Rachel's Schwinn Townie

So Rachel had this Schwinn that we got a thrift store in Sacramento. She rode it a lot in Portland, and when I wanted a new bike project, I dove into making this ugly 1991 Schwinn something pretty cool.

I showed Rachel a picture of a townie bike that I thought she might like:

 

But that bike costs $1200. I took the Schwinn she had and added $200 worth of parts/materials to make this. Fun project.

In the end, I kept the Headset, BB, RD, frame, fork and wheels. I had the Schwinn decals custom made by www.bikenames.com. Also, ground off the teeth on the large ring so that it would act as a guard.

Before:

After:

Layers of Cotton and Shellac

Decided to wrap the Schwinn with Brown cloth tape. This way it would match the saddle and the bar end shifter cable could be hidden underneath it.

Single Coat of amber Shellac


2nd coat of amber shellac


3rd coat of amber shellac


4th and final coat of amber shellac

Schwinn photos

So this is where it currently stands. Yes, the seat clamp needs to be switched around.

Schwinn update

At school currently, so no photos of its current state, but, Rachel's Schwinn is almost done. Since the last posting, I applied the decals, clearcoated the frame and fork and have begun to hang the parts on her. Even though the old crank was a triple, the new crank slightly rubs on the chainstay, so I'll need a new BB axle. The current one was 119mm and I bought a 126 off of eBay for $12 shipped.

So, waiting on a longer BB axle and some pink brake cable. I've also decided to wrap the handlebars using brown cloth tape with amber shellac. Going to get the tape from VO.

Also am planning on buying this rack and doing what "stepinthefunk" did (see below). He cut off the outer ring on the rack so its more sleak and minimalist.

Schwinn Cranks

So, I've had these Sugino "Silstar" cranks and wanted to use them on Rachel's Schwinn. However, the large ring is fixed and is 52 tooth. Rachel doesnt need a 52. Additionally, I wanted to only give her one ring up front to ease shifting.

So, I grinded off the teeth on the big ring of the crankset. Now, there will be a guard on the outside and the 40 tooth inner ring will actually be about the perfect size for a single ring up front.

Schwinn Fork Painted

So, I sanded down the fork on the Schwinn CrossFit. I thought that the steering tube was covered in grime, it was actually rust. Schwinn didnt paint it, just bare metal. Cheap bike I suppose.

So I sanded down the steerer to bare metal, then primered the thing. On the base of the steerer it said "Spinner" looked like a brand name. Also it had stamped 1991 on it, which I had figured.



This morning, I hit it with the first coat of Jade. I will go back over it later today because I missed some nooks and crannies.

Progress is fun.

Schwinn Decals

So this is on order......reproduction pink Schwinn for Rachel's bike.

Pair for $10 from Graphicity.com

Schwinn painted

So the weather has been nice and this means that I've been painting. The Schwinn frame took 2 cans of white primer and one can of "Jade" Krylon. The jade comes in satin only, but I will be putting a clear coat over this after application of some cool Schwinn decals which the misses wants in pink.







I'm thinking I will also highlight the letters on the headbadge before I clearcoat it.

Schwinn Cross-Fit Catalog

Old bike catalogs are cool.

Schwinn Cross-Fit stripped

One of the parameters of the project was that it couldnt cost a lot. I set a budget of around $200. I began acquiring parts, some new from Velo Orange and some old from eBay and my parts box.

When I had all of the parts, I stripped the bike down and took a propane torch to the decals to burn them off. This works very well, produces little smoke, and is easy. I've had great success with this method in the past.

Next I took a putty knife and scraped off all the burnt decals. Some coarse sandpaper was next, sanding down the little pits and chips here and there.



I will take a lighter sandpaper to it next to make it nice and smooth. Not too much of a rush though. My only work area is on the roof of my apartment building it its supposed to be cold and wet for the next week or so.

Schwinn Cross-Fit

My wife has had this 1991 Schwinn Cross-Fit for a couple of years. We bought it from a Thrift Store for $25. About a month ago, I decided I would remake this hybrid into something pretty cool. Something like this from ANT bike.