hairnet

After a busy morning I had to kill a couple hours before I had to be somewhere later in the afternoon. Luckily there were a few yard sales going on in my area and I decided to walk through them. As usual everything is junk but the seller has a few bikes and it's always fun to imagine finding that hidden treasure that hasn't been ridden in 40 years. So I take a look. And there she is, nothing too spectacular but still a very nice bike that I think I can have a lot of fun on AND she's tall one to match me

The newest addition to the stable: 1970s Schwinn Sport Tourer






All I want to change are the tires, brake levers, and shifters. The Brooks saddle was quite crusty looking so I decided to generously apply some of my VO leather saddle conditioner. Boy, it sucked up that stuff like a sponge. I will need to go digging for info on caring for an old saddle like this but I think I will lace it up to help keep it firm, I would love to keep riding on it.

Enjoy!

daf1009

Congrats on a nice find...thanks for sharing!

3speedslow

Great! Double win it being your size. Love to see some of the old accessories still on the bike, nice bag support.

bikemig 

Cool find and a heck of a bag support. I'll bet that will work nicely with a carradice.

Murray Missile 

Nice find, my favorite Schwinn color and my size, wouldn't mind finding one of those. See by the Raleigh pantographed FD it's had some components changed over the years.

swen0171 

Orange, tall, bag support, TA-style crank. I'd also be drinking a glass of wine! Nice score. I'm not a big Schwinn guy but I've been keeping my eye ope for something like that for years.

hairnet

Yeah I plan to keep it on there and use my Carradice. It is a Brooks bad support, so someone spent a little bit of money back in the day.

3speedslow

+1 my thinking exactly.

hairnet

Yep, it's a 25" frame. I can spot those big bikes from a mile away. I don't need another bike but the size, condition, and price were all just right! I really had no choice, you know what I mean. It was my duty as a bike geek to take it home

I think these old Schwinns are wonderful even though they aren't featherweights. I think this one will complement my Paramount Track nicely since they are very close in age, possibly the same year even. I would love to have one of the chromed Paramount touring frames instead but that would cost me an arm and a leg. I had the opportunity when I bought the track bike, since the seller is a collector, but that blew up my bike budget.

High Fist Shin

Nice find! I love the 70's Schwinn colors and that orange is a favorite of mine.

Enjoy.

-Shin

Kdogbikes

Great find! A grail bike I'd like to find.

Metacortex

Very nice! Based on the components it appears to be a 1971 model built between March and November that year. It has a 26" frame and is Kool Orange in color. It appears to be mostly original except that the front derailleur, rear derailleur and freewheel have been replaced at some point. Here is the catalog page:

AlmostTrick

I'm only counting 4 cogs on the freewheel, but it's a 5 speed, right?

Metacortex

It has 5 cogs. The 14T cog is hidden behind the outer chain guard on the Schwinn Approved Model J (Japan, made by Shimano) freewheel. However note that the freewheel on the bike now is not the original one.

oddjob2

The generator light set is worth $40. Nice find, enjoy! The ride is plush.

3speedslow

@hairnet what FD is that? I think I have the Suntour replacement. If you want, I can send you it for ship.

The Golden Boy 

Maybe not "spectacular" but a very special bike- especially for its day.

You might want to at least try out the shifters. I have no experience with them- but I've read those shifters aren't as bad as you'd imagine them to be.

You can also try a set of those Cane Creek hoods and see if they fit those levers. I've had luck with those things fitting levers that I've been told they won't fit. If you want to use the turkey levers, you can cut a hole in the hood. If you want.

Those fillet brazed bikes are so cool. I love the look of that bottom bracket with the smooth flow of the tubes into the BB shell and that Schwinn CrMo logo there.

jeirvine 

Fab find! That's an actual TA triple. What length is it? 172.5 and 175's are scarce. And what's the deal with the dropout? Looks like forged, but with a sun tour derailleur hanger. Is there an integral hanger behind it?

Dave Cutter

My first road bike was (in 1964) a one year old Schwinn Varsity. I will always have a soft spot for the old Schwinn's.

hairnet

It's a Nervar crank and doesn't have the length stamped on it. The dropouts are forged but without a derailleur hanger.

jeirvine 

Hmm. What makes you think Nervar? Rings are stamped TA, as are the dust caps, which would not fit Nervar. The arm depressions are also TA-style. Nervar 50.4 BCD alloy arms were 631/633, and had different decoration:
Type 1
Type 2
Type 3

Nothing wrong with Nervar (they use standard crank pullers unlike TA or Stronglight).

Interesting about the forged dropout sans hanger. Was that stock on these?

hairnet

Ok you're right. It was hard to make out but I see the stamp now.

Metacortex

It's a TA double that was made uniquely for Schwinn with an extra inner "ramp" ring to aid shifting. Note that both TA and Nervar cranksets were used on the Sports Tourer that year, and both had the inner ramp rings. The arms are 170mm. This is from a March 1971 Schwinn dealer bulletin:



Those with the 36-54T rings were built through November '71, after that they were changed to 40-54T rings.

The Huret forged dropout was standard on these, although the very first ones produced in Feb. '71 had Campagnolo stamped dropouts. Both had integral derailleur hangers. The dropouts and crankset are why I can date this bike from March through Nov. 1971.

hairnet

Thanks, I was hoping to get an informative comment like that. I was curious about that middle ring and whether it can be switched out for a chainring to make a triple.

BigChief

Nice bike. I love the color and the patina is perfect. Shows age but not damage or neglect. It's hard to fault those SunTour Luxe derailleurs. Been using one for years and never felt the need to upgrade. Great find.