Another Rain Storm, Another Flood

 Some of the local roads are underwater after this last storm. One of the low-lying roads on my usual route was so far underwater that it would have inundated my wheels. Cars were up to their axles in water, and a Jeeps were splashing water in all directions. 

 

But I carried on and finished the rest of my ride route. The local waterways are all way, way up, and swamps are partially overflowing onto roads and walking paths. The local nature trails are partially closed, though the roads remain open and people ford through the water.  We've had one of the wettest and greyest summers I can recall.

 

I'm enjoying the 1950 Schwinn Superior 3-speed I rebuilt over the summer. We're losing daylight pretty quickly now, so every nice afternoon ride this time of year is a bonus.

 

Time to Make the Most of What's Left of the Season

 

1974 Raleigh Sports with Dynohub and B&M Lumotec Classic

The days are getting shorter, though the weather is still reasonably warm. Now is the time to make the most of your Dynohubs, LED lights, reflectors, battery-powered lights, and whatever else you use to get the most out of what daylight we have left. The season is starting to wind down here for riding, at least for riding after work in the evenings. There's just a few weeks left for that. There's a little more time if you ride during the day on the weekends, but eventually the cold weather will take hold. You'll want these days back come January!

Schwinn Three Speed Wheels - Wheelbuilding Notebook

 

 I mentioned awhile back that I was looking at building a "runner" wheelset for my Schwinn Superior 3-speed. This is an old, 1949-50 era bike, but the wheels still make a difference. The wheels are among the most important parts of a bicycle, and you'll benefit greatly if your wheels are rounded, true (or at least pretty well true), and made from decent quality parts.

I started the Schwinn Superior re-build using a set of the classic Schwinn "stainless S6" wheels from 1949. These had the old style steel double-butted spokes, stainless S6 rims, Sturmey AW rear hub, and Schwinn hourglass front hub. 

The old wheels were decent, but a couple issues were nagging me. First, the rear rim in particular was out-of-round in a way that the spokes just could not eliminate. It seems to me the wheels may have hit a curb or dropped off a curb such that they took on flat spots. Second, some of the spokes underwent extensive de-rusting, but still were pretty worn. Both wheels had a little residual wobble, though they trued up reasonably well for their age and condition. 

So I decided to set the old wheels aside and build what new-old wheels might look like. That is to say, I used some nice, old hubs from my stock, a set of new-old-stock (never used old stock that is) Schwinn S6 steel rims, and new Sapim Race double-butted spokes. This is essentially what a "new" Schwinn three speed wheelset would be. 

 

The results are quite good: round, true wheels with good spokes and hubs. They run smoothly and allow for tighter brake tolerances because the rims are like-new. I like this wheelset enough that I may build another. I have the parts around to do this, and I'd just have to order the spokes for one more front wheel.

 

That brings me to the "notebook" part of this entry. I like knowing what spokes I need. So here are my findings as to spoke lengths:

• Schwinn Front Hourglass hub to 26 inch Schwinn S6 rim: pattern is 36 spokes, cross 4. Length of spokes is 288mm, 290mm or 292mm. The 288 is a bare minimum, whereas 292 is max. The 290 will work fine. This is similar to the old 11-7/16 inch size recommended by the Torrington Co. A word of caution here: unlike many modern wheels, this wheel build will involve butting some spokes over the heads of spokes on the same side of the hub. The original wheels I have all feature this over-butting of spokes and seem perfectly fine with it. Stick with this wheel build. It may seem like the spokes and cross pattern will not work at first, but once you go to tension the wheel, it all draws up together nicely. I did NOT use spoke washers at the flange for a couple reasons: (1) the flange on this older hourglass hub is quite thick, and (2) the butting-over of the spokes at the flange is very problematic if you use spoke washers. I indeed used the flat spoke-nipple washers at the rim. The 292mm may be a touch long if you don't use the rim washers, but you can file them down the thread or two that run long. I recommend 290mm as a happy medium. Sapim Race double-butted reasonably approximate the old US-production double-butted look. I used 14mm nipples.
  

 

• Sturmey Archer AW to 26 Schwinn S6 rim: pattern is 36 spokes, cross 4. Length of spokes is again 288mm, 290mm, or 292mm. This build is more straightforward than the front because the larger flanges of the AW hub are fine with a cross-4 pattern. I used brass spoke washers at the flange (the flange is thinner than the Schwinn hourglass I had up front), and a flat spoke-nipple washer at the rim. I used 288mm spokes because I had them on hand. Beware that 288mm is the minimum length. I would use 290mm if I had to order spokes. You could also use 292mm with a washer at each end of the spoke, but it may need a little filing to level back down when you're done. Again, 290mm is a happy medium. With the AW hub I indeed recommend you use the flange washers. 

These wheels are effectively copies of the 1949 original wheels, but with Sapim stainless spokes and chromed steel rims. Keep in mind these are ISO 597 rims NOT the British 590mm. The above spoke lengths may not work for a British 3-speed. This is for the Schwinn 3-speeds. 

Headed Toward Autumn

Sept 8, 2021: Raleigh rod brake roadster along a forest road

 

Labor Day in the USA marks the end of customary summer, though absolute summer continues through something like September 21, or so each year - at least until we get to the autumnal equinox. But one notices we're losing daylight as the month of August goes by, and as September begins. I know that I'm noticing less daylight in the evenings.

You should do yourself a favor, and bring along front and rear lights on your vintage bicycle. This extends the riding season a little bit. Some lights, such as the vintage types, tend to be more for allowing cars and other cyclists to see you more easily. More modern lights that have higher outputs actually will allow you to see the road in the dark.

And that is how I tend to classify lights: lower output lights that allow you to be seen by others, but which might not necessarily allow you see well on a dark road; and higher output lights that are sufficient for you to actually see in the dark. My bikes with vintage lights are the former, but I also have a couple portable lights that I can move from bike-to-bike that are the higher output type. Don't be afraid to mix and run as many lights as you need to get by on a darker evening.

 

Schwinn Superior 3 Speed - Adjust-as-you-go

 One thing about when you "finish" a vintage bike project is that you're not ever really, totally finished. The best example I can think of is when you finally are out on the road on your recently-completed "gem", you'll be particularly sensitive if an adjustment is off. 

 

Sometimes the bottom bracket is just a little loose, sometimes the headset is just a little tight, sometimes the brakes are just a little soft, sometimes the seat is just a little too high or low. It's not that the bike is dangerous at all, it's that you just feel something is "off". 

So the first few rides are a "shake down" of sorts. This is when you ride the bike, check for issues or fit, and then come back and adjust as needed. I always bring a little adjustable wrench, and sometimes a spoke wrench and little screwdriver in my bike bag when I first get a newly completed project back on the road.

 

In the case of the Schwinn Superior, the first couple rides told me I needed to raise the seat a touch, true the wheels just a little more, and adjust the brakes and handlebars just a little bit. Tonight, I noticed that I have just a touch of play in the bottom bracket, which may have developed as everything is sort of "breaking in". The bottom bracket has new bearing balls and grease.

So the next step is to tweak the bottom bracket a bit, and then it will go back on the road for more rides. I guess you have to look at the "shake down" phase as part of the fun. But I will admit, I'm happier when everything is finally adjusted just to my liking.

Schwinn Superior 3-Speed

 

I've spent some free time over the past few weeks rehabilitating this uncommon, post-war Schwinn Superior. Prior to the Second World War, the Schwinn Superior was a mid-range bicycle aimed at the adult rider who wanted a good-quality bicycle, but who did not have the money (or want to spend the money) on the top-of-the-line Schwinn Paramount. I guess this was Schwinn's version of what would have been the "Buick" at General Motors. The pre-war Superior was a hand-built, steel framed bicycle made with fillet brazed construction.

After the war, the Superior briefly disappeared. The Schwinn "Continental" model (that is, the 3-speed Continental, not to be confused with the later 10-speed road bike "Continental") replaced the Superior as the mid-range Schwinn.  The Continental assumed the place of the hand-built, fillet brazed touring bike one could buy without having to spring for the top-of-the-line Paramount.

Then something odd happened: despite the ascendancy of the automobile in the US in the late 1940s, Schwinn actually went somewhat deeper into lightweight bikes for adults. They brought back the Superior, this time as a mid-range offering below the Continental but above the base "New World" model. The result was that the Superior had become an electroforge welded, steel frame bicycle with fillet brazing around the bottom bracket, and a three-piece cottered crank set. This created a sort of hybrid construction for the frame, mixing welded joints in some areas and brazed joints in others. Apparently, bottom bracket shells from Schwinn Tandems were used on at least some of these bikes (yielded "T" series serial numbers).

 The Superior also gained the out-going, luminous paint colors of the Continental, and may have even offered certain versions of the colors that were unique. This included attractive, aluminum-boosted blues and greens. The post-war Superior also got its own, unique frame graphics that included chevron-type shapes and lettering. Whereas the basic New World would be a plainly dressed frame, the Superior would be more dressed up, though still nothing quite like the more opulent winged graphics of the Continental. The post-war Superior had become something of "Oldsmobile" or "Pontiac" in Schwinn's line up, with the Continental being the "Buick" of its day, and the Paramount being the "Cadillac" in our analogy.

I have never seen any memorandum or rationale as to why Schwinn did this. Perhaps they had the materials on-hand already and just went forward with the post-war Superior product. It seems strange that in 1949, at the dawn of what many consider the golden age of post-war automobile design, that Schwinn would go even deeper into adult cycle offerings. Perhaps they thought they boom in post-war auto buying would extend to leisure items like adult bicycles. 

 And so with that, I come to my own 1949 Superior project. This project arrived as a frame and accessories in a box. The wheels were gone. Part of the frame, fenders, and some of the parts had black spray paint on them. There was light rust, but it wasn't too bad. The unique aluminum-tinted green color and the odd graphics draw me to the project. I also really liked the use of white as a trim color, including the rear fender mimicking British designs. 

 

I am also a fan of the old school, electroforge welded diamond frame. Sure, it's heavy, but it's durable can be set up as a nice rider, especially if paired with a good wheelset. I have a 1947, black New World that I have enjoyed for quite a few years. The post-war Superior frame set is very similar to the post-war New World, apart from the cottered bottom bracket of the Superior.

This project involved a clean-up, paint matching and touch-up, locating a wheelset, and outfitting with new rubber parts. The black spray paint was carefully removed using an old can of Tru-Value "Stripz 'Em" paint stripper (very, very little - one wipe and the spray paint was gone from each area).

All chrome parts were cleaned with oxalic acid. 

The new pedals are MKS 3000S in the 1/2 inch spindle size. Yes, even with cottered cranks Schwinn still used the 1/2 inch pedal size on this one.

MKS3000S Pedals with Box

 

I opted to use new cables and housings. They are the basic "Bell Pitcrew" type. The original routing of the rear brake cable ran down to the chain guard, through a clip, and then up to the rear brake. This was so Schwinn could use the same brake cables for the men's and women's frames. I opted instead for a conventional, top-tube routing because it's cleaner and is a bit smoother-functioning. 

 I made my own shifter cable by cutting a cable blank to size and using brass tubing and a Bell Systems Model B crimper. The shifter is the very unusual, short-lived "Silverface" Sturmey shifter of the very late 1940s.

 The original grips were a mixed bag: one softened up OK using John Deere Ultraguard, while the other swelled and developed cracks when softened up. I opted to go with new reproductions from BicycleBones in New York. They're nice and comfortable, and I think these reproductions look good.

The saddle is a brown-colored Brooks B66. Bag is the Banjo Brothers barrel bag. Seat post is a Cr-Mo post from Porkchop BMX. The original Schwinn script seatpost and the original Lycett horsehair saddle are set aside. The B66 and the properly sized Cr-Mo seatpost make a nice combination.

Overall, I think this has been a good project. I love the color. The one downside is that the rear S6 Stainless rim has an intractable flat spot. I've tried every means on it, and it is a lot better than when I started. But I still feel a little uneven running when I'm on smooth pavement. I will build a custom wheel set with new-old-stock S6 rims as a "runner" wheelset (new old stock S6 rims, Sapim double-butted stainless spokes, new spoke nipples for those - a premium copy of the old wheels). I'll set aside the 1949 stainless wheels for the time being.  

This is a fun and attractive bike. But don't be fooled into thinking this is a big jump up from a New World 3-speed. It's basically a New World with a few improvements. This isn't a Cr-Mo, fillet brazed Continental and this certainly is not a Reynolds 531/lugged Paramount. But this is a nice, classic utility bike with a few extra touches for someone who enjoys this sort of thing.