mtarrant05

Hi team!

Picked up a great used SS earlier this year. Cleaned it up and would like to lighten it up a bit.

Found a Track Bike that could be my source for parts here.

The track bike has a Miche crank, 700c wheels, FSA stem/handlebars and brakes that I would like to swap on to my Super Sport.

I understand I would need a TruVativ bottom bracket. Likely new chain as well.

Could this be done without expanding the rear wheel frame?

Any other hurdles I’m missing?

We live in Memphis, mostly flat. Used for city, green line riding. Sometimes with Little one on a Thule Ride A Long.

Appreciate thoughts and input!

Will post pics as soon as I hit 10 comments.

juvela

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Other changes which would reduce weight are changing wheels, shift levers & saddle pillar.

Also removal of propstand.

No need to change rear spacing from the stock 120/122 so long as you envision staying with a standard 5V block on the rear.

Member @Metacortex shall be able to express valuable advice...

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mtarrant05

Thank you! Rookie follow up question, what’s a 5V block?

juvela

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five speed freewheel

"block" in this context is short for "gear block" which is another term for freewheel

"V" is short for "vitesse" or speed, as in gear ratio

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TenGrainBread

Super Sports are fantastic bikes and the perfect bike for making something rugged and functional. Coupla things:

Brakes - I very highly doubt the brakes that came on that track bike will have a long enough reach to reach 700C wheels when placed on your Super Sport. The Super Sports was made for 27" wheels, meaning long reach brakes are needed to reach smaller 700C rims. I would recommend some Weinmann Vainqueur centerpulls, or Dia Compe 750s (these can be had new or old), or Mafac Raids, or if you really want sidepull brakes, you could try Tektro R559s, which work well despite looking out of place on a vintage frame.

Wheels - The 700C wheels will probably work with the right brakes, but you cannot use those track wheels if you want multiple gears. You can't put a cassette or freewheel on a single speed hub.

Crank - Being a track crank, the chainring on the Miche crank might be for a 1/8" chain or a 3/32" chain. If 1/8", you are out of luck if you want to use multiple gears in the back - only a 3/32" chain will work with a geared system. You will need to confirm this by figuring out what the chain currently on the track bike is. Also, most track cranksets can only accommodate one chainring, so if you were planning on having a double or triple on the front, you probably won't be able to use that crankset.

Stem - The FSA stem is certainly a threadless stem, whereas the Super Sport has a threaded fork and headset. No go, unless you buy a threaded->threadless adapter, which themselves are pretty heavy. Beware that Super Sports of the 70s used a BMX-sized headtube/fork steerer/headset, so whatever stem or adapter you end up using will need to be 21.1mm, not the standard 22.2mm.

Handlebar - The handlebars specced on most track bikes are for a very aggressive riding position and too deep for general road or city riding. The Super Sport is more suited for traditional randonneur bend bars or upright bars.

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All in all - I would say, unless you want to convert your Super Sport into a track bike, using track bike parts isn't going to get you very far on your project. Most of those parts won't even work with the bike. I would look for a more suitable donor, say a 70s or 80s touring or sports touring bike, or just upgrade the bike piecemeal over time.

ryansu 

You might want to do some research on the crank, you don't mention the year but many Schwinns of the 70s (Varsities, Continentals etc.) had the once piece Ashtabula cranks that have a very proprietary bb, I believe they can be converted to square taper but it takes a special kit anyway it might be a bit more work than you are thinking, I am sure someone here has actually done it, or you can read about it here. I believe Ashtabula is Greek for Boat Anchor. Good luck with the project and post some pics

The 73 SS below has the one piece crank -it weighs a ton

Jeff Wills

The item for converting an "Ashtabula" bottom bracket to a threaded type is quite common in BMX circles:
https://www.harriscyclery.net/produc...apter-1335.htm
I am going to use one of these on my Super Sport project, which already has 700C wheels and a 3-speed hub.

Metacortex

Schwinn had a conversion spindle to accomplish the job:



I've found several of these but they are rare. They were made by Shimano and Sakae Ringyo (SR) for Schwinn so they can sometimes be found under those names. You can tell them apart from others as they are 128mm long, while most aftermarket ones are longer. They have JIS tapers.

Hudson308 

Sounds like an interesting project! Rear spacing on a '72 Super Sport should be 127mm.
OK, now we need some pics!

BFisher 

The Truvativ bottom bracket conversion kit is easy to install. If you go that route, watch for excess material inside the bottom bracket shell of your Super Sport. Mine had a section that wouldn't allow the adapter to seat all the way. Easily fixed with a Dremel or similar tool.

Having done the conversion, I ended up going back to an Ashtabula crank. The truth is that, while the stock crank is heavy, it is strong, easy to maintain, looks great, and can accept a variety of chainwheels. Wheel and tire upgrades will make a bigger difference than swapping the crank. I gifted the bike to a family member, but if I had another, I'd keep the Ashtabula, especially if I was going the single speed route.

teamtarrant1

Hi guys!

Michael here, my other account still has a 5 Posts in 24 hour limit so i'm jumping in here from another username while we wait. So I have a couple options here:




1) Ditch the track bike swap and slowly make upgrades. I found a set of Shimano R500 700C Wheels on Craigslist today for $50, could pickup tonight. I do have the centerpull brakes and there's room to adjust the brakes front/rear. I feel confident I have 4 mm of space available.




2) Keep rolling with the Track Bike Idea.




As I'm typing, I'm leaning towards Option 1. The reality is, I'm going to have a 25lb baby riding behind me (Thule Ride A Long) and having no gears could get.... tedious.




So! If I get these wheels for starts. Could I find a donor bike with Shimano crankset gears to put on along with the TruVativ Bottom Bracket? What would be an ideal donor bike? Or would it be easier to just source the parts standalone?




Would the existing gears be compatible on a Shimano freehub?




Open to suggestions here. BIG PICTURE:

• I don't want to drop more than $100-$250 here. If I could find a donor bike and resell unneeded parts great. I want to be as thrifty as possible.
• This bike won't ever be the lightest thing around but if I could drop 5-10 pounds off it and have a Fun, Smooth ride that would be awesome!
• The Kool Lemon Frame is definitely nicked up a bit but honestly I like that. Love the idea of having a smooth, sneaky fast ride.

Fire away! What parts would you look for? Possibly Shimano Ultegra/105 entire setup? R500 Wheelset with Freehub a good option for $50?

teamtarrant1

Pictures! Copy paste this link to see, can upload better pics here once the 24 hour post limit is off tonight. Even posting URLs is shut down! So take out the () here. Not a virus, I promise.

http (s //ibb.co/NSkpr18

teamtarrant1

Well it turned the ) into a smiley face! ha.

https : // ibb.co/NSKpr18

No spaces.

teamtarrant1

Hey Jeff: Were you able to keep the original centerpull brakes when putting on your 700c wheels?

Did you install the 3 speed hub yourself? If I get these R500 wheels can hubs be changed later?

Pilot321

I had a 1973 Super Sport in Lime Green when I was a kid. It was a VERY heavy bike, and yes it had the one piece crank that was not only a boat anchor, but the anchor from the Titanic. I road that bike a lot as kids will do, as it was my only form of transportation, however, I never really liked it as it never shifted well, nor easily. Plus the weight. I ended up giving it to my cousin when I turned 16 and could drive.

The only decent thing on it was the Brooks, leather saddle.

TenGrainBread

That's a pretty good deal for those Shimano wheels if they are in good shape.

Regarding brake reach - I have a Sports Tourer of the same era that I did the 700C conversion on. Although a different model, the frames and geometry are pretty much the same (Sports Tourer has regular 68mm European BB shell and forged dropouts), so the same lessons can be learned. The original "Schwinn Approved" Weinmann centerpull front brake was long enough to reach my 700C front wheel, but the rear was not anywhere near long enough. Only way to know for your bike for sure is to try it on your bike.

mtarrant05

That's helpful. What did you end up doing on the rear?

Also- Once the 700c wheels are on, is the existing gearing setup compatible? Would be really cool if I could just add those new wheels and keep rolling for now. (Assuming brakes fit).

mtarrant05

mtarrant05

Yeah! Pictures work now! We’re in business. Here’s a quick pic of brake spacing on original wheels.

mtarrant05

TenGrainBread

@mtarrant05 I ended up using a Shimano Dura Ace centerpull (not as fancy as it sounds) on the front and a new Dia Compe 750 centerpull on the back. Looking at your bike, I think you will definitely need a longer brake on the front, and you might need a long brake on the back.

Love the Kool Lemon color on your bike. It's the perfect amount of beat up to still look good while not making you worry too much about the paint.

Regarding the wheels - it sounds like that new Shimano rear wheel you are looking at will have hub that needs a cassette instead of a freewheel. So you will need a new cassette if you use that wheel, and you won't be able to put a cassette on there that takes less than 7 cogs. Which means you might need a new derailleur, as the stock derailleur on your Super Sport can probably only handle 6 gears at the most.

TenGrainBread

One more IMPORTANT thing is it looks like you have that stem risen past the minimum insertion line, which is dangerous. You want the stem inserted enough to support riding forces.

PilotFishBob 

^^ +1 on this, it's a good way to wind up kissing pavement (which unfortunately I have done - but not because of a stem). If you need it up high and are past the MIP on your stem you can pick up a Nitto Technomic, those have long risers and are fairly inexpensive. 26.0mm clamp - you might have to shim your handlebar but I don't know.

BTW, I'm also in Memphis and a member of the Hightailers Bike Club. Once you get your ride sorted out come join us one morning, we have an open social coffee ride every Sunday, easy pace. I always ride vintage and there are a couple of others who also bring their steel every now and then.

Darth Lefty 

I had a Super Sport a few years ago and loved it. I'm anti-lightening. All the heavy parts work great. Many of them are Schwinn branded or otherwise very Schwinny. And they're pre-Japanese so they don't always swap 1:1 with Japanese-standard parts.

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...per-sport.html

TenGrainBread

Technomic (or anything with 22.2 insertion) won't work with the Schwinn's fork. Need a 21.1 stem. Also, if the bars are the stock GB bars that came on the Super Sport, they are a 25.4 clamp area.