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Wheel upgrade to 74 Speedster

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Wheel upgrade to 74 Speedster

Old 06-22-20, 11:15 AM
  #1  
Jmpierce
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Wheel upgrade to 74 Speedster

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I've been looking for one of these for years and finally found one in great condition. One issue is the rear hub. It was loose when I received it and I tried several time to adjust it but when the play is out it turns into a fixed gear. I'm not looking for a fixed gear I want a coaster brake hub.

I'm considering an upgrade, front and rear. I found a set of wheels on Ben's Bikes with Shimano hubs. Looks nice but I'm wondering if anyone has done this and what I should watch out for when ordering.

The seller told me when purchasing it that the rear wasn't original. The wheels are mismatched and I am not apposed to changing both for a better ride.
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Old 07-19-20, 06:29 AM
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Have you tried taking the hub apart to see what might be wrong? They are pretty easy to do, and easy enough to find parts for. I had one that did as your does. Either acted as a fixed gear or, if I stomped on the brake, it would stay locked like a parking brake. Turns out the spring that releases the part that switches between drive and braking (I forget the name), had broke.
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Old 07-20-20, 06:24 PM
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Originally Posted by Jmpierce


That's a great lookin' Speedster. Congrats on the find.
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Old 07-21-20, 07:35 AM
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^^^ Thank you. I've been messing with the rear hub hoping that I'll get it to work properly. No luck yet. Still looking into a new wheel set.
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Old 07-21-20, 07:37 AM
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Originally Posted by Iron Horse
Have you tried taking the hub apart to see what might be wrong? They are pretty easy to do, and easy enough to find parts for. I had one that did as your does. Either acted as a fixed gear or, if I stomped on the brake, it would stay locked like a parking brake. Turns out the spring that releases the part that switches between drive and braking (I forget the name), had broke.
I need to check the spring. I've had it apart a couple of times and referenced Sheldon a few times.
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Old 07-21-20, 03:30 PM
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What kind of hub is it?
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Old 07-23-20, 07:27 AM
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Originally Posted by canopus
What kind of hub is it?
the brake says Bendix not sure of the hub. Its probably what ever the standard red stripe Schwinn rear hub was in the day. I messed with it again yesterday and got it to "freewheel" with very little side movement.

I am now looking at Shimano coaster brake hub with Alex DH19 700c rims in the rear and Shimano HB-TX500 in the front. I'm pretty sure 700c 28's will fit in the fenders.
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Old 07-23-20, 01:39 PM
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I have never seen a factory built wheel with a 700c and a coaster hub, can you include a link?... Check the clearance before you order. Last time tried a 700 on a 26" bike it barely cleared with a 1/8" clearance at the fork.

A bendix red band is a fairly robust/bomb proof hub. I would overhaul it and check it out. What size are your rims? Schwinn 26" (ISO 597) or where they replaced with like a Raleigh 26" (ISO 590)
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Old 07-23-20, 06:00 PM
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Originally Posted by canopus
I have never seen a factory built wheel with a 700c and a coaster hub, can you include a link?... Check the clearance before you order. Last time tried a 700 on a 26" bike it barely cleared with a 1/8" clearance at the fork.
I used to see some sources of ready to go 700c single speed coaster brake hub wheels. Not sure where to look right now.

I do know some factory bikes come set up that way, such as this bike, and my 2012 Schwinn with a KT hub/brake as seen below with 700x42s on it.


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Old 07-30-20, 12:12 PM
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Originally Posted by canopus
I have never seen a factory built wheel with a 700c and a coaster hub, can you include a link?... Check the clearance before you order. Last time tried a 700 on a 26" bike it barely cleared with a 1/8" clearance at the fork.

A bendix red band is a fairly robust/bomb proof hub. I would overhaul it and check it out. What size are your rims? Schwinn 26" (ISO 597) or where they replaced with like a Raleigh 26" (ISO 590)
Yeah, I'm not talking factory built. I'm thinking about hand built. Ben's is where I was looking for the parts and maybe a custom build.

The current rims are Schwinn 26" I believe (need to check that). I also want to be able to choose a large variety of tires. I think with Schwinn wheels you are limited to tires that fit Schwinn specs. I've been wrong before and I think the hub is missing something, made the spring?
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Old 07-30-20, 03:32 PM
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Handbuilt coaster brake... not sure it's worth it if you want 700c size. Though probably the only way to get it in a 26" size. Schwinn 26x1 3/8" (ISO 597) is severely tire limited. British 26x1 3/8" (ISO 590) has a lot more tire choices. But installing British size would require new rims (probably SUN CR18's) and if you can't get your existing hub to work, a new hub. And while your at it, you may as well improve the front hub... yada... yada... (It's a big rabbit hole I don't recommend you go though unless you really want to and don't care about money, I usually go through it for all my bikes rather I want to or not.)


If you can fit 700c's under the fenders and you want 700's then probably just order a pair of wheels with a coaster brake. I am personally enjoying bigger tires on the bikes right now. If you go this way, let me know. I wouldn't mind having some back up rims in the schwinn size if you do not want to store them.


The hub should look something like the lowest hub in this diagram from pgbikes. Use a good car wheel bearing grease, not a bike grease. Bike grease usually doesn't last and doesn't work as good.

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Old 07-31-20, 12:27 PM
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This will help greatly in figuring out what's wrong. Thanks. I have the heavier weight grease, used it on many of these hubs. Right off the bat one of the brake shoes is broken so that there are three pieces. Is it possible that that is the problem?

Still not sure about replacing the wheels. I probably will. I want to use this bike as a frequent rider for 10+ mile rides.
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Old 07-31-20, 01:13 PM
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Yeah, if you have three pieces of brake shoe, that's a problem.
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Old 08-02-20, 02:15 PM
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Thank you Canopus. I thought it might be a problem.
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Old 09-20-20, 09:14 PM
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So I went with 26" wheels and tires. I'm not sure about them, I used 26x1.75 Continentals and it rides great but I'm sure 700's will clear.
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Old 09-21-20, 04:49 PM
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Originally Posted by Jmpierce

So I went with 26" wheels and tires. I'm not sure about them, I used 26x1.75 Continentals and it rides great but I'm sure 700's will clear.
I would just go with fatter 26" tires myself then,..the comfort will be spectacular, and it'll add a slight bit of height (quite minimal,...). Fantastic bike BTW.
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Old 09-22-20, 07:28 AM
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Originally Posted by Jmpierce


So I went with 26" wheels and tires. I'm not sure about them, I used 26x1.75 Continentals and it rides great but I'm sure 700's will clear.
I didn't think you could make that bike look much better. I was wrong.

Love those wide 26" tires and new bars.
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Old 11-10-20, 09:04 PM
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I'm loving that look too!
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Old 11-10-20, 10:34 PM
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You did a nice job of getting this old Schwinn back on the road. If you are still set on 700c a 700c front wheel can be installed to see if the fork will clear. A 700c front wheel can be used to check the rear but won't be wide enough to bolt in. You might be limited in the tire size you can use. 26" wheels and tires are still being sold new on bicycles so tires and rims won't be a problem. This is a sharp looking bike.
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Old 11-14-20, 10:01 AM
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Thanks ^^^ yeah 700c will fit no problem, the clearance for a wider tire is there so I could do 700x32 with no issues but I like the bigger tires that a 26" wheel offers.
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Old 11-15-20, 10:20 PM
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Beautiful job on this Corvette. The Corvette is a middleweight bike sold with 26" x 1.75" tires. Because it had fenders a 2.l25" tire may fit just fine. I would check though. They were sold as 3 speeds and coaster brake. The 3 speed model had rim brakes. You will have to change the brakes as you noted. I raced in the Klunker era with a homemade Klunker of my own here in Northern California. There was a lot of 3 speed Sturmey Archer hubs being raced off road in 1980. So your conversion to Klunker can retain the 3 speed and be a correct Klunker. Good luck with your conversion

1979 26" frame Schwinn Varsity with 700c x 40mm tires and a 1 x 10 setup. Tektro 559 brakes. Profile BMX 180mm cranks, S and M BMX handlebar on BMX stem. Very nice bike to ride on gravel. A workout on the hills though.
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Old 11-16-20, 10:48 AM
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Thanks tallbikeman. Much as you say for my bike. I will run my SA 3 spd & rear brake only to start. I will ride it Sting Ray style (hooligan). I will have a front brake set up for it when I decide I need more braking. It looks to have plenty of room for 2.125. I will do either diamond style, or brick up front/knobby rear...
I hope it comes out as cool as Jmpierce's bike. Different era of course...
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Old 11-19-20, 12:08 AM
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The next incarnation of my '80's Beach Cruiser


I started having a recurring issue of the rear inner tube blowing out even with multiple wraps of rim tape . The original steel wheel had galvanized spokes that were a corroded mess. Truing the wheels if it ever was required was in the in your dreams category so I decided to modernize the bike a bit more. This model Schwinn started life as a 1 X 5 derailleur bike and I did a mild update to 1 x 6 indexed and really liked it as such until I started having the blowout issues. Meanwhile I had picked up a pair of Shimano Alfine IGH 8-speed hubs off of e-bay (got a little carried away one night) one was a high polish and I used that on my Bianchi super San Jose8 project . The other was the not as pretty epoxy coated version and after much thought I realized that it would give me even wider gearing that the 1 x 6 derailleur setup.

I love having fenders on a bike, but on this particular one having the fender stays attach to the rear axle meant needing a repair stand and six hands to put the rear wheel on. The fender stays had gotten chewed up from the constant stresses of wheel removal and the Wald replacement stays I bought were too short. So I attached them to the rear rack eyelets and solved the problem. Although I'd love to put a rear rack on it I'm not a fan of the beach cruiser type rack which has no bottom anchor point for panniers so I bought axle nuts to haul my extra wheel trailer which can be set up wither either kitty litter panniers or a set of large Jannd Mountaineering panniers.
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Old 11-19-20, 11:41 AM
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jmpierce, I posted up a pic to all to show 700c can fit on a 26" bike. The mods bumped me out of here. Sorry to post a pic on your thread. Your bike turned out very nice.
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Old 11-24-20, 10:08 AM
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Max, Yeah once I got the 26" wheels and tires installed I realized that 700 would have fitted. I'm still learning about wheel sizes, I'm very cofused at this point.
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