1941 Schwinn New World

We had a pretty much par early spring day today - 63 or so degrees and sunny with a breeze. That's not bad. We had torrential rains yesterday, so today's weather allowed some time to dry the roads and get rid of the puddles.




I took out the 1941 Schwinn New World roadster for a ride this afternoon. The bike is running smoothly, though I probably need to true the wheels up a bit.





I built the wheels last fall, and usually after you build the wheels, riding will knock them a bit out of true. This is normal - just the spokes and tension finding equilibrium under the strains of riding.




A quick truing with a spoke wrench will usually remedy it. The wheels generally don't even need to be taken off of the bicycle - just true based on the fork and brake pads.





The adjustments are small enough to do that. Though if you build wheels and they go way out of true quickly, you need to pull them, put them on the stand, and address the issue. These are in good shape and just need a touch-up with the wrench.


 So far, I'm really happy with this bicycle about 6 month in. It's running smoothly, fun to ride, and quite a quick and agile bike.

Schwinn New World and Evening Rides

Now that the days are starting to lengthen more, I've had a chance to ride in the evenings after work, at least a couple of days each week. I usually get my pick of a one-hour bicycle ride or a three-mile run each evening for exercise. I prefer the bike by far, but sometimes it's just too late and I need to do the run.

In any event, I took this 1941 Schwinn New World for a ride last evening. It was really, really nice out.

More Cleaning - Raleigh Sprite 5 Speed

I cleaned out my spare shed some today. This gave me a chance to take out this late 1960s-era Raleigh Sprite 5-speed.


 It's a fun bike with a little more "go" than the average 3-speed Sports of that era. It was noticeably colder today than yesterday.