Murray Missile 

I fell off the wagon again, picking up this '83 Super Sport tomorrow afternoon. I may put it in storage until next year's Clunker Challenge, it was too cheap to pass up. I'll get better pictures when I get it home.

stardognine

Awesome color, I have a thing for turquoise. 👍

Kabuki12

Nice! Right size bike.

Murray Missile 

It's actually light blue but yeah, I like turquoise bikes too.

John E

Maybe for you and for my younger son, but not for those of us who are pituitarily challenged.

RiddleOfSteel

Ah, an elusive 1983 Schwinn, and a 25.5" Super Sport no less! I had the opportunity to buy one (same size) two years ago in great shape and for a likely great price, but was unemployed at the time and trimming the fleet and spare parts down to very minimal levels (aka one bike, which I accomplished). Glad you found it and are giving it a good home. Big fan of these '83 SS's (especially the black/gold SP variants). Love a good Schwinn light blue.

Murray Missile 

Here she is fresh out of the car. It has some minor garage rash and the decals have some age yellowing but it is 100% ridable as is, tires aren't split but all the gum is gone from the sidewalls, brakes work great and it shifts like a dream. I need to raise the saddle and someone set the brakes with the caliper quick releases in the open position but other than that it's ready for next year's Clunker Challenge "as is". I will probably replace the tires though, they're pretty old. I have a set of 700c X 35 NASHBAR Streetwise tires and tubes I just took off the wife's Schwinn hybrid I bought several years ago on sale from NASHBAR before they got bought out. I upgraded hers to 700c X 38 Kenda Kwests. The rear stays look like there is more than enough room as the NASHBARs seemed to run on the small side, they looked absolutely tiny next to the Kenda 38's. I'll service all the bearings and clean it up and it shouldn't need cables, chain looks good and brake pads are good. I paid $50 for the bike, the tires and tubes were like $32 for all 10 years ago when they had actual good deals and taking some depreciation on them for being old and used I can put some pretty decent bar tape on it and still be under the $100 limit. No signs it has ever had a kickstand on it either! I'm even leaving the lawyer tabs and reflectors on this one. If I do save it for the challenge I'll put a decent saddle on it when it's over.

Murray Missile 

No pics yet but I put the NASHBAR 700 X 35's on it today, they clear the underside of the reflector brackets by about 1/16" but plenty of room at the chainstays. It rides OHHHH SOOOOO nice! I also set the brakes properly, the quick releases were sticking which must be why they set them that way. A little Tri-Flow and they were working like new. However the pads are rock hard and will need replaced before I ride it much. The 35's also make that cheap saddle feel a lot better LOL and I raised it all the way to the minimum insertion mark.

RiddleOfSteel

Beautiful! Agreed, larger and/or better tires can make a considerable difference in ride quality, and I am all the more appreciative of that.

stardognine

Yep, I'm pretty spoiled these days, on tire size. 700x35 is like the new required minimum width. 😁 Especially when I'm dumb enough to try a saddle with inadequate padding. 🙄😉

My Saga is supposed to be able to handle 700x45, but I haven't tried that yet. When my cashflow improves. 😉

RiddleOfSteel

Agreed. 700x35, when they measure that on whatever rims I mount them to, are dynamite for the Seattle roads. And at my tall height, a long touring bike wheelbase. That combination make casual and rapid transit very possible and enjoyable. At 210 lbs or so, I run 35s at 50-52 PSI in front and 56 PSI in back. Tires are Compass Bon Jovi (er, Jon) Pass 35s or Barlow Pass 38s (that measure about the same) that I've been able to find used for great deals and squirrel away for present and future use when the others wear out. Paselas and Soma Supple Vitesse's have worked well for me for considerably less money (when talking buying new).

Kabuki12

I don’t know if I have a bike that will take anything that wide except for my Mondia. I have some 1 1/4” Pro Tek tires on it and they measure 1.390” when inflated. They barely clear but that bike will ride through just about anything.
‘Good to see that SS on the road, it looks very nice , kind of an “ice blue”. Wait, seat post all the way up on a 25.5” frame? I thought I had long legs!

microcord

Unfortunately, the vividly named Detonator tops out at a nominal 32 mm.

Murray Missile 

Well the seat post isn't all that long but since my knee replacements this Summer my lower legs are an inch or so longer than they were earlier this year and they are straight now too. I had lost a lot due to deterioration and severe bowing at the knees. They had to do some reconstruction while they were in there besides just the actual replacements. I had what they call "robotic" surgery. They take thousands of digital scans of the knees and feed that into a computer program along with the specs of the implants. Then a robot guides the surgeon on where to cut so that the inplants and my legs will be in the correct alignment. My legs were very badly bowed outward but now everything is in line like is should be. It's taking a lot of getting used to, when I look in the mirror I almost look knock kneed compared to before LOL.

chiefkurtz 

I see I wasn't the only one to buy the Cannondale Velcro mount water bottle back in the day.

Pompiere

I have a pair of those Streetwise tires on my Performance Parabola. They only measure 32mm on a somewhat narrow rim, but the ride is nice.

Murray Missile 

Yeah, I didn't measure the actual width, the're on the original Araya rims but they have plenty of room side to side, it's the heighth where things get really close. I would imagine the beads being pulled in by the somehwat narrower rim increased the OD slightly. I'm headed back out in a bit, I'll pull it out and take a picture of it. I need to dig through the stash and see if I have a better saddle for it too. The tires were originally on my wife's hybrid, I replaced them with 700c X 38 Kenda Kwests to give it a little more flotation on gravel bike paths, she can no longer get on and off her old Trek 830 MTB since it's a regular straight top bar frame. I should probably get a new picture of it while I'm at it.

stardognine

I really need one of those. Or two. 😁 I have four Cannondale panniers, to match up to, and a recently disintegrated bottle cage. So yep, I really "need" one. Or two. 😁