sillypjs

I'm looking into buying a lugged steel bike to try some (fitness) road biking, and I found a local guy selling some vintage bikes (for all I know he posts here all the time haha). He mentioned a Schwinn premis that might fit me ok - anyone know a bit about this bike and its quality for the price? A search came up with one thread saying that they seem pretty solid, so I'll probably be ok with it. Below are his specs and a few pictures; asking price is 225. I'm 5'9" fwiw regarding sizing.

Schwinn premis 12 spd road bike 23”/58cm
Very nice mid – late 80’s schwinn premis road bike. Frame is made from columbus tubing and is pretty light for the age. Components are suntour cyclone. New tires and new columbus tubes, new cables and housing, new bar wrap, new rear axle and bearings. Nice alloy rear rack. This is a sweet little bike and would be great for around town or for longer road trips. Stand over height is 32.5”

cudak888 

Little bit expensive, but an absolutely great starter machine. See if he will do $200.

-Kurt

Ex Pres 

I think the price is fine, actually I would say cheap in today's environment if it really is in ready-to-ride shape. But the frame may be a little big for you. Don't buy it if it doesn't feel right.

bmaxwell

she's pretty... make sure you love the feel of how she rides....

sillypjs

This is just a subjective comfort thing, right?

One other question - assuming I buy the bike, should I take it to an LBS to have it checked out/adjusted for me? Anything in particular I should have them do? Thanks for the help!

IceNine

Don't know where you are located, but if you live in an area with a hot market for old road bikes, that would be a fair price assuming it all checks out OK. It sounds as though the seller knows a fair amount about bikes if he/she is the one who changed all the listed new parts. That should give you some level of comfort. You can certainly take it to a LBS, but make sure that it is one that appreciates older bikes for what they are. If it is just a place that is trying to sell new bikes, they may point out all kinds of bogus issues that really are non-issues. Personally I wouldn't take it to an LBS, but I'd consider it if I was paying that much for a bike and didn't know much about recognizing potential problems.

As far as the frame size it is kind of hard to know without spending some time on the bike. What you're looking for is a little stand-over clearance and a comfortable reach from the saddle to the handlebar. You can of course move the bar closer, further away, higher or lower by changing the stem or adjusting the one you have now. You should also play with the seat height until you get that just right. Because of my long arms and torso, I tend to look for bikes that are too tall for me and I've also got a 120 mm Nitto technomic stem to move the bar out and up on the one bike that is about my size.

ParaWK4

Looks like a nice bike - but I'd check the size carefully. Maybe you have long legs, but I'm 5-10 and the largest frame size I am generally comfortable with is a 56cm.

rhenning

I have 3 inches on you and long legs and ride a 58 cm bikes. My guess is the frame will be to big for you. In the past I owned two Schwinn Premis bicycles, 58 cm and a 56 cm. The 56 actually fit better and I normally ride a 58 cm or 23" frames set. For that kind of money make sure it fits. Roger