BigPolishJimmy

Hi everyone,

I'm going to be giving an old Schwinn Collegiate to a friend who wants to use the frame as the start of a commuter project. He's been doing research, and plans to use a Nexus Hub on anything he does. Ultimately we all know he'll move on to a better frame, but this will give him an entry point that fits the budget for this summer.

Has anyone here put a Nexus hub on an old electroforged schwinn?

The best value he's identified for a wheelset is this, but it's 700c: Amazon.com: 700c Shimano Nexus 3 Speed Hub Hybrid Road Wheel Set with Shifter and 700c x 32mm Kenda Tires: Sports & Outdoors

He wants to use these tires: https://www.kendatire.com/en/bicycle...es/kwick-trax/


My main concerns are: Brake reach, cold-setting the frame, and axel width.

My thoughts are: grind the tops of the rear dropouts to accommodate modern axel width. Grind the front forks evenly to accommodate modern axel width. Cold set the rear triangle with Sheldon Brown's 2x4 method or spread them with fender washers on an axle.

But what about break reach. A 700c conversion is going to get tight at the top with a bike that takes Schwinn 26" wheels. For fun I placed one of my old 27" road wheels in the forks and moved the brakes to their minimum reach, the pads won't adjust up that far in the calipers, I know a 700c conversion would be 4mm lower, but that'd still only give 1/2 pad grip. Any calipers made for just such a conversion?


And of course a pic:


https://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...psa343081b.jpg

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

~Jim

DiegoFrogs

Sounds like it's not the right frame for what your friend is considering.

Sometimes that type of guidance is not so easily received. I hope its delivery doesn't damage your friendship.

CroMo Mike 

Use a Dremel to lengthen the brake shoe slot in the caliper. If it's steel use a stone, if aluminum, use a 1/8" carbide burr. Also might be able to lengthen the axle slot in the fork dropout.

"Electro-forged" - now that's a term I haven't heard in a while.

BigPolishJimmy

I don't think I explained the situation with a 700c conversion, there's not enough "minimum" reach when going to that large of a wheel. A conversion to MTN bike rims might be better, but the 700c is cheaper. The caliper thing might work, but perhaps there's a way to add a bit of material to the inside of the fork slots to bring the axel down some??? hmm you've got me thinking, I'll have to see how long the slot is. Maybe we can just grind/file out a portion of it and leave an axel width at the orig size. Someone could even reverse-convert it if they wanted to use a vintage 26" wheel set.

CroMo Mike 

You're right; I got a little confused. You would need to add to the top of the fork dropout slot.

Mr IGH

You'll need shorter reach brake calipers. 730s should work, they came on Varsitys. To fit a Nexus you'll need to spread the frame to 132mm from 120mm, put the bottom bracket in a vise and move each side's dropout 6mm independently.

If the fork is 94mm, put the steerer tube in a vise and move each blade independently 3mm.

No reason you can't use this frame, I've installed Nexus hubs into Sports Tourer/Super Sports. Once you get everything right you'll have a nice cruiser.

Sierra

Don't forget to realign the dropouts and fork ends after you spread them, otherwise you put stress on the hub axles.

Dan Burkhart 

I put a Nexus 8 speed into a Schwinn Twinn, The hub that came out had a drum brake, and the frame spacing was exactly right, no alteration required. I replaced the original Schwinn wheels with 559 rims, and went with roller brakes front and rear. The front caliper brake would not have worked.
Still have to fabricate a proper bracket for the reaction arm on the front fork. Just have it kind of kludged on there with a hose clamp for now, but it works.

Grand Bois

Weinmann 730's are long reach brakes. The 500 is the shorter one. Either one would be a downgrade from their center pulls.

I'm taking a break from installing 730's on a Jeunet right now. They're pretty awful brakes. It took me 20 minutes to get the front brake centered and to stay that way. I'm replacing wonderful Tektro dual pivots because I decided to keep it vintage. Sidepulls have come a long way.

It took me five minutes to install and adjust the rear 730. It turns out that the front brake has a bent spring.

Glennfordx4

While it wasn't a Schwinn, my Jetter when built I had to use a ATB fork that was for 26" wheels, with the 700 wheel in it a set of Shimano med reach RX100 brakes I had worked out perfect with plenty of adjustment left.

Glenn

Howard

I once acquired a 64 Collegiate in "meh" condition. That is, there was no rust and it was straight, but the paint was all scratched up and a couple of the spokes had about corroded through. It also had the Schwinn 26 x 1 3/8 tires that were 597 bead seat diameter.
I converted it to a Shimano Nexus 4 speed and 590 (proper 26 x 1 3/8" rims. It was not a problem. Later, I rode it around a little with some 630 rims and a 3 speed. Was able to use some shorter reach brakes.
So it shouldn't be a big deal. A coaster brake helps a little though.

BigPolishJimmy

Excellent advice, Thanks.

You know, now that I think about it, I do have several mtn bike forks laying around, that might be the easier way to go with the front. Heck, the unicrown fork might even look pretty good with the electroforged frame. He's planning a repaint anyway. Currently the bike has stock sidepulls, so anything would probably be an upgrade, and/or centerpulls would be good too.

Mr IGH

Its all relative but this is why I have you on ignore. Weinman side pulls come in 4 lengths, 500, 730, 850 and 1080. To call 730s, "long pull" is silly.

It's a Collegiate, it comes with 26" wheels and 850s, Varsitys come with 27" wheels and 730s. Both frames/forks have the same A-C and are basically the same. To change to centerpulls is going to take a bunch of work and parts, not worth it if he's going to upgrade the frame soon.

If he wants better brakes, some $18 dual pivot Tektros makes more sense, all the cables will work.

Jimmy, I wouldn't change the fork, the crown is unlikely to be the same size and the Schwinn has a BMX style headset.

Grand Bois

The $18 Tektro 800's have an extremely long reach. He needs less reach, not more. I just replaced a set with 730's. No other Tektro will work because the cable is on the wrong side. I'd use 610 centerpulls. I think I paid $10 for mine.

Mr IGH

Once again you're wrong and proud:
The 800's are 61-78mm reach...they cover the range of a 730 with extra. BTW, the rear brake will work on either side. Collegiates and Varsity's rear brake cable is in the center.

https://www.modernbike.com/tektro-800...pull-brake-set

It's shocking the lack of correct info posted in this thread.

BigPolishJimmy

Would going with the 26" mtn bike wheel set make for an easier conversion? I'm thinking brake adjustment would be a non-issue, and there's a lot more room in the forks for 26" tire choices. Clearance in the Jetter looks a little tight.

I believe he's planning on taking this wheel set forward once he finds a lighter frame, but in the meanwhile there's a bit o c&v style and that electroforged Schwinn frame should ride like a Cadillac.

Mr IGH

The Schwinn rim's BSD is 597mm, MTB wheels are 559mm, that's 38mm. You'll need to find some 1080 calipers, they came on BMX bikes, Stingrays and Typhoons. Any wheel swap requires new brakes except for 650B/EA3.

Best size for future frame is 700C, they'll work just fine on that frame. Do you have access to some calipers from a Varsity? They'll bolt right on with minimum hassle compared to any other solution.

BigPolishJimmy

wow, 38mm is quite a jump, I was thinking the conversion would be similar to a 27"-to-700c conversion but 38mm is a huge difference.

I don't believe I've got any calipers from a Varsity laying around, but I do have quite a few sets of brakes on the shelf from the bikes I've parted out, maybe something will fit.

Mr IGH

If you have centerpulls, they'll work. For all the hassle of stringing the cablestops I'd go with the tektros, they're really nice and lots of power, esp with some coolstops. I always keep an extra set laying around because they're cheap and my kids like 'em. I just put the tektro/cool stop combo on a single speed Sports Tourer I made for my 19 year old freshman, he texted me about them, lol.

The problem with the cable stops is that the Collegiate/Varsity fork doesn't have much threading inside the headset top nut, maybe 5. When you put the fork cable stop on the fork you'll have maybe 3 threads in the top nut. On the rear the binder bolt/seat clamp may work, otherwise you'll need to find a Continental binder bolt and cable stop.

Grand Bois

I could be completely wrong. My last experience with an electro-forged Schwinn was at least 50 years ago, and that's not long enough. My last experience with Tektro 800A's and Weinmann 730's was this morning, though.

I'm sorry if my effort to help was just a "shocking lack of correct info".

Mr IGH

This is why I have you on ignore. Nice underhanded slap at Schwinns too.

BigPolishJimmy

Is there any issue with the front chainring from a 5-speed being used with a 3-speed hub? I know 1-3 speeds use a wider chain, and 5-10 speed vintage bicycles use a narrower chain to facilitate switching gears on the rear freewheel. Would the front chainring(s) be narrower or troublesome in any way?

Dan Burkhart 

Not at all. Running a 1/8" chain on a 3/32" ring is no problem.

BigPolishJimmy

Awesome !

thanks