I'm coming to this discussion a bit late, but I'll post in case anyone else comes here for similar ideas. I'm right with the idea of resurrecting older Schwinns in a cruiser form but adding some gears. I've experimented with 3 and 8 speed coaster brake hubs, and liked what I ended up with. Currently, you can add an alloy wheelset with a Nexus 3 speed cb hub for around $160 or a 7 speed Nexus cb for around $270. The 8 speed cb set me back more than I care to admit. I had to buy the hub and then get it laced into a rim, and didn't want to try doing my first wheel building with that expensive hub. I'm an old guy, I don't spend a lot of money on luxuries or expensive habits or hobbies. I don't think it's too much to spend $500 or $750 on something novel and satisfying once in a while. Yeah, maybe you can just buy a new cruiser bike with a derailleur for less, but it's not the same. An, yeah, you're destroying the originality of a surviving classic. But, you're creating something novel on the order of folk art. My current favorite bike is my 1962 Schwinn Typhoon, straight tube cantilever frame, with the Nexus 8 cb. I had to stretch the rear dropouts a little, but that was not so hard. In the photo, the wire wrapped around the top tubes is plugged into a USB battery pack in the seat bag to power a converted headlight that I installed an 4.5 vdc led bulb in. The chrome fenders are skinny from a Free Spirit 3 speed "English" style bike, the inside of which are painted red. You don't normally notice so much, this was just the right angle and lighting to show it off. I used a red chain and set the chain guard a bit higher than usual to show the chain. Tires are Rubena City Hoppers in white with reflective sidewalls. Pedals are just inexpensive Wally World pedals.
