Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Beach Cruisers
Reload this Page >

Schwinn Sanctuary 7

Notices
Beach Cruisers Do you love balloon tires and fenders? Do you love riding the simplicity of a single gear and coaster brakes or a single gear cluster? Do you love the classic curves in the tubing of a cruiser that takes you back to the 1950's and 1960's, stylistically? Here's your home! Welcome to the Beach Cruisers and Cruisers forum!

Schwinn Sanctuary 7

Old 09-24-17, 02:44 PM
  #26  
JehD
Full Member
 
JehD's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: New Mexico
Posts: 342

Bikes: 1981 Bertin C34 - 2020 Electra Cruiser 7D - 2021 Mongoose Dolomite ALX

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 111 Post(s)
Liked 131 Times in 86 Posts
Originally Posted by tds101
Photobucket sux, but all that needs to be done HERE is to go advanced, then upload the pictures. Doesn't look like broken internet to me,...ymmv,... People just need to be informed, so they know how to post pics on the site. It makes it better for everyone that way.

Thats here and now and going forward, but what about the last 10 years, on every other forum?
JehD is offline  
Old 09-24-17, 03:44 PM
  #27  
tds101 
55+ Club,...
 
tds101's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Somewhere in New York, NY
Posts: 4,265

Bikes: 9+,...

Mentioned: 11 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1085 Post(s)
Liked 821 Times in 570 Posts
Originally Posted by JehD
Thats here and now and going forward, but what about the last 10 years, on every other forum?
That's something you need to ask yourself,... Is a class action lawsuit in your future? Possibly,...

I was suggesting a way for people to post pics WITHOUT the stress of that site. LBS is the here and now,...and we should all help each other, so sharing pics is still a possibility.

PS: I LUV THAT MOTO 3i YOU POSTED IN THE OTHER THREAD!!!
__________________
If it wasn't for you meddling kids,...
tds101 is offline  
Old 09-24-17, 04:54 PM
  #28  
JehD
Full Member
 
JehD's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: New Mexico
Posts: 342

Bikes: 1981 Bertin C34 - 2020 Electra Cruiser 7D - 2021 Mongoose Dolomite ALX

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 111 Post(s)
Liked 131 Times in 86 Posts
Originally Posted by tds101
That's something you need to ask yourself,... Is a class action lawsuit in your future? Possibly,...

I was suggesting a way for people to post pics WITHOUT the stress of that site. LBS is the here and now,...and we should all help each other, so sharing pics is still a possibility.

PS: I LUV THAT MOTO 3i YOU POSTED IN THE OTHER THREAD!!!

Thanks, I really like it and Thanks. I havent bothered posting other pics as its been a PITA but ill try that

Last edited by JehD; 09-24-17 at 05:05 PM.
JehD is offline  
Old 09-24-17, 05:05 PM
  #29  
tds101 
55+ Club,...
 
tds101's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Somewhere in New York, NY
Posts: 4,265

Bikes: 9+,...

Mentioned: 11 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1085 Post(s)
Liked 821 Times in 570 Posts
Originally Posted by JehD
Thanks and Thanks. I havent bothered posting other pics as its been a PITA.
Yeah, the way to post here is a bit frustrating. Especially when the pictures are too "big". I would have expected the sites software to have automatically adjusted them, so posting would be a bit more user friendly. I guess we should at least be grateful we have SOME WAY to post pics. It still drives me crazy sometimes,...
__________________
If it wasn't for you meddling kids,...
tds101 is offline  
Old 09-25-17, 08:11 PM
  #30  
JehD
Full Member
 
JehD's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: New Mexico
Posts: 342

Bikes: 1981 Bertin C34 - 2020 Electra Cruiser 7D - 2021 Mongoose Dolomite ALX

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 111 Post(s)
Liked 131 Times in 86 Posts
Originally Posted by DesmoDog
I probably should try replacing the pads before gogin too far with it. The one's on there do seem junky, a lot more dust than I'm used to seeing. And when the dust is cleaned the brakes don't squeal again right away.

Thanks for the brand recomendation, I've been out of it too long to know what's decent anymore.
They look like standard V Brake style mounts. You might look on eBay and look for some older Shimano XT “parralel push” style mountain bike brakes. It’s old tech since disks are the thing and they will stop you. You may have to upgrade the levers but since they are V brake already probably not.
JehD is offline  
Old 03-30-18, 10:22 AM
  #31  
DesmoDog
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
DesmoDog's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: SE Michigan, USA
Posts: 77
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 58 Post(s)
Liked 83 Times in 44 Posts
Originally Posted by SquidPuppet
The squealing is probably just crappy pads. People rave about the KoolStop salmon colored pads. Might give those a shot before a total replacement job.
So it's almost April and I haven't gotten around to doing ANY of the work on this that I was going to do over the winter. I haven't even installed the pedals and fender braces I bought for it last year.

i DID just order some brake pads for it though. Took the advice and ordered some Kool Stop pads in dual compound. My thought was, the squeal is because they vibrate. Maybe two compounds would vibrate at different frequencies and tend to dampen each other? It's a theory. Then I read a descriotion of the dual compound pads that said they worked for brake squeal so maybe I'm on to something here. We'll see.

Part of the reason no work got done on this was I picked up another project bike... but this one is an Aprilia. It's going to be a track bike, all my time and toy fund money has been funneling into that instead. I feel like a traitor but the price was right and the components on it are all high end. (It's a 2003 RSV Mille R for those of you who care).

In the interest of science I think I will try to fit some parts from my Rockhopper Comp on the Schwinn when I'm changing the brake pads. It'll be sweet if the wheels from that will fit!
DesmoDog is offline  
Old 07-09-18, 12:46 PM
  #32  
Rob1990
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 5
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Sweet bike
Rob1990 is offline  
Old 07-24-18, 07:14 PM
  #33  
xrayzebra 
Very Verbose Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Cape Coral, Florida
Posts: 168

Bikes: Surly Troll, Commencal Meta Power 29 Signature, old Specialized Hard Rock electrified, several restomod Schwinns, Biria Easy Board, Worksman trike electrified

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 13 Post(s)
Liked 2 Times in 1 Post
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.

__________________
It's all good
xrayzebra is offline  
Likes For xrayzebra:
Old 08-18-18, 06:11 PM
  #34  
hslos
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 4
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
these are great!
hslos is offline  
Old 02-23-19, 10:58 PM
  #35  
7up
Full Member
 
7up's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Whitestone,Queens/Bayonne N.J.
Posts: 342

Bikes: Aurelia*Bianchi*Cannondale*Colnago*Dahon*Giant*Haro*Lynsky*Monkey Faction*Origin8*Panasonic*Paramont*Peugeot*Ross*Schwinn*SE*Specialized*Trek

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 56 Post(s)
Liked 26 Times in 18 Posts
That sanctuary 7 I think is a nice looking bike and would like to know how it holds up.Its a shame that they build bikes with no grease or lack of enough on all crucial moving parts.
The 62 Typhoon is looking good as well XrayZebra.I like how you made it yours it really stands out.

7up is offline  
Old 02-27-19, 02:54 PM
  #36  
Velo Mule
Senior Member
 
Velo Mule's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Long Island, NY
Posts: 2,096

Bikes: Trek 800 x 2, Schwinn Heavy Duti, Schwinn Traveler, Schwinn Le Tour Luxe, Schwinn Continental, Cannondale M400 and Lambert, Schwinn Super Sport

Mentioned: 14 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 801 Post(s)
Liked 1,000 Times in 654 Posts
XZ, that vintage Typhoon is nicely done and the frame is neat. Great picture, too, with the reflection and all. I thought I was a Schwinn guy. I worked in a Schwinn shop. I had a Typhoon. But I never knew this frame existed until I saw it on RatRodBikes.

This is a different take on the classic Schwinn Cantilever frame. I don't know how many of these are out there, however, since this is my first time seeing one, they must be somewhat rare.

The Sancuary7 is nice, however, my tastes for Schwinn cruisers is for the Chicago era stuff since it is still available used for reasonable prices, most of the time.
Velo Mule is offline  
Old 02-27-19, 04:27 PM
  #37  
rhenning
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 3,653
Mentioned: 13 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 380 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 106 Times in 80 Posts
Vello Mule that style of was a one year bike. I believe 1961 only. Roger
rhenning is offline  
Old 10-11-20, 06:39 PM
  #38  
DesmoDog
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
DesmoDog's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: SE Michigan, USA
Posts: 77
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 58 Post(s)
Liked 83 Times in 44 Posts
Alrighty then! An update on the Sanctuary 7.

I finally replaced the brake pads with some dual compound numbers. Front still squeals like a pig and rear is still spongey as a spongey thing.Yeah, the cheap cables don't help with that. I also finally replaced the pedals and front fender brace. I shortened the brace and attached it to the eyelet on the fork instead of the axle, so taking the wheel off for transport will be easier. It's the little things I guess, I like that set up a lot better, I've always disliked fender stays that go under the axle nut. And the new brace is a lot stouter, the fender is more stable so that was a success.

But that's not the update.

I don't ride the bike much - the brakes REALLY annoy me. I wasn't sure I wanted to pursue this much further so I started looking at real Schwinns for sale around here, and almost bought a 3spd Speedster, but decided to put that off for now. Instead, I this afternoon I ordered a 5 speed Sturmey Archer hub with a drum brake. Along with two rims. The vertical dropouts still bum me out but I've decided I'll try to find a "magic gear ratio" that doesn't require a tensioner, and when that idea crashes and burns I'll either get a tensioner, or put an old DuraAce or Campy derailluer on there to act as a tensioner.

So, after literally decades of tossing around the idea of getting a bike with internal gearing, I've ordered the parts and we'll see how things go.

I haven't gotten the parts yet obviously but already I'm foreseeing some issues.

Cable routing. The brake and shifting seems to be set up for routing along the chainstays. Currently the brake and shift cables go along the seat stays... I'm going to see if I can make that work somehow so I can use the stock lugs.

Shifter - it comes with a twist shifter. I'll probably use it but I've seen mention of trigger shifters for these hubs? Probably too expensive to be worth it to me but I'll look into it.

The brake caliper lugs will be bare... not sure what to do there. Doesn't matter i suppose.

Routing the rear brake cable along the seat stay means alinging the brake arm with the seat stay also? Not sure how/if that will work... and it will look weird. Might not be worth it just to use stock cable lugs.

I'll probably need to buy a new rear brake lever with longer throw. Which means I should change the front lever to match... so why not add a drum brake up front? That'd fix the squeal too! But It seems the only front drum Sturmey in stock these days is a dynamo version. Nope. I'll wait to see if the "regular" hubs come back in stock next month as I've seen one site predict. The front fork is tough enough to handle a drum I'm sure, though I'm not sure how I'd do an anchor for it, I've read that the bigger diameter round forks dont work well with the stock set up? Should be doable though.

New rims. A couple reasons for that. I suspect the finish on the rims has something to do with my inability to get the front brake to stop squealing. Best case - the new rims are the same diameter as the old ones, and I can lace the new one on front without changing spokes, and with no paint on them I can get the stock front brake to be acceptable. Worst case I need to buy spokes for the front wheel too. But I don't want to buy spokes twice so I'm back to deciding on the drum brake. The other reason for new rims was, assuming I go with a new front hub I'd have two wheel sets. That means if this project doesnt work out I can use the new wheels on something else and sell this.

A lot of this stuff is likely to not work out. That's ok too. Worst case, I'll find an old Schwinn to put the hub on.
DesmoDog is offline  
Old 10-15-20, 01:26 PM
  #39  
DesmoDog
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
DesmoDog's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: SE Michigan, USA
Posts: 77
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 58 Post(s)
Liked 83 Times in 44 Posts
The hub and rims showed up today. oooohh.... ahhhhhh.....

And since I'm bored, a quick unboxing.









I didn't take pics of the rims but they look pretty nice considering they cost $10 each. Alex Y2000, nothing fancy but look what they're going on.

The plan is to use 14 gauge spokes. I'm going to try to get a V-brake to work up front. I'm wondering now if the squealing is due to how the brake arm fits the stud... I'll play around with that kind of stuff over the winter, probably replace the cable and housing, add a shim or two to makes things fit better, and perhaps replace the V- brake with something nicer. Deore maybe? I dunno. Doesn't seem to be much in stock anywhere right now anyway.

Hopefully the next few updates will be more interesting with me actually getting something done. For now I'm just wasting time posting while sitting on phone conferences for w*rk...
DesmoDog is offline  
Likes For DesmoDog:
Old 10-15-20, 10:12 PM
  #40  
Alan Bikes
Banned
 
Join Date: Sep 2020
Location: Denver
Posts: 21

Bikes: cruiser, bmx,road

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times in 2 Posts
Thanks for sharing your real reviews on sanctuary 7. I was looking to buy this but probably I have to think now
Alan Bikes is offline  
Old 10-24-20, 10:49 PM
  #41  
DesmoDog
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
DesmoDog's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: SE Michigan, USA
Posts: 77
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 58 Post(s)
Liked 83 Times in 44 Posts
Getting the hub inspired me to order a service stand. I went with Park Tools since that's what we used when I worked at a Schwinn shop. Once that was ordered the wallet was open so... after spending way too much time playing around with calculations for "magic" gear ratios and chain lengths so I could run without a chain tensioner I gave in and ordered a tensioner along with some other things. It was hard finding a place that had everything I wanted in stock so I'm still missing a 36 tooth chainring for my best chance at that magic ratio. For now the plan is to go with the stock 44t front and a 20t rear, which will require the tensioner.

I put together a mount for the service stand yesterday. It's a bench mount stand but I put it on a post. The good news is I only used stuff I had sitting around from other projects. Not the best welds I've ever done (it's been a while) but it's solid, and the height is adjustable.


The parts showed up today but but my basement/shop is such a disaster area I have to do a major clean up before getting started.


I also ran across a video I took of the stock rear hub. Not the best tolerances I've seen...
DesmoDog is offline  
Old 11-01-20, 09:55 AM
  #42  
DesmoDog
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
DesmoDog's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: SE Michigan, USA
Posts: 77
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 58 Post(s)
Liked 83 Times in 44 Posts
The basement isn't clean yet but I spent a little more time messing around with this. I did a trial fit of the new front brakes and found out they're probably too short. Oops.


I thought about ways to lower the fender a touch but then discovered that the rear hub with it's drum brake takes a short travel brake lever. The V-brake takes a long travel lever. Hmm...

I put that one on hold and moved on to the chain tensioner. The Sturmey hub has the sprocket offset quite a ways from the frame and the tensioner doesn't have the reach to make it work very well. Oops 2. Here it is at full reach and it still needs to move a little more.


The solution there is to use the derailluer as the tensioner. Not ideal but it'll work. I'm going to get a short cage derailluer from a friend and put that on there instead of the stock plastic one. There are also two possible "magic gearing" ratios that could still work, but that's on hold for now until until I try the gearing I already have - I'll be running 44/20 for now. The Magic ratios are 48/20 and 48/18 for lengths, but I'm not sure those ratios would work very well.

Next I decided to set up the brake lever and shifter angles so I could use the stock braze ons for the shifter and rear brake cables. Finally some good news - I think things will work out there. Getting the brake line to run along the seat stay means securing the brake arm to the seat stay. I thought that might look wonky but I think it's going to be fine. There is no cable housing shown here but trust me, it works.


And then the shifter side. I found that setting up the hub/shifter for a reverse dropout runs the cable along the seat stay more or less. I may use the unneeded brake mounts as a cable mount now? For those who don't know, the internal gear hubs have an anti-rotation feature for the axle, it's orientation is locked to the dropout orientation so it's not just a case of putting the wheel in place and rotating the shift mechanism to where you want it. I could probably offset the mechanism one notch to make it line up better but then I'm on my own figuring out the shifter setting since it wouldn't play along with the preset markings. We'll see...

The background here is pretty busy but you can see how the cable runs above the seat stay. Never mind the cable that's fallen down between the chain stays, that's the brake cable. I can't run it through the braze ons until I cut the end off, which I'd have to do anyway since it's about 8 inches too long.


In other news, the spokes have shipped and should be here on Monday, so I can build up the wheels next week. And in a late night retail therapy session I came up with another solution for the front brake, along with a few other things. I ended up ordering a set of Sturmey Archer brake levers to match the rear dream. They're short throw, so I also ordered a cantilver brake for the front. My only worry there is getting the link cable to clear the fender but I have a couple ideas for that if it's an issue. It was an "in for a penny in for a pound" momemt so I also ordered some alloy handlebars with a different bend and an alloy seat post to replace the super low end stock unit. And a single speed 3/32 chain to replace the flexi-flier multi-sped chain on there. I couldn't find any interesting grips to use though, so those are on the shopping list. Along with a new kickstand - the stock one is pretty solid but dang it looks cheap.

At this point the stock parts that will be left on this bike will be the frame, fenders, fork, headset, bottom bracket/crank, and seat. But I've been eyeing a Brooks saddle and keep thinking about an eccentric bottom bracket to replace the tensioner. I'd have to make that myself though so it will likely never happen... though I do have CAD software on my laptop, friends with CNC mills, and can't figure out why I couldn't copy an existing design using a different OD.... But I digress. I already have better fender braces to replace the flimsy stock units, and I already put rubber pedals on it to replace the stock plastic ones. Tires? I'm pretty sure I'll be taking the tires off my Rockhopper Comp to put on this, whitewalls with more of a slick tread. I decided to rebuilt that bike this winter too, and if I have this cruiser for riding on the paved trails around here I can go back to knobbies on the mountain bike. And now my wife asked if I'd give her bike some attention over the winter too, so it looks like the new service stand will be put to good use over the next few months.

And there are a few REAL Schwinns for sale around here that look interesting... so maybe I'll add one or two projects in the next few months too?

Last edited by DesmoDog; 11-01-20 at 10:00 AM.
DesmoDog is offline  
Likes For DesmoDog:
Old 11-01-20, 01:01 PM
  #43  
DesmoDog
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
DesmoDog's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: SE Michigan, USA
Posts: 77
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 58 Post(s)
Liked 83 Times in 44 Posts
Yeah, the shifter cable routing was bothering me so I moved the mechanism another notch. I don't know how the shifter is supposed to be adjusted yet but I'm sure it can be compensated for to make everything work fine. Anyway it leads to a much more better cable routing IMHO. Now it runs behind the stay instead of above it.




I also fit the improved fender brace. I keep playing around with this instead of doing more cleaning when I go downstairs, if parts keep showing up the basement will never get tidied up!
DesmoDog is offline  
Likes For DesmoDog:
Old 11-07-20, 07:28 PM
  #44  
DesmoDog
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
DesmoDog's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: SE Michigan, USA
Posts: 77
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 58 Post(s)
Liked 83 Times in 44 Posts
I'll spare you the step by step and jump to the (nearly) end.

Probably looks about the same here but a lot has changed.

Not sure what I was thinking with the front brake, the hanger on the link cable should be lower. Maybe I'll fix that when I switch to aluminum bars in the near future.


The derailleur is going to be changed to a silver short cage all metal number that I need to pick up from a friend. I've got a new chain to install then too so the cage won't be extanded as far. I've pretty much given up on the magic gear ratio to make it work with no tensioner. 48/20 might work with regard to chainstay length, but the ratios would be off to far me thinks. I'll ride it like this and give it some more thought but a derailleur is most likely going to be used. The seat post will likely have to go, with the laid back seat tube I can't get the nose of the seat down as far as I'd like and it's not worth modifying parts to make it work.





I think the brake cabe routing worked out. I still haven't figured out what to do with the unused braze ons for the brakes. I may bolt the Deore brakes I bought for the front end on there just to take up the space. I'm not going to be using them in the foreseaable future!

There are still some things to do but it's rideable. I ran out of daylight today but he weather is supposed to be nice tomorrow so hopefully I'll get out on it.

Oh yeah, the back end of this thing is HEAVY now... that hub ain't light...
DesmoDog is offline  
Likes For DesmoDog:
Old 11-11-20, 06:53 PM
  #45  
ilikebikes
K2ProFlex baby!
 
ilikebikes's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: My response would have been something along the lines of: "Does your bike have computer controlled suspension? Then shut your piehole, this baby is from the future!"
Posts: 6,133

Bikes: to many to list

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 16 Post(s)
Liked 56 Times in 31 Posts
Originally Posted by xrayzebra
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.

Wow! Classy! I got this a few weeks ago, I just cleaned it up and repacked all the bearings, oh and some Schwinn tires I had sitting around. For now I’ll just ride it around as is, I’ll figure out what I’m going to do to it in the future.


__________________
You see, their morals, their code...it's a bad joke, dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you. When the chips are down, these...These "civilized" people...they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve
ilikebikes is offline  
Likes For ilikebikes:
Old 06-10-21, 09:53 PM
  #46  
DesmoDog
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
DesmoDog's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: SE Michigan, USA
Posts: 77
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 58 Post(s)
Liked 83 Times in 44 Posts
I thought I had updated this but apparently not. So... The first rides lasts season weren't a complete success. The front brakes still squealed for one thing! I also wasn't all that impressed with the rear brake, it felt very soft and didn't have much power. The seat feels fine though so the seat post will stay. The tensioner I bought doesn't have enough travel to work with this bike's chainline, so I replaced the plastic derailluer with an old Suntour Sprint. I also put the alloy bars on it even though they're a bit narrower than I'd like. The stock ones were rusting already...

For the rear brake braze ons, I ended up reinstalling the stock brakes and running a cable between them so they don't just flop around. I could have sworn I took pics and posted this update already! Maybe I'll add pics later, but for now you can just imagine the same bike with fake brakes and a better derailluer.

I spent an afternoon tweaking a few things over the winter, but never rode it again until this afternoon. I was wheeling at around in the garage and decided to take a quick spin. Holy cow, the tweaks made a huge difference. The front brakes don't squeal, but what really shocked me was the rear brake. It's still a little softer than I like, but I can lock the rear wheel with it now. That was surprising.

Over all, I'm pretty happy with it now. It rides smoother than I imagined it would, and the five speed hub seems to have a pretty good range of gears. One of these days I'll have to take it out for a longer ride and see how it works in the real world.
DesmoDog is offline  
Old 12-30-21, 09:23 PM
  #47  
DesmoDog
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
DesmoDog's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: SE Michigan, USA
Posts: 77
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 58 Post(s)
Liked 83 Times in 44 Posts
It's a slow night around here so I'll add a few pics of the details I mentioned.

The chain tensioner. Forgive the red pulleys. It is what it is:


Rear brake boss covers:


Front end details. Fender brace shortened. QR hub added. Stainless spokes. No, it doesn't have safety washers.


Longer view


Aluminum bars;


I think it's pretty much ready to go at this point. I have a bell to add and probably more aesthetic stuff but the major parts are done. I'm done throwing parts at it and am now kinda sorta looking for a '62 Schwinn Racer or something like that to play around with.

Last edited by DesmoDog; 12-30-21 at 09:34 PM.
DesmoDog is offline  
Likes For DesmoDog:
Old 01-24-22, 05:22 PM
  #48  
3speedslow
Senior Member
 
3speedslow's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Jacksonville, NC
Posts: 9,339

Bikes: A few

Mentioned: 117 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1937 Post(s)
Liked 1,043 Times in 627 Posts
I have a Schwinn Riverside which is quite similar to your Sanctuary 7 and thought about doing this switch as well. After reading, I am going to hold off on it. Thank you DesmoDog for doing it and bringing it to the forum!
3speedslow is offline  
Old 01-26-22, 12:43 AM
  #49  
birdmove
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 77
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 21 Post(s)
Liked 26 Times in 15 Posts
Just read through this thread. Looks like a nice cruiser. I have been riding my daughters Huffy Cranbrook lately. The Cranbrook has pretty exagerated cruiser handle bars. My regular ride is a flat bar single speed road bike with 700C tires. At 69 (and trying to overcome a bunch of health problems), I find I don't mind the riding position of my road bike. I am also enjoying my riding time on the Cranbrook. I find that on that Cranbrook, I can move my hands on the bars towards the steering stem and change my riding position to similar to a road bike position. Works for me anyway as a way to change positions. I have removed the fenders and the chain guard as I attempt to isolate A noise, but I kind of like without those items on it

birdmove is offline  
Old 01-27-22, 03:51 PM
  #50  
Jax Rhapsody
Rhapsodic Laviathan
 
Jax Rhapsody's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Louisville KY
Posts: 1,003

Bikes: Rideable; 83 Schwinn High Sierra. Two cruiser, bmx bike, one other mtb, three road frames, one citybike.

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 222 Post(s)
Liked 123 Times in 91 Posts
If I had caught this thread years ago, I'd have suggested cantis- but not those short-pull type that you'd find on cheap bikes. They're basically the missing link between cantis and linear pulls, which are prone to brake chatter(squeal). Sometimes toe-in on the pads help, sometimes them flat helps, sometimes it's the pads themselves.

All the effort going in this bike, you might as well get some horizontal dropouts brazed on, lol. You did say something about bmx cranks, they're some of the best looking cranks to me, them and old road cranks. There are two types that I know of for conversion; pro type that uses bmx sprockets(good luck finding a 44t), and replaces the bearings&cups with press in sealed bearings. The other is best described as an ashtabula 3piece, and uses ashtabula sprockets. I have both of these reserved for both of my cruisers.
Jax Rhapsody is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.