daywood 

I also seem to have become a Schwinn magnet lately, and they keep jumping into the back of my pickup when I drive past thrift stores.

1984 World Sport:



1986 High Sierra:



And the most recent project, a 1990 Crosscut:

pastorbobnlnh 

Pic Assist!

As originally found. I bought this on CL. It was too small and worked out a trade with Top more than a decade ago when I was living in NH.

zookster 

I have a few Schwinns. The Racer and High Sierra are 2 of my favorites, very nice riding bikes.



1987 High Sierra #1

1987 High Sierra #2 (future project)

1975 Continental

1965 Racer 3-speed

1948 DX Schwinn Built Ace, another future project

1946 B6, yet another future project


1980 XR-6 Exerciser, donated to King's Home Thrift Store

1974 Continental, too tall, donated to King's Home Thrift Store

sd5782 

I started with a 73 SuperSport that I bought in 1975. It is in modified form now. Since then I got another to build up as a 1x7 currently, and another nice one put back to near stock condition.



Family photo



My well used original



1X6 in this pic



One pretty one for nostalgia

daverup 

My wife and I both had Varsity's in the early 70's, but those are long gone.
We now each have a couple of newer Schwinn's.
My 78 Chrome Super Le Tour 12.2, mostly original,


My 83 Le Tour, with a triple in front now, switched to Suntour shifting,


My wife's 83 Ladies Super Sport,


My wife's 94 Crosscut, modded to be her gravel bike,

madpogue 

And it's a 5-speed, I'll bet. I've seen this commonly with the canti grand tourers of the era; my '87 Nishiki Cresta GT is the same way. 40-spoke, 5-speed, 122mm, makes for a stronger wheel with less dish than a 126-spaced 6-speed. Guess they were counting on some heavily loaded touring. A little over the top IMHO; I custom-cut a new axle for mine, spaced it for 124mm OLD, which JUUUUUST accomodates a 6-speed. All I had to do to re-center the rim was tighten the drive side spokes about 1/2 turn, then re-true.

The Golden Boy 

I would drool over that on your site... but I think that's about as small as the SS comes- and it would be *just a touch* too big for me.

Mike_Z

I have a couple of Schwinn beach cruisers and I'm dropping a couple of Le Tour frames off to the powder coater this week.

Pompiere

When I listed my other Schwinn bikes, I forgot one. My wife has a ladies version of the green and white Traveler in the basement mounted on a trainer.

jolly_codger

My '85 (I think) Peloton (it's sporting a new Ritchey curved blade fork now, which is more in keeping with the frame's retro-roots):



My rare titanium Varsity from the wizards in the Project Underground shop:

pastorbobnlnh 

Varsity! Very sneaky.

tkamd73 

I now have 4, three have been posted in previous threads, this one is from a neighbor, who was given 3 bikes when he purchased a BMW, from an estate sale. He let me pick one, so I took this late eighties Collegiate, 3 speed hub with a coaster brake. Shows very little use, if any, rims and brake pads have absolutely no wear, along with chain, and the Schwinn tires still have the nubbies on then. The few scratches are probably from moving it around the garage. I just put some improved cables on it, and inflated the tires.
The bike is small and fits no one in my family, but I’ll no doubt find a good home for it.
Tim

Ged117 

Two Voyageurs, an '88 and a '90, at the moment. Just found the '88, looking to build it out as its my size.

PXL_20230928_175858505

DesmoDog

I've already forgotten what year this is. Late '50s I think. It needs a seat (which is too high in these pics) but is for the most part "done". I thought abotu restoring it but decided to just rebuild it instead.




It's got the early style decals on it.


After doing this I got a 1962 frame in the next size up which should fit me better. The problem is it's a single speed frame, I haven't decided what I'll do with it yet. Single speed? Two speed kickback? Mod the frame for an IGH hub, or just clamp on some cable stops? Time will tell, I've got a bunch of other projects to get through before that one.


I'll probably put the early graphcs on it too, they're more fun to me.

I have a "Schwinn" cruiser that I bought just to see what a $200 bike was like. Ended up being pleasantly surprised, after rebuilding the entire thing when assembling it from new it worked ok. But then project creep took hold and now it has a 5 speed Sturmey hub with a bunch of other upgrades. It has more than the purchase price in mods now...





And then there was the night I was headed to dinner and saw a Typhoon frame out with the trash. Can't let that happen, I was going to use a Typhoon frame for the base of the bike above but the money didn't make sense... Anyway, I rescued it and built it up in about four different configurations before riding it. Now it looks mostly like this.



It's got a two speed kick back hub at the moment... but that could change.


And then there's this - a Breeze Deluxe. I have to admit, I bought it for the hub (that went into the Typhoon). I got the bike for less than the bare hubs sell for. I thought I'd put it back togther as a three speed for my wife but it's lost a bunch of parts to various projects now so it may or may not ever get done.





Yeah, not the best pics but you get the idea. I worked in a Schwinn shop for about ten years in the '70s/'80s and like the old stuff.

seedsbelize2

My town bike. 87 Prelude.

Repack Rider

Bluetrane2028

Well, I didn't get a Continental, but I did get a chestnut brown Varsity today...

Seller pics. Needs tires and an adjustment but looks like it's going to be a nice rider.







Serial number is BL518394. February 1975.

I noticed that the handlebar is bent. The one that I removed from my son's Sprint appears to be the same part even though that was on the 24" wheel version. It is not bent, so I can rather easily put on a straight one. Should clean up pretty nice.

jjhabbs 

Thanks Bernie for the additions to the garage! They are a great fit!

John

jdawginsc 

Do you paint them yourself?

rjhammett

daywood 

Yes. Thanks for asking. That’s a big part of the fun for me. I tend to make my own decals, too, using Inkscape, a freeware graphics program, with pigment based printer ink (so it won’t fade quickly) on slide off decal paper or thin adhesive vinyl.

The World Sport was a case of falling in love with the paint and then looking for something to paint with it. It’s Violette Purple Pearl, an automotive paint from House of Kolor. This came as liquid so I thinned and sprayed it with a sprayer. The decals on the original were pretty gaudy, being from the “groovy” era, so I didn’t try to recreate them. I’ve been thinking, though, to go back and make some “ghost” versions of them, maybe like the Crosscut logo I made for the red bike.

I was trying for more of a restoration on the High Sierra and looked hard for something close to the two colors on the original. The bronze is Rust-Oleum Metallic Dark Copper (which has amazing metal flake in it) and the brown is Rust-Oleum Gloss Dark Brown. They were both in aerosol cans. Another Bike Forums member pointed me to a source for new old stock decals.

On the Crosscut I wanted to stay close to the original red but then also got a bug to go two-tone to highlight the lugs. I used Dupli-Color Barcelona Red Metallic and Universal Gloss Black spray automotive touch up paints. They were both in aerosol cans from an auto parts store. I painted the red first and then masked up to the lugs, using an Xacto knife to fit the tape around the lugs. It was tedious! I made the decals for this one.

I tend to strip the frames down to the metal, remove any rust and fill any dents, and then use Rust-Oleum automotive primer. I wet-sand the primer to make it easier to see if there are still problems to fix and to have a smooth base for the color coat.

I used House of Kolor clear top coat with urethane hardener on the purple bike. I’ve since come to think of 2K urethane paint as not worth the health risk so I used 1K automotive clear coat from aerosol cans on the other bikes.

rjhammett

The Breeze is my favorite Schwinn color. Then again, it might be tied with the purple Schwinn's.

daywood 

Man I LOVE that color! It might be an epic quest for me to try to match it if I decided I needed to repaint it, because I would definitely would want to retain that look. Hopefully you won’t have to paint yours.

Bluetrane2028

I can't say mine is pristine by any stretch, but it's presentable for its 48 years.

Speaking of, I took the classy lady out on the town tonight. New tires and the handlebar has been replaced but it's an OEM Schwinn part. Aside from the tires, it's probably still completely original. I do want to repack all the bearings but the way it rides I'd bet they're fine. I just want the "I know this is right" feeling that only comes from going in there and doing the work yourself. A ruffian atempted to abscond with my bike while I was lining up a shot, but I was able to figure out what was happening in enough time to hop back on and leave. That's what I get for 1am photoshoots, lol.







And, for the pic of the bike at the Rocky step.. I carried the bike up those stairs. I didn't just ride around the side from the back. Didn't feel like a "Rocky" kind of moment doing that.

I'm starting to think the Varsity is one of the best bikes in history. What else weighs more than my wife's Kia yet turns minimal pedal effort into easy miles traversed, so efficiently and smoohly?

I still kind of prefer these as single speeds, but then again it could just entirely be the handlebar that I like more than anything else on my yellow one.

The brown bike is too nice, honest and original to do anything to it to customize, IMO, although I do have a flat bar and some brake levers available should I change my mind on that...

Sierra

^^^ Nice photography there!