muddlehead

I ride flat easy creek trails - 10 miles - once a week. Takes about an hour. I'm 6ft3in. Love bigger than ordinary bikes. My current bike, don't laugh, is a Schwinn Voyageur 2 XXL with one of those wide comfort seats. I only use the 2nd gear - middle of the three on the left handlebar. So, I'm using, and very happily, 7 gears only. Love the bike. Except for one thing which is making me crazy. The brakes never work right. Had them repaired twice in the past year. Still don't do what they're supposed to. I disconnected the rear brake last month and just use the front brake. Like I said my weekly ride is flat so just the front brake is cool.
Here's the question. I've been thinking of buying a Cannondale Quick XXL for a while. Give or take $800, Plus, I assume, cost to replace its skinny seat with a comfort seat, If you were me would you make the purchase/switch to the Cannondale?

Oakman

Since you love the Schwinn, I'd get the brakes fixed right. Maybe the shifter too. You could probably fix them yourself using this forum and YouTube. And then I'd probably get another bike soon after.

cyclezen

either ; fix/replace the schwinn brakes (all the related parts as well) - knowing that the best working of the brakes relies heavily on the condition of the wheels
or - buy the other bike
if the brakes' are not working to your satisfaction - using only one of them doesn't really make sense, especially if you find a need for them to work really well at some future time.
you also asked ... if I were you, I'd be riding much more than once a week...
Ride On
Yuri

terrymorse 

The Cannondale Quick is a better bike.

Take one for a test ride, I’m guessing you’ll like it better.

nick_a

If it were me I'd try some kool stop brake pads and new cables and housing first to see if the brakes sort out. Seems like what you need might be a some advice at a good shop or bike co-op or a buddy who's got the interest in getting your schwinn set up so that it works right for you.

downtube42

From what I can tell, the Voyager II should have V-brakes.

In my experience working on all level of bikes at the co-op, the V-brake design is the best design for low cost brakes. While cheapo stamped-steel sidepulls are utterly worthless and unservicable, cheapo v-brakes may be heavy and ugly but they STOP the bike. They can be disassembled and cleaned and lubed, balanced left/right with screws, and adjusted to be close to the rim. While older Schwinns had slippery chrome rims, I'm pretty sure this bike will have an alloy rim with a decent brake track. Cables/housings are easily replaced. Disconnecting the rear brake is a weird response to poor braking; was this done due to an out-of-true wheel, or were the brakes sticking? In either case, that's fixable.

As you whether you should buy a new bike, the answer is a resounding yes. Always buy a new bikes. But not because of shoddy brakes, rather because new bikes are new fun.

If you want to keep your current bike, find a co-op, a good mechanic, or if you're mechanically minded then watch some youtube videos. Otherwise, buy the new bike (which will soon become an old bike that needs maintenance).

duffer1960

If you like the bike, no need to replace it. I vote for spending a little money on tools & parts to fix the brakes yourself. What shouldn't take long at home becomes a costly ordeal if you have to take it to a bike shop.

If it's made so cheaply that it's falling apart (is it a 'bike shop' Schwinn or a 'big box' Schwinn?), that's one reason to get another bike. I can see another reason: The upright posture discourages you from putting as much effort into pedaling, as you would if your position on the bike had you leaning forward some. Bike racers are bent over the bars not just for aerodynamics but because their bodies leaned over become fulcrums for the torque applied to the pedals. I find that relatively small differences in the position of pedals vs saddle vs handlebars make big differences in how hard & fast I want to pedal.

livedarklions

I'm thinking from your post that you feel like you've done as much as you're willing to do on the rear bike. Because of your size, a good fit is hard to find, so try the Cannondale on a test ride and buy it if it fits.

andrewclaus

Please tell or show us what kind of brakes the bike has. If it's old enough to have cantilever brakes and they haven't been maintained right over the years, the straddle cable is probably way out of adjustment and braking torque can almost disappear. They can be pretty difficult to set up correctly but once they are, they're fine.

63rickert

V brakes are incredibly simple and easy to work on. A mechanic who fails that test is no mechanic. New cables, casings, pads could be purchased but that is not the problem.

The only reason to buy a new bike is you really want a new bike and found one that you just have to have.

Outrider1

Or that everyone in society is unhappy and totally incompetent at their trade.

livedarklions

I suspect that OP is probably a bit big for the existing brakes so whatever service is done has limited (in duration) effectiveness. It's probably a matter of getting beefier brakes rather than servicing the existing ones.

But, yeah, if OP wants a new bike, who are we to suggest otherwise?

Reflector Guy

A new bike will probably be lighter and have modern amenities like a threadless stem, indexed shifting, disk brakes, etc. Does the old bike even have water bottle mounts? My old bikes never did.... Anyway, a flashy and fast new bike just might make him want to ride more and for longer distances.

smd4

Why purchase a new seat? Why don't you just transfer over the seat you already have and like?

himespau 

Definitely try riding the Cannondale. The fit will probably be different as I imagine the bars on your Schwinn are several inches above the saddle where the Quick will probably be just about level with the saddle (based on manufacturers' pictures of both of them online).

Changing the relationship between the bars and the saddle will change your position on the bike and how you sit on/in the saddle. You're probably sitting fairly upright now (which is why you like the cushy, padded saddle), while the lower bars and more aggressive stance of the Quick will have you riding leaning more forward. That will likely change the type of saddle you prefer (leaning forward like that has you putting more weight on your legs (they will also be acting as your suspension) and less on your "sitz bones" and will cause a padded saddle to push more up into your perineum (causing the dreaded "numb genitals").

You might like the different relationship of bars to saddle or you may hate it. But try it and find that out. It'll at least make you stop wondering "what if" and potentially change what you're looking for.

himespau 

This is the Schwinn Voyager 2 21-speed. A very different beast from the highly regarded (by some) sports tourer from the 80's (and earlier), so it does have indexed shifting and water bottle mounts, but no disk brakes or threadless stem.


I have one of the old sports tourers in my queue to build into a touring/commuting bike if I ever get around to it (and can find an excuse for my wife about why I need another bike - frames and all the parts, she doesn't seem to notice as much as another bike parked in the garage).

muddlehead

Thanks so much everyone for the replies.

I went to take a couple of pics of the bike as a whole and the brakes.

I see @himespau (thanks for the pic) beat me to it - and I can't figure out how to upload the pics on here anyway.

I guess the question I'm poorly asking is this.

Is the Cannondale Quick a better enough bike to make me want to ditch the above pictured Schwinn in favor of?

himespau 

To be able to post pictures, you need to have made at least 10 posts.

smd4

You'll certainly appreciate the stopping power of the disc brakes...

zandoval 

Brakes? Who needs Brakes?

https://youtu.be/VqomZQMZQCQ

BlazingPedals

...although if adjusting linear brakes is beyond his skillset, adjusting mechanical discs will be, too.

I agree, the logical response to brakes not working correctly is NOT normally to disconnect one of them. I suspect that was done because the rear wheel is out of true and the brake was rubbing. If the rear wheel has been trued a few times and it still has too much run-out, it might be time for a new wheel.

smd4

That's what the bike shop he buys it from will be for. He said he had his old brakes "repaired, " which sounds like he isn't doing the work himself anyway.

70sSanO

You are somewhat in no man's land "if you need new wheels" because the rear wheel can't be trued sufficiently and you need a stronger wheel. Only a bike shop can tell you what has to be done. But if you are looking at a few hundred dollars to replace/fix what is needed, then looking at a new bike might be a better way to go.

If there is a concern that weight is an issue with the wheels, that will need to be considered in whatever you decide. If you go to the Cannondale, you can transfer your saddle and get an adjustable stem if that is what you want. The Cannondale has trigger shifters and not twist. If you do little shifting that is probably not going to be a problem. You can swap them out for twist, but then again you are adding cost on top of the cost of a new bike.

The final piece comes down to whether you want to move on from the Schwinn of not. If you don't want to, just fix it and ride it. If you want a new bike, go that route.

I would guess a high number of people don't replace a bike based on need.

John

2old

+1 with nick a; there's no reason why you can't make linear brakes very effective with Kool Stop pads and careful setup. Then as others have mentioned, start riding at least every other day.

blacknbluebikes 

Here's another "Old Man's Silly Question"... What are you saving the money for, if not for something that you so clearly enjoy? Your estate?