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1972 Schwinn Sports Tourer find

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1972 Schwinn Sports Tourer find

Old 05-14-21, 09:56 AM
  #1  
bikemig 
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1972 Schwinn Sports Tourer find

I've been trying to resist buying more bikes but I couldn't resist this pristine 1972 Schwinn Sports Tourer. It's a Dec. '72 bike by the serial number but fortunately it has the Schwinn branded Shimano crane GS rear derailleur which didn't go into production I think until '73 so the bike may be a '73. I believe the bike came with a campagnolo gran turismo in '72.

This bike is pristine. It looks a lot like it must have looked when it rolled out of the bike store in the early 70s. The parts are all original AFAIK, down to the toe clips and straps. The tires have been replaced and are new and very decent Kenda 27 x 1 and 1/4 tires. Even the brake shoes have been replaced and look to be dia compe grey matter brake shoes.

All I will have to do is overhaul the bike and replace the consumables, mainly the cables and housing. I love the pump with a recommended PSI chart showing 70-75 PSI as appropriate pressure for 1 and 1/4 gumwall tires. That's about right for a hookless rim. The gearing is well thought out as well with the 14-34 freewheel and 54/40 rings.





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Old 05-14-21, 10:06 AM
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What a cheery color! One of the better Schwinn hues IMHO.

Uh, the rear reflector seems aimed at low-flying aircraft. I wonder if it was intended to be mounted 90 degree to the side, where it could be bent to horizontal. As I worked in a Schwinn dealer 75-78, I guess I should remember but, as we also sold European and Japanese bikes, we moved few above-Continental Schwinns (I recall one Paramount in three years).
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Old 05-14-21, 10:45 AM
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has to be a '73 model year since it is fitted with a Peyrard chainset
note that set includes the shift smoothing ring specified by Arnie & Co.

'72 model year was the only one which received the SPECTA

one oddity is the older Schwinn Approved Maillard quick release skewers

for '73 they should be the ones with the black plastic nuts and curved levers
may represent a case of "using up was was in the parts bin"

reckon one might consider it somewhat transitional between '72 and '73 model years...

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Last edited by juvela; 05-14-21 at 10:49 AM. Reason: spellin'
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Old 05-14-21, 10:53 AM
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Nice bike! The rear reflector bracket seems to be the problem. Should be like this,

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Old 05-14-21, 10:54 AM
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Great find! Even the Brooks appears to be in "near-new" shape.
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Old 05-14-21, 11:08 AM
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Great find. It looks perfect. All original. I like the color too.

I have a Cool Lemon Varsity frame that I wasn't so enamored with the color. It was dirty, rusty and looking bad. I painted a section of the drive side chain stay, dropout and a little ways up the seat stay with Rustoleum Sunset Yellow. It seemed like a good match. When the paint is clean and intact looks so much better.
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Old 05-14-21, 12:39 PM
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Nice to see Nervar alloy cranks instead of the Super Sport's Ashtabula boat anchor.
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Old 05-14-21, 01:09 PM
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count yourself most fortunate that she came through wearing the specification Atom 440's

Chicago ran into a shortage on them at this time and had to substitute the clunkmeister KKT RTSF's on many S-T's

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mfr catalogue page for 1972 model year -



mfr catalogue page for 1973 model year -




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Old 05-14-21, 01:25 PM
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Originally Posted by juvela
-----

count yourself most fortunate that she came through wearing the specification Atom 440's

Chicago ran into a shortage on them at this time and had to substitute the clunkmeister KKT RTSF's on many S-T's

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mfr catalogue page for 1972 model year -



mfr catalogue page for 1973 model year -




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I'm also glad it came with the Shimano Crane RD as well rather than the Campagnolo Gran Turismo which was also used on some of the early sports tourers.

Love the ad for the bike.

31-33 lbs as "lightweight" . Granted this is a fairly bombproof frame. This is slightly oversized tubing with an internal sleeves at the brazed joints.

Mike Rother's piece on the fillet brazed Schwinns is very informative:
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/schwinn-braze.html

Now I just need to find some of those groovy 60s era orange shorts like in the models in the ad are using to ride this bike with . . . .
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Old 05-14-21, 01:31 PM
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This bike has some odd similarities to a 1958 Claud Butler Jubilee I picked up recently. It is fillet brazed as well and made of straight gauge Reynolds 531 tubing. Claud Butler used fillet brazing with their "club" bikes because lugs were expensive which made the extra labor of fillet brazing cost effective. I'd be curious to know whether Schwinn did a similar sort of cost benefit analysis when it decided to go with fillet brazing with the CroMo "lightweights" that were one step below the Paramount.
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Old 05-14-21, 02:28 PM
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Beautiful bike, and it should ride wonderfully. I was kinda surprised how pleasing the ride is with the 73 degree frame angles on the Super Sport which I believe shares geometry with your bike. With true rims and good bushings in those turkey brake levers, the braking is okay too. I have one with little use and was also surprised at the brakes. I bet you leave this one “as found”.
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Old 05-14-21, 02:41 PM
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kitting note -

in examining the Sports Tourer model of this era is it easy to spot small variations in kitting from nominal "specification"

two things to keep in mind:

a) the 1972-1973 time was the peak of "the boom" which rendered parts shortages/substitutions/backordering very much the norm

b) the print technology of the day required a good deal of "lead time" for catalogue producers to get their "camera ready" masters to the printer and still get the catalogues published on schedule

sometimes the new model year products were not as yet ready when the print deadline for the catalogue loomed into view. in such cases a product manufacturer would sometime illustrate a catalogue entry with an "old" model which may have been tweaked to give an appearance close to that of the "new" model.

as a specific example got a chuckle from this Carnielli catalogue page showing the De Luxe model Bottecchia road bike for the 1973 model year. note that the machine in the image wears a Simplex Prestige rear derailleur with an amber reflector in its outer paralelogram plate; a feature which was current ~1964.




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Old 05-14-21, 02:49 PM
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Originally Posted by sd5782
Beautiful bike, and it should ride wonderfully. I was kinda surprised how pleasing the ride is with the 73 degree frame angles on the Super Sport which I believe shares geometry with your bike. With true rims and good bushings in those turkey brake levers, the braking is okay too. I have one with little use and was also surprised at the brakes. I bet you leave this one “as found”.
Agreed. I plan on doing very little to the bike other than overhauling it and replacing the cables, housing, and tires. I may replace the tape. I know this is original to the bike so I'd just put the old tape in a bag. I plan on leaving everything else alone.

I happen to like turkey levers. I have a set on a Sekine SHS 271. Granted they need to be adjusted right and some brake levers with extensions are better than others. These look pretty decent. The brake levers are set nice and high on the bars so there is considerable room underneath the bars so the extension levers will not bottom out if the brakes are properly adjusted.
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Old 05-14-21, 06:23 PM
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Personally, I would keep that perfect condition tape. I would even keep the cable outers as it often cleans up nicely with a bit of solvent. I rode those old Kendas for years and liked the look and didn’t know any better about the ride either. I have them on my pretty stock SS. On my updated one I have the panaracer paselas and it is a noticeable upgrade. Your bike is amazingly clean. FYI shifter cables are available for those stem shifters.
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Old 05-14-21, 07:17 PM
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Originally Posted by sd5782
Personally, I would keep that perfect condition tape. I would even keep the cable outers as it often cleans up nicely with a bit of solvent. I rode those old Kendas for years and liked the look and didn’t know any better about the ride either. I have them on my pretty stock SS. On my updated one I have the panaracer paselas and it is a noticeable upgrade. Your bike is amazingly clean. FYI shifter cables are available for those stem shifters.
I appreciate the input. Someone clearly loved this bike and took good care of it. It has been touched up in a few spots with a paint that closely matches the original. The bike is amazingly clean. It is unusual to find a quality older bike like this with all original equipment in such good shape. I'll completely overhaul it and try to keep it as close to original as possible. The shift cable housing is broken so it will have to be replaced but I'll try to salvage/reuse as much as possible.

There were a lot of Schwinns sold back in the day. It doesn't surprise me that Schwinn OEM cable housing and cables are still available. I'll likely try to track down the same stuff that was originally used on this bike. Thanks for the tip.
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Old 09-14-21, 06:26 PM
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Update?
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Old 09-14-21, 06:41 PM
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Hey bikemig !!

YOU have found a GEM !!!!!!!

I have 4 of these Sports Tourers . Its in my TOP 3 in riding.

SO SMOOTH!!!
SO COMFORTABLE!!!
SO STABLE !!!!!!

A " little" heavy nowadays........but I do not notice it at all when riding !!!!

I have NEVER seen a ST in the shape yours is.

I have ONE that is VERY close to mint.
AND..in my favorite color...LEMON YELLOW !!!!

Let me know if you ever want to sell it
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Old 09-16-21, 11:30 AM
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Sweet. Cadillac ride.
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Old 09-17-21, 05:26 AM
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I bought a Super Sport new in 1975 for 140 bucks. Toured on it with the Cannondale barrel shaped panniers and the chain stays were long enough to almost clear them with the heel of my size 12 feet. Same frame as Sports Tourer except for the BB shell. Great riding bike, but certainly not a performance bike. My classmate Billy had the Sports Tourer and it was about 2.5 pounds lighter. Likely due to the difference in the crank. Both great touring bikes.
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