Sp1990

New here not to vintage bicycles. Going to be starting a summer project with my daughter. This will be my first vintage schwinn though. We plan to bring the bicycle back to original appearance. We are starting with a bare frame, a 1970 lil chik. Was going to post pics but looks like I can't until I do 10 posts. Will update.

Sp1990

I have a couple of questions, what crank will work on this frame? I'm assuming a stingray crank will work? Will any other crank work?

juvela

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There will be more readers knowledgable regarding this model of Schwinn over at thecabe.com forum.

Registration needed to participate and is free.

https://www.thecabe.com/


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Sp1990

How she looked from factory with the green paint.


Frame as bought


By end of summer this is what it should look like.

SurferRosa

Pro tip: find a donor bike for components and learn to polish 'em up.

Sp1990

This bike not going to be a show bike just something my daughter can ride and keep. Not many kids nowadays can say they have ridden a vintage Chicago schwinn.going to be shopping ebay for the parts. Im Ok with using generic parts.

PatTheSlat 

Good luck on this one- since so many parts are shared with the much more valuable boys stingrays, finding reasonably priced parts may be a struggle. I can set you up with a headset and maybe a few other things- send me a PM if you like.

Sp1990

That's actually a good thing. There seems to be a good amount of parts for stingrays online.

Jeff Wills

As others said- the parts are 100% interchangeable with the Sting-Ray. In fact, many parts interchange with Schwinn "electro-forged" bikes of the '60's and '70's. Back when I worked in a Schwinn shop we would customize new bikes for only the difference in cost between the swapped parts.

FWIW: here's a complete one for guidance:
https://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/b...911013034.html

Sp1990

After chemically stripping paint, next to sand it down smooth. Apparently whoever did the red repaint stripped all green original paint off. Only a little original green on forks.

madpogue 

This thread is sooooo

cudak888 

If you don't mind some subtle upgrades, you can always pull a set of decent 20" aluminum wheels from a current kid's bike and the crank, if it's chromed. The chainring should be easy enough to find on eBay.

The same handlebar stem can be found on the upright-bar Schwinns of the time - the Breeze, Collegiate, Speedster, and a few others used it.

-Kurt

madpogue 

^^^^ Oh that would be sweet. And way easier to source tires for modern rims; IIRC, Schwinn had their own 20" "standard" BITD.

Perhaps some more modern pedals as well (OEM style look cool, but are clunky).

Sp1990

One step ahead of u buddy, been on the hunt for a parts bike for the last 2 weeks.it's funny I usually always see bikes in people's trash /on curb.now that I NEED one haven't seen a bike for the 2 weeks I've been looking lol been to a few thrift stores too. No luck yet.as far as the crank goes I'm going 24tpi bmx crank.already have bearings,cup, all that. Crank should be coming in the mail any day now. BTW this is a February 1970 frame so this little bike hitting big 50 next year. For now back to the body work.

2cam16

Subbed!

Darth Lefty 

I love it! By the time of my childhood the only remaining "muscle bikes" were for girls because boys all got BMX.

For some reason I always notice now that underneath the ape hangers and tall banana seat for adolescents, there's a 20" kid's size cruiser frame, and I wonder how it would look with a regular seat and cruiser bars.

It also makes me wonder how something like a Cleary would look with a banana seat and ape hangers.

Sp1990

When kids got tired of of jumping their stingray


They did this. A soulless stingray lol (not my bikes)
I've seen a few stingrays converted to bmx. Looks like a stingray that had its soul sucked out lmao.kids that couldn't afford new bmx bikes converted their old stingrays. The ones I've seen were beat to hell but they took the abuse.

Jeff Wills

Yes, the Schwinn size was 20 x 1 3/4" while BMX-ish tires are 20 x 1.75"... and they don't interchange. Bicycle tire sizes are weird.

You can install 20 x 1.75" wheels pretty easily, but I'm not certain that alloy rims with coaster-brake hubs are available. No doubt someone will point to some. Also, the fork accepts a 5/16" diameter axle while most "BMX" wheels use a 3/8" diameter axle... at least they did when I was working in a bike shop (40 years ago...). A little work with a file will enlarge the slots enough for the larger axle.

Sp1990

thank you this is the kind of info I need!!

cudak888 

I kid you not, I pitched the idea of modernizing three Lil' Chiks as kid-proof bike rodeo bikes for a non-profit once. It's still a sound idea...

-Kurt

Sp1990

What is a kid proof rodeo bike?

cudak888 

Any bike that can survive five years of kids crashing them into any immovable object - including the floor - and then be transported back to an office under a pile of other bikes...

...and not need major maintenance for five years of said regular abuse.

Said non-profit still has some Giant Brass 1's (totally unsuited and oversized) in their fleet. One of the kids was able to crash it hard enough to loosen the swedged steerer tube in its fork crown (though I'll blame the fork design partially for this).

-Kurt

Jeff Wills

I think that beats "Giant Iguana" for bike brand/model combinations.

cudak888 

I've been looking at those pieces of crap for five years, and only now did the pun just click.


Must mention it to the staff on Monday. More justification for kicking those things out of a kids' program


-Kurt

Sp1990

Giant brass 1 and giant iguana are bikes lmao what we're they thinking with those names!?