:
Hard to tell on the blue one, the red one's going to take 1 3/8" tires. If the blue has tires marked 1 3/4", that's all it'll take. If marked 1.75" or some other decimal#, you'll have a wide variety to choose from.
Click to expand...
I added some more info in red. :D

Thanks for the fast reply!


pep
 
I'm new to this as well, but I 'mam fine with using 70-80's Schwinn girl's bikes for parts. People are not giving big money for them. I sure like the forks on them more than the new bikes.

On a side note, I never bought the idea that all rusty chrome needs is steel wool. It will still be pitted and rust again in the blink on a eye (in Houston anyway)
 
Not to doubt what you wrote, and it's actually hard to tell with the pics being so small, but the red frame is a women's lightweight frame, which should be the Collegiate.

The blue one with the S curves in the down tubes is a middleweight frame, that should be the American. Americans are really cool because even in the 60's Schwinn made a big deal that they were "All American", i.e, no imported parts even in the hubs and other parts that often were made by someone else.

The Collegiate is a nice example of a mid-late 70's lightweight, a "bike boom" bike. They're good rideable comfortable 5-speeds, a little on the heavy side. Replace the cables and tires, grease the bearings and they'll be good for 20+ more years of riding.

They do share a lot of parts with other Schwinns of the day, so they are often parted out. Nothing wrong with that, I've taken quite a few apart myself. I often end up putting them back together and selling them though- people lately have gone away from "collector" bike like Stingrays and towards rideable classics like that. Still, top value on it is under $150 unless it's just a perfect example. Most aren't. The big issue with them now is tires. The only tire that fits these 26x1-3/8" S-6 rims is the 597mm variety. They are available new, but your bike shop and department stores will not have them. They're 7mm bigger than the tires on all other lightweight brands, not interchangeable, and no longer popular.

The American sounds like it's older, and it's a middleweight. It could be a very cool restoration, even if the paint is rough. Should be a comfortable if heavy bike to ride. The middleweight tires are S-7 sizes, meaning fractional inchs vs. decimal inches. You and I both know that 1-3/4 = 1.75, but this is not true in the bike world. To restore it you would need to find 26x1-3/4" tires, such as made by Kenda or Cheng Shin these days. Not a lot of options besides blackwall or whitewall, but again online shops can easily and cheaply get these.

As for seats, both bikes will take Schwinn's small 13/16" seat post, 5/8" size at the top - a very small seat clamp these days. But folks on here, me for instance, sell decent seats for $5 to $15 all the time, so if you need something to restore one, post it in WANTED and see what comes up.

Alternately, if you part them, there will always be a market for the parts, as long as they're priced reasonably.

Good luck with them and have fun.
--Rob
 
I have Kenda Kwests on my MTB, they go up to 100 PSI and are 26x1.5, very smooth and fast rolling, and you can get them in colors. It's a good urban tire.
 
Thanks for the replies yall.

If you right click on the pix and "open in new window" they will be bigger.

I was looking for some 26 x 3 slicks, Hi/PSI, I see a bunch on this site but with no names. Are they motorcycle tires?

One more noob question: 26 x 3 Thick Brick, do you have to have 3" wide rims?
 

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