Stronglight56

My first non-department-store bicycle bought at a bike shop. My dad gave it to me when I graduated High School in 1987 - it’s a Schwinn Premis that I had repainted by Rick Stefani at D&D cycles and rebuilt into a fixed gear / single speed. Unfortunately he didn’t put the ‘Schwinn Chicago’ head tube badge back and filled in the rivet holes - I’ll put the badge on again one day, I just am loathe to drill his beautiful paint work. I still love this frame and it has a lot of emotional significance to me.



Repaint beautifully done by Rick Stefani, owner D&D Cycle Services. He paints Rivendell’s bicycles.



Newbaum’s cloth tape sealed with homemade beeswax oil cloth sealant



Here’s another Premis posted by @corrado33. This is exactly how my bike looked stock with the white components. I still have the original brake levers on mine. The original hoods are in a drawer.

I rode the Premis through university into the late 90s until I bought a new bike. It’s sad how vain and silly I was back then - all my friends were riding European and Japanese bikes as well as Cannondales and Treks and they really took the piss out of my 80s Schwinn. I garaged it and eventually it ended up behind a garden shed, paint bleaching in the sun and starting to rust. One day, ashamed that I’d let it degrade in the weather and remembering how proud I was when my dad bought me the bike - I pulled it out and began assessing what I could salvage. So, I stripped it down to the frame and rebuilt it with mostly new components and a stronger wheel set. When I rode it again, it was a joy; I realized what a fantastic frame it really was. I rode it like that until 2008 when I had it repainted and made it into a fixed gear. I love riding this bike and it elicits a lot of curiosity.