I took the rebuilt 1959 Schwinn Traveler out for a "shakedown" ride of about an hour last night. This bike came to me as a simple frame, fork, and chain guard. However, I had many of the necessary parts for this bike already in my storage bins.
The result is a nice, green Schwinn with classic 1950s elements - lots of chrome and stainless steel bright work.
So what did the shakedown ride yield? Not a whole lot... which is a good thing. There was a somewhat loose seat post that turned just a little while riding. Fortunately, that was about it. The bike is a smooth, comfortable rider. It has the typical Schwinn heft to it, and the heavy frame and forged front fork dampen bumps from the road (our roads here have plenty of that).
Returning to that loose seat, the problem was at the seat tube clamp. I replaced the post with a cr-mo chromed post.
Every bike is its own project, with its own condition and circumstances. On a bright, outgoing bicycle like this, even the pulley wheel is highly polished. An older or more worn bike might have a more worn wheel I would select. But this one is nice and bright. Quick tip: on a Schwinn pulley, I like to use the keeper arm as a buffer for the brake cable housing. This prevents the housing from rubbing on the pulley wheel (which may prevent the wheel from turning properly).
The brakes are the tried and true "Schwinn Approved" Weinmann models. They are aluminum and they work reasonably well for 1950s era sidepull calipers. The levers are Weinmann "red dot" levers. The red dot levers are light, though I find them not as precise as the English steel type levers.
The chain guard also has plenty of chrome plating, combined with matching green paint. The graphic is somewhat worn, but I am inclined to leave the graphics on this bike as part of its natural condition. I think replacing them with reproduction graphics might be "too clean" looking for the overall condition of this bike. They'd stand out as reproductions. The cranks are the typical, post-war Schwinn one-piece types. They're a big heavy, but the quality is pretty good.
The lights are my usual LED chromed front and aluminum bullet tail light. They look good on the bike, but also add an element of safety, being brighter than original lights.
I use lapel pins on many of my bikes as a kind of "Easter egg". A WWII era bike might have a pin with a military theme. A more basic bike might get a pin with an old Ford, or Chevy, or Plymouth car logo. A higher end bike might get a luxury pin - something from a Lincoln or a Cadillac. I like adding something appropriate where, if you know your history or your bikes or your cars, you'll see that it's not random. Of course being a 1959, this bike got a Cadillac pin. If you've never seen a 1959 Cadillac, Google it... lots of chrome and fins. The bag is the Banjo Brothers Barrel Bag, which is a nice, compact bag that will hold your keys, wallet, and cell phone - good for an afternoon ride but still manageable.
This bike exhibits the classic Schwinn version of the three speed utility bike: laid back frame, heavy-duty construction, bright paint, and lots of chrome and stainless steel. I think it all works out pretty nicely. Chalk up another "save" bringing an old bike core back to life.
That came out nice. The tan saddle looks nice against the green. I happen to think the chainguard transfer looks pretty nice, but my criteria is that I like to be able to read it (many of mine have been unreadable, or just a shadow). I could see myself replacing the transfer, only to try to rub it away in an attempt to look like yours!
ReplyDeleteThanks. That green color is nice and seems to go pretty well with both the stainless fenders and the tan saddle. It originally would have had one of those flat vinyl saddles Schwinn used, but I just can't ride for very long on those. The Brooks is still the gold standard. It's a heavy but comfortable rider. I ended up picking up that tall 1957 Schwinn Traveler you sent me in the craiglist link - much appreciated. I've got that and an old New Hudson to rebuild still.
DeleteI think the 1941 Schwinn New World and the 1942 WWII themed New World will be getting sold. They're great riders but I'm low on space these days.
Oh man - those two that you may be parting with are sweet bikes! The fact that they appear to be 22" models (or the early bike equivalent to that size) has not escaped me. But alas - my space constraints are more dire than yours. And I've still got some projects vying for the little money I have. That said, who knows where my head and wallet will be when you are ready. I'll be watching.
ReplyDeleteI keep seeing the Banjo bag on your bikes, and realize that I need to pick one up. I always want the biggest, but the truth is the Barrel you use is enough for a day's outing. Plus, I've found that even the smaller sized Carradice bags come way to close to the tire on a non-fendered bike at my saddle height. The worst is the long bags on my cargo bike. Worst because I don't inventory them often, and when I do I find myself carrying around lots of unneeded junk me or my kids pick up, and sometimes the odd pizza crust. Never seem to have an extra tube handy, though... Coming back to the bag on this bike, I was reminiscing with my Uncle last week (a Cadillac collector), and recalled that growing up, my neighbors across the street had a '59 Coupe DeVille parked out front, parallel to the road, for as long as I could remember. That car never moved during that time, but it was a cool thing to see. So yeah, I'm familiar with the 1959 fins (and those iconic tail lamps, dagmars, etc).
Neat you snagged that Traveler. I never gave it much thought before (as I'm always looking out for the smaller bikes), but those large framed, early Schwinn lightweights don't seem to come up very often. I'm looking forward to seeing that and the New Hudson. Hopefully I'll complete my Roadster before you have both of those done! Now that my kids are back in school, I'm thinking I'll devote a little time every day to bike stuff, and it will eventually come together. New England autumn and English three speeds go hand in hand.
Thanks. The '41 New World has already sold and is in the box to be shipped out. The '42 will be up for sale next. If you decide you're interested, let me know, I would give you a pretty steep discount on it. Otherwise, I'll put it up in the usual places online and see how much interest there is in it. After that, I may sell off one more bike, but we'll see when the time comes.
DeleteThe '51 New Hudson and the '57 Schwinn are my two remaining projects. I'm not sure which will come first. Both are tall frames and they're both in pretty good shape. The New Hudson will need a three speed rider wheel set, which I can build from parts I have around. The original wheels are flip-flop freewheel and fixed gear single speeds. But we have too many hills here for that. The Schwinn will need an AW hub swapped in for the old SW.