jamesdak 

This popped up locally this afternoon and I was curious so I went and grabbed it. Unless I mis-measured it's a 56cm (22") and appears to have all the original Shimano 105 SC components. The hubs are 105 but it now is sporting some Wolber Alpine Rims.

Tires were flat but pumped right up and are holding air. Going to spend the evening pulling all the extra crap off and then cleaning it up. I'll have a better idea after that. Sat in a basement for a long time according to the seller. Looked closely for cracks, especially around the seatpost but all looks good. 24 lbs 11 ozs as in the picture below. That's how I got it.

Slightly wobble on the rear and real loose front hub. Everything else seemed fine. I'll post more pics once it's cleaned up.

Cleaned believe I bought an Aluminum bike. I honestly doubt I'll keep it but for the price I get to play with one for awhile before moving it on.



Just as I got it.

top506

Careful, boyo. They're organized and multiply:






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RiddleOfSteel

Gorgeous bike! I had a 25" of the same version pop up locally earlier in the year, exquisite condition like that as well. Great price, too. I didn't go for it because I had implemented a self-imposed no-buy policy for that time. It went quickly, but I still think about it now and again. That red is devastating.

[RoS sits here having bought a handful of bike...frames...since that date. He wants for nothing and is happily resurrecting a monumentally neglected '91 Cannondale criterium frame with C-Record era Chorus. He still thinks about aluminum Schwinns...]

jamesdak 

I have a suspicion that the rough chipseal I ride will help limit my desire for aluminum bikes. Or...I could be wrong....

ryansu

LOL its always the ones you let go/got away. I just got done building a great Nishiki Cresta GT love the way it rides and pleased with the build...but there was a Novara of mid to late 80s vintage that sat for a while on local CL in my size I think I could have gotten it for less than a c note but was also in no buy mode, and yet it still nags at me.

jamesdak 

Thanks!

This one does have it's fair share of chips and such in the paint and it's a bit dull. But I'll run some polish over it soon and see if it'll pop more.

I pulled off the aero bars, heavy time pedals and heavy Terry gel saddle. I put on some of my standard Look Keo pedals and then a semi heavy Pirelli Attive Sospensioni saddle.

The bike is now 22 lbs, 13 ozs. So... not really any advantage over good steel bikes of that era in terms of weight.

It does have a pump peg and chain hanger which is a plus for me.

It appears well serviced and taken care of in the past. Oh and the freeplay I felt up front was just a loose skewer. I'll still be taking the hubs apart and servicing them though.

Anyway, back at it.

LAJ

I believe it did come with Wolber rims and 105 hubs from the factory. I still have mine, but the rims did crack, so I went with a set of Deep V's. Believe me, it rides like a truck, and I love every ride I take on it.

RobbieTunes

Quit fertilizing them.

RobbieTunes

Very nice. Don't lose that seatpost, eh?

I saw one of those repainted in white, no decals, being raced on a college team, with a carbon fork, and most of the team thought it was carbon.

RiddleOfSteel

@ryansu yeah, in addition to the "no buy mode" was the fact that it was all original 105 and I didn't feel like stripping a perfectly functional original groupset off a bike that was plenty competent, for a 10-speed setup. It's one of the reasons I try and look for just framesets as I know how I build up bikes (aka usually not original).
@jamesdak interesting that it still is that heavy. I picked up a super beat up Schwinn 564 framset last year (cracked seat post) that had its bottom bracket still attached. Frame, fork, headset, and BB weighed in at just over 6.5 lb. Without the BB, it would have weighed the same or slightly less than my Cannondale ST400 from a few years prior. My '91 Cannondale (3.0 frame with the cantilevered rear dropouts, alu frame and fork blades) frame, fork, and headset weigh in at 5.13 lb. Modern lightweight aluminum/carbon fork framesets are "only" 1.5 lb lighter. Which I suppose is a considerable amount, but also not a lot. Looks like your components, robust and nicely working pieces that they are, are heavier than normal. I would think rims, stem and bars as its surprising how heavy they can be. I doubt 105's ability to really weigh a ton. 7400 DA of the time wasn't super lightweight (7403 dual pivot brake calipers were 430g or so for the pair!).
@LAJ when I test rode my 564 after cobbling together some parts, it rode like a truck, too. Felt like it could get me along pretty good, but that frame was meant for the recycle bin as it was too far gone on a lot of fronts (just barely able to be made temporarily rideable).

jamesdak 

The catalog shows Mavic MA40 rims on the 105 hubs....

The seatpost at minimal insertion just barely get's the saddle where I need it, whew!

jamesdak 

Hmmm, more research and I found this. You may very well be correct.

Schwinn catalogs, 1981 - 1990 (376 of 456)

top506

It's the long, cold winters.....

The C'dale, maybe. The GT, yes. The others not so much. I suspect your Schwinn will ride more like the GT. It will accelerate like a rocket, though.

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jamesdak 

Well, that's a surprise. It still has the Schwinn Pro Circuit 700 x 23c tires on it. And they are actually still supple and not dried and cracking. Even when I deflate and pop the bead I'm not getting any of the dry, flaking sidewall that I'm used to on most old bikes I save. Does seem to be a fair amount of room for modern tires. Planning on something in my usual 700 x 25c size. The current tires look smaller than the stated size.

RiddleOfSteel

When in doubt, Vittoria Open Corsa Evo CX. 320 TPI for about $30. Great deal on a wonderfully-riding tire that can be the cure for harsh riding ails.

jamesdak 

Well - I finished with the initial job going over it. Didn't find anything major, just a fair amount of chips in the paint. Also took it out for a little test ride. Front tire flatted after a couple of miles. The rims have no real rim tape, just the crappy rubber band excuse for real rim tape. I'm sure that's why the new tube failed. I'll sort that out soon. Still need to get the rims trued, one thing I've never figured out.

I put some Continental 4 Seasons on it before the test. After cleaning it up and swapping on new tires and tubes the bike now weighs 22 lbs 9 ozs ready to go with pedals, bottle cage, etc. So the bigger modern tires save a bit of weight were it matters.

All the components were degreased with a citrus cleaner as was a bit of the frame. Then a nice hand wash wash with warm water and Dawn, followed with clean water rinse. Relubed as needed as well as cleaned and oiled the chain. This has a 7 speed cassette so that was removed and cleaned also. While off I yanked the dork disk. I used Mequiars #7 all over the paint after cleaning it to revive the shine some. Then a quick coat of Carnauba wax was applied. Wheels were gone over too, hubs serviced and I took some steel wool to the spokes to bring back some bling.

Now a few pics I shot after cleaning it up a bit.




Looks OK from a few feet away



Still needs the bars rewrapped.



Frame Detail



More Frame Detail - Rear



More Frame Detail - Front / Pump Peg is a plus



Steel Fork - So not all is lost with this, LOL!



The Classic Headbadge



Levers are good and the hood are still soft.



105 RD seems to be working fine



The FD was a bit noisy on the test ride. Need to check it's alignment and all still.

jamesdak 

Guess who cracked the seatpost on the very first ride, LOL!

Right at the top, front center. Fortunately I had sourced two replacements that came in yesterday. Both are free of any cracks.

Worse case I'll slot and seat clamp the seatpost like others have done since I've got no real money in this one. Components are worth more than I paid for the whole thing.

HarborBandS

This bike is absolutely stunning! I've never ridden one of these old aluminum Schwinns, but the proportions and color are really nice. Perfect red color.

The subtle curvature of the lugs or joints (Is it bonded? Welded and sanded down?) reminds me of the 1990's Trek OCLV frames.

sdn40

Can you put a seat clamp around the top of the post as a preventative measure ? I looked at one a year ago and it was cracked in the exact same place.
I looked at a 434 in Scarlett 2 days ago but the drive side paint was chipped up like it was dragged in gravel. I wondered why he didn't have any drive side pics. I called him out on it but he didn't care. He wanted too much for me to ignore it. Lower package of components too.
Any difference on the rear "wishbone" stays that you can report ??
The proportions and graphics on these are pretty attractive, too bad about the seatpost and apparent paint shortcomings

RobbieTunes

You can file the scallop down and put a clamp on it, but you've got to find the right size clamp.

sdn40

Maybe something like this ? The description is a bit misleading but ....
Don't know if a clamp would prevent the crack, but it might be worth $10 to find out
If you are really brave, could a clamp allow you to use the cracked post ? Drill a small hole at the end of the crack and then apply a clamp ? I'm sure people much smarter than me know the answer

https://www.amazon.com/ICAN-Carbon-31-8mm-27-2mm-Height/dp/B01IP1XVAG/ref=sr_1_4?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1538674762&sr=1-4&keywords=27.2+seat+clamp

jamesdak 

Yeah I saw a post here years ago where someone did that. But the pics weren't working anymore.

This was picked up for the less than the price for a decent tire so I don't mind fooling around with it. If one of the replacement seatposts crack I'll pursue either modding the frame or making my own quill seatpost.

RiddleOfSteel

It's so beautiful!! That paint is gorgeous.

Glad you have seat post replacements at hand.

Now I'm really bummed I passed that one that was my size! Haha.

HarborBandS

I ran a search on "Schwinn 694" through all of Bike Forums, and I do believe that this is the only thread dedicated to this bike on the ENTIRE forum. Congratulations!

HarborBandS

It is more likely the fact that this bike is very clearly a Schwinn 684, and not a 694 as the thread title suggests.