Maxacceleration

Ha similar bars here!
Just a non-descript bike here with added springer fork. I did not know there were different springers for different head tube lengths. So I have a bandaid fix to make these forks work, even after taking close to an inch off the headtube. Not perfect but it works. Two speed kickback coming, then grey tires with blackwalls. Done.
Just got a Schwinn Corvette to fix up, much as the Hawthorne above, which is very cool.

Edit: Changed out to grey/black tires.

Unshore

I'm loving all the different styles!

ilikebikes

Thanks! 😁 The brakes are decent enough, even though the first few rides were a bit scary! 😂 just like any brake it just took a little time for the new brake shoes to break in, then I got used to them. 😉

Maxacceleration

I have 700c on my old 1957 Schwinn Corvette (I did not do the change). I am taking it back to 26x2.125 for a bmx cruiser bike, klunker style.
My project is just starting and will take a couple of months.
I measured the diameter of the 700c (32mm I think) and its the same as 26x2.125, but the rim braking surface is about an inch shorter.



Edit: I wasn't ready to post in here as my bike is at pre build - just how I acquired it.. My build up has not yet started. Mods moved it. Its an example 700c can fit on a 26" bike.
In the next month or so I will get it back to 26" and more inline with a cruiser bike.

Unshore

Hampton Cruiser

Crossthreaded88

I had a request from a neighbor who loved everything purple. She found me outside wrenching on my own bike and asked if such a thing existed, a very purple bike. I took it as a challenge and found a piece here and there. Should have seen her face when she saw it for the first time.

Crossthreaded88

Kind of cool the way it is. I wouldn't have thought that combo would work but it does and quite well I'd say. I would be tempted to leave it that way and find another frame to base a klunker on. Plenty to be found.

Crossthreaded88

Okay shifter not shifters I see. How did you get the V-brakes to line up with the 700 wheels?

Maxacceleration

Thanks Crossthread. The process has already started, but is reversible of course, pretty easily. At least with bars stem seat & post. Wheels will go to 26". I will have a couple sets of tires in time. Thing is it does roll pretty fast & easy on 700c.
And now...



Out today

C.corri

For the brakes I tried 2 different things. I started with some adaptors that bolted on the bike, then the brakes bolted on to the adaptors. I only did that to the fronts to test it out and it worked ok. I then found some long adjust brake arms and switched to those. They had more distance to adjust and made it easier to line up the pads. They were an amazon special and marketed under "folding bike brakes".

Crossthreaded88

Nice day by the bay it's good to be alive and enjoying yourself in these times.
So you pretty much did everything that I would never do and that's totally cool everyone is their own Captain and sets sail in their own direction. Funny the one item I would have replaced first you saved. I'm talking about the red and white stiff Schwinn seat. The fork may change the frame geometry I can see in the pics the wheel is closer to the down tube. Again not being critical, how does the phrase go, "I'm just saying" I kind of thought it was almost perfect as you found it except for grips and a seat. The lean back post is a nice touch. Thanks for sharing your bike pics and continue to do it your way.


This is a 1980 Schwinn that I just sold with a modern alloy wheel set

Maxacceleration

Sorry to disappoint Crossthreaded! I am going for a slightly different look than some... Fresh refinish, fresh decals, keeping the chainguard, and the seat... yes, to keep a factory cush deluxe bmx style. The seat is certainly not for comfort! And I paid a fair amount for that cherry 1959+ seat. I do have a diamond stitched bmx saddle also.
As far as the fork... it looks no closer than your bike pictured, although it may have less rake possibly. I have rode it like that, and it is stable and good turning. I am not the first to do so!
Keeping the 3 spd SA for hills. Of course I am swapping to 26" wheels.
The reason I go this route is this bike was/is missing many original Corvette pieces. Instead of going back to original (searching for used parts) I am going newer bmx cruiser/klunker style (using many new parts).
I can't ride as aggressive with one gear or beach bars.

I am looking for two more cantilever 26" frames to build up. One for my adult kid, and one for my childhood teenage Sting Ray neighborhood terror friend.

All good.

tallbikeman

What a beautiful Klunker. I raced Klunkers in the late 70's and early 80's in Northern California. To race in the mountains the Klunkers had a front brake, a coaster brake hub in the rear, or a 3 speed coaster Sturmey Archer hub. 3 speed IGH hubs were very popular with the early Klunker/MTB crowd. They did not have chain retention problems. My Klunker had brazed on Mafac tandem cantilever bosses on the front fork which was a Schwinn forged fork. The Schwinn forged fork did not have any problems being tough enough for racing off road. We used motorcycle brake levers. My Schwinn Klunker ready to go weighed 31lbs. Not bad for the era. I really liked the originality displayed with how you got a great chain guard.

DesmoDog

Here is my Sanctuary 7 in stock form.


I've always wanted a bike with an internally geared hub though, so when the time came to address a few shortcomings I added a Sturmey 5 speed with drum brake, cantilever brakes up front to go with the short throw Sturmey levers that matched the rear hub, and added a QR front hub too since I was already changing the rims to get away from the painted ones that came on it stock. I got some alloy bars for it but they likely won't get installed because they are a little narrower than I was imagining. The alloy seatpost got installed but may not make the cut either, with the seat tube angle on a cruiser it is at the limit of it's adjustment, and I'm not sure if that's enough.

All of this started with the intent to get rid of a very persistant brake squeal. Things may have gotten out of hand.





I had to keep a derailleur on it since it has vertical dropouts and the tensioner I bought doesn't have enough reach to match the chainline, but I've since ditched the stock plasticy one for an older all metal number with a short cage. Forgive the red pulleys, it was used, I'll make them black or silver eventually.


I oriented the shifter and brake arm along the seat stays instead of the chain stays so I could use the stock braze ons for the cables. I'm kinda bummed it has vertical dropouts but the whole bike was something of an experiment anyway. If the right vintage bike comes along I may move all these parts over to that frame and ditch the derailleur. Yes, I did consider adapting an eccentric bottom bracket to it but come on, you have to draw the line somewhere. This bike was under $200 delivered to my door after all.


I've only ridden it once since finishing it.

The front brake still squeals.

I haven't done any further adjustments to the new cantilevers to eliminate it yet but I'm starting to wonder if maybe the cheap fork lets the arms vibrate on the mounts...

tallbikeman

Going down the squealing brake list of possible suspects, first the pads, sometimes pads are squealers. Second the brake arms on a big box store bikes can be cheaper knock offs. The metal may not be as good or there may not be enough of it to do the job or some sort of engineering crippled the design. Better quality brake arms might quell the squeal. These rims look clean and unpainted so I would look at pads and the brake arms themselves. There are plenty of good quality cantilever brakesets out there. I buy used a lot of the time and save money. At one point in my Internal Geared Hub fantasy I bought a Sturmey Archer 5 speed hub and used it. It had a thumb trigger, old school, and the gear changing chain going into the axle from the drive side. Yours looks to be the model that has a rotary shifter. I had an issue with first gear slipping when power was applied to it. Couldn't use the gear to go uphill. It would slip out of gear no matter how I adjusted it. Tried it for a year and gave up. It sits in a box at my house. I finally gave up on Internal Gear Hubs after my Shimano Alfine 11 speed debacle. That hub had nothing but problems and no mechanics to fix it. Leaked oil from day one, slowly got harder and harder to pedal********** I changed the oil on schedule with Shimano Alfine oil and it slowly turned into a horror story anyway. That one sits in a box too. Back to derailleurs and cassettes. Much better. I still own a 3 speed Sturmey Archer hub on my Worksman LGB cycle truck and it works great. Hard to put derailleurs on Worksman bicycles. But the siren song for Internal Geared Hubs doesn't call to me anymore.

tallbikeman

I also forgot to mention that some brakes squeal their whole lives while stopping the bike just fine. A lot of older drop bar 10 speeds with center and side pull brakes squeal. There was a lot of instructions about towing in the pads and other adjustments but they still tended to squeal. I think the calipers themselves were to blame because of a lack of rigidity on those designs. Idle speculation on my part. I just let them squeal, warns the pedestrians of my presence.

tallbikeman

Very clean Job!! Really like what you have done with this bike. Making your own front hub disc brake mount, Kudos to you. Again Good Job!!

tallbikeman

Beautiful bike. Love the antifreeze color. You did a great job customizing this.

tallbikeman

Ditto on "liking that blue Kirby".

tallbikeman

Very nice lines on this bicycle. We have a BMX/Lowrider club here in Sacramento CA and this bike would rule. You have a very good eye for design. On another note how floppy is that front wheel when riding?

tallbikeman

Someone designed and built this masterpiece in 1939. WOW This bike has a real muscular presence about it. The polished aluminum frame and fork. The superb chainguard. American manufacturing at its finest.

Timbeau

This is my 2000 Schwinn Panther. I bought it off of craigslist in stock condition for $75. It's my little trail bike, and still a work in progress.

Some issues with it. The u brakes limit tire width in the rear to 2.1 inch. Also, the u brake bosses affect my chainring size: stock, it's 45 teeth, but I'm not sure if I can go below 44, or the chain will contact the u brake bosses. So, currently I'm running 45x19, but will change to 45x23 for better climbing. Right now, this bike is geared for road riding; it's fast.

I put a Surly Sunrise handlebar on and cut off about 3/4 of an inch on both sides.

The tires are nothing special, and a little heavy, but good for the local fire roads.

2000 Schwinn Panther https://imgur.com/a/J1tK18S

Swampthing 

JC Higgins I picked up as a frame set. I have the fenders and chain guard too, but can’t use them with the 700 x 32 wheelset I put on it. I’ve been enjoying the ride so much I may build it it’s own set of 26” wheels

tallbikeman

What constitutes MTB frame geometry. That is a moving target type of question. At the start of MTB design it was long wheelbase bikes with long rear chainstays and very relaxed frame angles both fork and seatpost tube. High bottom brackets to clear stuff. As time went on they shortened up the rear chainstays and made the headtube and seatpost tubes more upright, put suspension forks on the front. High bottom bracket. As more time went by full suspension bikes came in and the whole process started over. By the way the newest full suspension designs seem to have very relaxed head and sometimes seatpost tube angles, high bottom brackets but shorter chainstays are still in vogue. Your bike looks plenty capable for MTB type riding. Good luck with it.

Swampthing 

My son’s new cruiser. We just “finished” the build yesterday.