Der_Kruscher

I've hardly posted around here but this seems like the right place . A few weeks ago I picked up this 1973 Schwinn World Voyageur off Nextdoor for free. I didn't really know much about these but it was obvious that it was worth snapping up (i.e. not a Varsity - apologies to those who appreciate them) even though the picture was bad. It was dirty but not awful, in good overall condition, and all original minus tires, chain, bar tape, saddle, and probably cables.

The only issues were/are that the non-driveside cone and lockout are missing from the rear wheel (I need to dig into finding out about replacements) and the NDS crank arm's taper got munged up, I'm guessing from coming loose. I picked up some nice wheels from a 1983 Voyageur SP that will fill in for now and there's enough good taper left in the crank arm that it should pose any issues.

I completely disassembled, cleaned, polished, and re-greased/lubed everything, put on a new chain/cables/pads, new Soma Oxford bars, Tektro levers, grips and a Brooks C-17 (brown B-17 Special is on its way). Any original parts that I didn't use are stored together so as not to lose them. I have some Berthoud fenders that I'll also probably install.

The few short rides I've done on this have been really fun since it's such a departure from my modern road and cyclocross bikes and I absolutely love just looking at this one...the Kool Orange paint and all the shiny metal are such a nice combo.

Anyway, there doesn't seem to be any shortage of '73 World Voyageurs around here but I thought that you all would appreciate this anyway.

Der_Kruscher

And as a side note, the orange Sharpie paint marker is a pretty good match for Kool Orange, although I probably wouldn't use it directly next to the original paint. In the second pic, I used Sharpie's small sized marker to fill in the channels in the headset cup and cover.

juvela

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caught me eye straigtaway; very nice touch on the machine's Tange Falcon

looking good she is!

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"Who would have thought there could be Matsu****a products manufactured without transistors?!?!"

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Der_Kruscher

Put on a more suitable saddle and new tires. I still need to swap out the grips for some gum colored ones and fix the original 333 rear hub, but the placeholder wheels are nice in the meantime..

Dylansbob 

Nice.

I had one about 20yrs ago (benefit of working at GW at the time, first dibs on all the bikes). I stripped the scratched up paint on mine to reveal the chrome frame.

Der_Kruscher

Goodwill, electronics recycling places, the dump...If money were no issue I'd work at one of those places in a heartbeat; I love cool, old stuff. Anyway, I like the all chrome look but I've never owned an orange bike and the chrome peeking through the chipped paint looks good to me - it's honest patina from being around for almost 50 years. That and I wanted to keep things as original as possible within reason (I have the original wheels, bars, brake levers, etc. all safely stashed away). Anyway, I get a kick out of how many nice comments I get on this on this bike when I ride it.

cb400bill

I passed on an orange 1973 World Voyageur to buy a 1986 Voyageur. Both were nice bikes. I kinda wished that I'd bought the WV instead.

bikemig 

I'd have a hard time turning down of these as well. Nice job fixing it up.

bikemike73 

GREAT SCORE !!!
Cannot believe it was FREE !!!!

I have 2 of these bikes, an Orange and Yellow !!!

You'd be hard pressed to find a smoother ride than these WV !!!!

Looks to be in VERY GOOD condition as well !!!!!!

seedsbelize 

I also had one. A 72, according to the SN. I gave it to a friend who really, really wanted it. It was a hair small for me. And rode really nice.
Nice score.

sd5782 

Jealous here. I missed out on one like that at a garage sale last summer. Congrats on that one. The chrome accents are so tasteful.

Pcampeau

The new saddle looks great! I love the idea bar end shifters instead of thumb shifting. I’ve never tried that but it looks cool!

Der_Kruscher

It's funny how fast a "free" bike can turn decidedly un so . Lets see...tires, tubes, chain, cables housing, bottom bracket, bars, grips, placeholder wheels (need to fix the original), and even at wholesale that Brooks saddle was $100! If the bike would have been advertised for the cost of what I put into it, I would have passed it up!

I appreciate vintage bikes but never seek them out as I prefer riding more modern road bikes: this one spoke to me though - it's pretty and I think the WV's history in the Schwinn line is interesting. I also really enjoy how the parts spec is from all over the world: Japan, Italy, Belgium, etc. - that's certainly not the case as much now.

And I think I mentioned this before, but I have all of the original parts that aren't currently on the bike: bars, brake levers, BB, wheels, etc.

Der_Kruscher

Those bar end shifters were OEM. I didn't need another drop bar bike and the size would have been too large for me in that configuration anyway: the Soma "Oxford" bars are really cool as they have a vintage-stem-friendly 25.4 clamp diameter, fit MTB levers and grips, but are reamed out to accept bar end shifters. I haven't looked in awhile but they may be unique in their mix of features and if not, they must be one of very few options.