Progress - 1959 Schwinn Traveler Three Speed

 The 1959 Schwinn Traveler is proceeding. My last entry described some fine setting and straightening of the frame and fork. After I accomplished that and rebuilt the headset, I moved onto finding fenders for this bike.

 

Schwinn fenders differ from British three speed fenders in one important way: they are size-specific to different frames. Whereas the fenders for something like a Raleigh Sports can be transferred between bicycles fairly easily, Schwinn fenders were made with a specific frame size in mind. 

This is because rather than having a bridge clamp that goes over the fender at the rear brake caliper, Schwinn fenders instead have a riveted-on L-bracket. The position of that bracket differs on different frame sizes. Whereas on the Raleigh, you could simply loosen and slide the bridge clamp a little bit to make the difference.

Then there is the problem that Schwinn's fender braces vary slightly in length over the years they made the bikes. For example, the braces on a 1960s era Traveler will differ from the braces on a 1940s New World, even though they are both Schwinn three speed bikes. You need to make sure you have the right braces for both fenders to make the bike work. This is especially true on the front fender, where a brace that is too long or too short can ruin the fender position relative to the wheel. These are all subtle pitfalls that you'll encounter and did not necessarily expect. Fortunately, the parts are not overly difficult to find, for the most part, at least in the USA.

 

For this tall frame Traveler, I located a set of stainless steel fenders from a 1960 Traveler "standard" frame bike. The standard frame bike is just under 22 inches, whereas the tall frame I have is just under 24 inches. This means Given the year and frame sizes, these fenders will be close, but will need a little adapting to fit my project.

Above, you can see the fenders as they arrived. There was a great deal of work with the fender blocks to get those dents out. And then there was plenty of work with the drill press polishing wheel. I managed to get the dents out, and only a few small ripples remain where those big dents were. This work was accomplished using a mallet, ball peen hammer, and the homemade fender blocks (I used some pressure-treated scrap lumber for the blocks). Please pardon the finger prints all over the stainless fender...

When it came time to mount the rear fender, I had the problem of the frame size being different from the bike these fenders came from. The result is that the L-bracket was slightly too far forward to reach the brake bolt.

 

The solution was fairly simple - set the rear fender up the way a Raleigh might have it: with a bridge clip that allows me to custom-fit the fender to the bike. The old L-bracket was removed by drilling out the rivet. A stainless steel plug was made from a riv-screw by polishing down the head almost flush with the fender surface. Then the bridge clip was installed.Another option would be to mark a new hold and re-install the L-bracket at the correct point. This remains an option, but the bridge clip hides fairly well under the seat stays and allows me to custom set the fender position to match the wheel contour best.

Then there was the headbadge, which had been bashed at some point and needed some cosmetic work. I filled the gash in with JB Weld and smooth the work out. Then I touched up the areas of lost finish.

I also installed a set of handlebars and the stem, which as I found out from another collector, was a short-lived stem dating to 1959-60. You learn new things on each project.

The handlebars are still somewhat "up in the air". I have a set of Schwinn "North Road" style bars on there for now, but I may have a nicer set of Schwinn three speed bars from a slightly earlier bike that I may use. Either would work nicely and we'll see how it works out ergonomically for riding.

The result is progress through plenty of effort. Rebuilding a bike is a project, but it's basically 10,000 little jobs rolled in together. Solve each individual, smaller problem on the bike, and gradually the whole comes together.