Cheseldine

Hey everyone,

I'm still a novice, but have built up 3 vintage bikes at this point. I stumbled on this 1988 Schwinn Tempo in my size for $100 that should be a step up from the Motobecane Super Mirage and Nishiki Olympic I've currently been riding.

I'll go through it all and clean it up, but here is a quick pic of how it sits currently.

1988 Schwinn Tempo

-23" Double butted Colubus Tenax triangle with CrMo stays and Tange CrMo fork

-Shimano 105 derailleurs, crank, brakes, brake levers, headset, and hubs

-Wolber GTX (2) rims

-Cinelli stem and handlebars

According to my probably not very accurate fish scale, it weighs 22 lbs

Cheseldine

Also, do you guys have any idea where I can find a replacement set of the white Shimano 105 brake lever hoods?

What color do you all recommend I go with for the bar wrap? Stick with the blue, or yellow, red, or black?

I also need to swap the cables and housing - should I stick with the white or go with a yellow, red, or blue?

Thanks!

ryansu

Nice find - does it have a tubing sticker on the seat tube near the bb junction? Tenax? I think yellow bar tape would look good and I would stick with white housing, YMMV. Have fun with it.

Classtime 

You will like that Tempo. Wishing I still had mine but convinced myself it was too small. There are current production shimano hoods that fit good enough on ebay but they are not white. I think we should be happy that we have those for our 1050 levers. I like that blue bar tape.

Lemond1985

Looks like someone snacked on the right brake hood. Those white rubber hoods are impossible to keep clean anyway.

On my Tempo, I think the first thing I did (after tossing the dork disc) was get some Tektro brake levers, since my hands simply cannot fit on those tiny 1980's Shimano hoods.

Cheseldine

It does have the little "Columbus Tenax" white dove with gold background sticker on the seat tube.

The right brake hood was a mess - once I removed the black electrical tape someone had wrapped around it, the hood fell apart in a gummy, sticky mess. It was more gelatinous than solid.

rccardr 

You can sometimes find NOS 1051 (note that 1050 series hoods are non-aero, for a different lever) Shimano hoods on eBay; they are usually black and generally quite expensive. It's often cheaper to just buy another set of levers with good hoods. The black hoods seem to be more durable, perhaps because owners use all sorts of chemicals on the white ones to clean them.

Otherise, Tempos are FANTASTIC bikes, espeically when considering the price point. Your scale is actually pretty accurate, as they weigh in around 22.5 pounds.

If you like it and it fits you, easy to upgrade all the way to 11 speed if you want. Or stick with a max of 10 speeds and change components one or two at a time as you can afford it. But even as a 6 speed double, that's a surprisingly fast, durable bike that can be ridden all day long.

AeroGut

Another vote for yellow bar tape. It shows dirt easily, but will be a nice contrast to the blue and match the bottle cage and yellow highlights. Red might look cool too if you think yellow is too bold.

Cheseldine

Is white bar tape similar to white hoods and saddles in that it looks terrible quickly? That was what the bike was originally spec'd with. I redid all the cabling and bar tape on my Nishiki Olympic with yellow Cinelli tape and yellow Jagwire Road Pro cables/housings. I'll try to picture it on this guy. I also converted the Nishiki to aero, and just bought new levers and hoods on that bike. I guess I could do something similar.

I'm also wondering if there is a good way to clean up the neat old white saddle - otherwise I'll just throw a different one on there.

Lemond1985

I have long suspected that a shoe repair place might redo a saddle for you.

52telecaster

Tenax scwinns rock! Enjoy.

Senrab62 

This. I have owned many that have passed through my hands, and still have 2 in my stable. They punch well above their weight, and can still be found for relative deals IMHO.

Cheseldine

Ya, the plan is to formulate some touch-up paint, and give the frame a nice polish with a couple different compounds. Is should look really nice then.

I decided to go with white on the cable housings and ordered some Jagwire Road Pro polished white housings and polished sts cables.

Celeste Mike

Nice score! I have an '87 in the same size. I've made no major component upgrades, that 105 shifts so decisively. Mine's my fair weather bike, so I don't worry about the white bar tape too much.

top506

I would go with blue/white splatter tape. Looks so right on late '80s bikes.
FWIW I have an '89 Tempo:







Tenax SL, no less!

Top

BFisher

Would these hoods fit the OP's levers? Shimano Non STI Hoods

I just put some new BL-R400 levers on a bike here and they look similar.

rccardr 

Nope. I've never found a hood to replace a 1051 other than an original.
1055 and R400 are a different breed. Sadly.

BFisher

That's a shame. Good to know.

@Cheseldine, Good luck with the Tempo. Nice looking bike.

Classtime 

6403 levers work well with 105 SLR levers. These are on my son's IM. 12 bucks.

rccardr 

That's very interesting. When I tried those hoods on 1051 levers, they seemed too floppy around the front bezel. But those look great.
Plus, there are zillions of 6403 hoods out on eBay for low prices...

Cheseldine

Are there any good alternate brake levers that hoods are still available for, and maintain the original profile? I've used the Tektro RL340, and while good levers, definitely don't look too original.

Lemond1985

You could get the gum-colored Tektro levers, they look slightly retro. I would consider maybe some non-aero levers, there's lots of them available and I don't think they'd look out of place. There are some Suntour aero levers with white hoods from that era that would also work, can't remember the exact group, something like that might turn up on Ebay.

Cheseldine

Would something basic like this work?

https://www.amazon.com/SHIMANO-BL-R4.../dp/B000F5LLWG

They at least look somewhat close to the original - I don't mind going black hoods since white seems to be impossible to find.

Classtime 

They could be the the 1055 hoods.
@Chelsedine could consider the Cane Creek levers which are a little more Classic in a Campy Ergo sort of way. I've never used the 400 levers but they look correct in a satin finish sort of way.

Cheseldine

Here she is, all finished!