kocour

This summer I posted about a 1980 Schwinn Voyageur 11.8 that I had purchased for $75 at a garage sale. I enjoyed it for a few weeks when I discovered a crack in the right seat stay where it meets the seat post. I had a frame builder replace the seat stays and extended them so that there is now more contact with the seat post. Before the repair the chrome was stripped. After the repair the frame was re-chromed. I just got it back form the chrome shop and am going to have the bike rebuilt.

I was going to rebuild it in the original design with down tube shifters, red cable housing and cloth bar tape. But now I am considering switching to bar end shifters. I have a second Schwinn Voyageur that is already equipped with bar end shifters. I ride that second bike almost daily. I am thinking it will be easier to ride with bar end shifters now that I am used to them. I am also thinking of going with Brooks leather-like bar tape to match the seat and to use black cable housing rather than the original red. Any thoughts on the way to go?











Here are some photos of the frame in the repair shop and after re-chroming. And a photo of the bike with red cables. Finally a photo of my second Voyageur.

norcalmike

Wow! That's nice.
I have a paint over chrome frame I've been debating on stripping and polishing.
I think this seals the deal for me

bwilli88 

Beautiful bike and well done resto. Who did your chrome work?
I have an 83 Centurion Pro Tour that is chrome and stripped of paint, a few rough areas but nice to look at.

kocour

The chrome work was done at "The Chrome Shop" in Rock Island, Illinois. The frame builder who did the repair work uses that shop. My advice would be to ask a classic car repair shop who they recommend for chrome work.

Hudson308 

Bravo for having the persistence to bring the Voyageur back from the edge. Most people would have scrapped the frame, and spent that repair money on a Paramount.

mstateglfr 

Guessing Jeff Bock did the repair? A hunch based on your location and he uses the chrome company you mentioned.

That frame will blind people when its sunny!

Slightspeed

Great looking bikes! I dont have any chrome bikes to compare, but you can't go wrong with brown Brooks saddle and leather wrap.

This old Raleigh was a rescued frame, cracked seat stay braze, and missing cable guides. Lots of $$$ to restore, but worth it, to me. The rear chrome was salvageable, and I found a NOS chrome fork. How does re-chrome compare $$$ wise to paint or powder coat? I like the brown cable housings with this too.

Another alternative is Brooks honey brown saddle, and matching bar wrap. This is a way cheaper Chinese faux leather, but cushier, and has a better feel, at least to me than the Brooks. Also doesn't show sweat stains, but may not work with your chrome. Not too sure on the gold cable housings, should have gone with brown ?

kocour

Thanks. Those are nice looking bikes. I have decided to go with the Brooks dark brown seat and faux leather bar tape. I probably will use black cable housing as brown would take a while to order. The cost of stripping and re-chroming the frame was $310. I assume the chrome will be more durable than paint.

kocour

Yes Jeff does good work. It was fun to visit his shop near Ames. ​​​​​​

kocour

I would have gone for a Paramount if I could have found one in reasonable condition.

3speedslow

kocour

You are the best caretaker that frame could have hoped to find! Kudos.

wrk101

What a recovery! Well done!

nlerner

Very shiny!

Hudson308 

That's a decent price these days. Did that include redoing the fork?

ski4bob

Very nicely done, you can get original frame decals at velocals.com to complete the project. Here is a pic of my 1980 Voyageur 11.8. It a wonderful frame that rides quite nicely.

kocour

The $310 was for re-chroming the frame only. The chrome on the fork is in good condition so no need to refinish.

Hudson308 

Thanks for the clarification. Did you have to chase the BB threads when you got it back?

kocour

I decided not to put decals back on - I like the clean look without. But I do hope to find a Voyager 11.8 that still has its decals in reasonable condition, or that I can restore to the original design. Since the two Voyageurs that I currently own have already been modified from the original design, I am not being a purist. I like your red model. I have seen a few in black but surprisingly not in red.

kocour

I have not put the bike back together yet so I don't know. The pictures are of my other Scwhinn and this one before the frame cracked. I will let you know once it is reassembled.

kocour

I had the bike rebuilt at Skunk River Cycles in Ames last week. The bottom bracket was fine and did not need to be chased. I will post some pictures of the completed bike.

kocour

Skunk River Cycles in Ames rebuilt my 1980 Schwinn Voyageur. I chose the shop because Ronn, the store owner, is very knowledgeable about vintage bikes, and they had a good selection of vintage components. They were able to supply a SunTour front derailleur and bar end shifters to match the SunTour rear derailleur that was on the bike when I purchased it. It now shifts very smoothly.

Before the seat rail cracked, the chrome finish was in pretty good shape, but there were two small dents in the top tube. The frame builder was able to smooth those out, but when the bike was re-chromed there were small flaws in those spots (areas about the size of peas where the finish was not as thick as on the rest of the top tube). There were also some small flaws in the finish on the seat tube. I used some reflective tape to create designs to cover those spots. I like the bike better without the tape, but it does add some reflectivity for riding at night - and I can remove them at any time.



Small flaws in chrome finish

Reflective stickers over the flaws


Reflective stickers



Schwinn Voyageur after frame repair

Both of my Voyageurs.

Hudson308 

Gorgeous bike. Nice buildup!