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The Story of my first road bike... a 1980
Schwinn Traveler
This story starts in May of 2005, days after I purposed to
my now wife. I had started working a desk job and quit my sales job at
a local retail store. And because of this, I had gained a few pounds I
wanted to lose before the wedding, one year later. First I bought a
garage sale mountain bike. However it was not long before I realized I
was going to want something more suited to riding on the roads around my
home. So, it started off simple enough, I wanted a road bike, but
didn't want to put a lot of money into one. I certainly didn't have $900-$1200 for
a new Trek from the local bike store. So I start browsing Ebay, and after
only a few days a vintage Schwinn Traveler shows up just across town.
Opening bid... $10.
Funny how the simplest of beginnings become the biggest adventures...
I won that auction for $10 and drove across town to pick up
the bike. I found it in about the same condition I saw it at in the
auction. The frame looked like it had not been ridden much, but had
been stored for many years since being purchased in the year of 1980, a year
before I was even born. There were a few things wrong with the bike
when I picked it up, and it was obvious a few things would need to be
replaced right off the bat:
-
The thin vinyl bar covering was cracked and broken on
both sides of the bar, and was coming off in several places
-
One of the brake levers were broken, the bolt which the
lever pivoted on had long ago snapped and half of it was missing
-
General tune up issues: tires & tubes, cables and
casings, and a chain.
After a few days waiting for a couple packages to arrive in
the mail, I was able to start getting the bike fixed up and rolling again.
This was my first experience working on a bicycle, and it was a great
learning experience. In general, it wasn't rocket science, and as I
started disassembling the bicycle to clean and tune up I knew I'd found yet
another part of cycling I was going to enjoy - tinkering!
I started putting miles on the bike, and soon started
realizing that my $10 investment with $50 tune-up was going to need some
more money thrown at it to really be enjoyable. So I turned back to
ebay for more parts to replace the originals. First the shifters went
from the stem to the downtube. Next the wheels were replaced, what was
slippery chrome steel became much lighter and safer aluminum, and replaced
the 5speed freewheel with a brand new 6speed Shimano unit. And at last
I took the original Shimano 400 & FE derailleurs off and replaced them with
slightly newer, Shimano 105 pieces.
On the Road Again!
First of the pictures of the finished product - though at
this time was
waiting on the new wheels and derailleurs, and shifters.
The only new parts here was the required new brake levers (Tektro R200A),
cables and tires.
Also prior to adding the dual water bottle cages and gear bags, pedals and
other new stuff..
Side picture. After two coats of wax it looks nearly as good
as new, if you ignore the scratches that is.
Rear quarter shot showing off the clean lines, new bar
tape and the Cateye cyclometer installed.
Front quarter shot. Close up of the Tektro R200A
aero brake levers that I added. Very nice Campy knock off design.
80's model Shimano 400 & FE derailleurs out...
90's model Shimano 105 derailleurs in...
Heavy steel 5speed wheel set out...
Brand new alloy 6speed wheel set in...
Had to route the cable under the bottom bracket for this
model vs. the old Shimano FE.
Thanks to the
BikeForums.net crew
reassuring that this setup would work.
Shimano 14/28 Six-Speed rear Freewheel - SRAM PC-58 chain
-
and of course the Shimano 105 Rear Derailleur.
Replacing the Shimano stem shifters are these NOS Downtube
shifters. Keeping with the trend of using
Shimano 105 grade equipment - these are Vintage friction Shimano 105 Golden
Arrow shifters.
The Traveler in the evening sun. Front looks better
now with the downtube shifters installed.
Note the reflective stripe on the tires catching the camera flash.
Stamped number on the rear drop out. Note that I
had a bit of rust removal work to be done while cleaning it up
Another full shot of the bike, and with me out from behind
the camera this time too!
I ditched the tape covered clamps that were holding the water bottle cages
on and
went with JB Cold Weld(tm) instead. Works very well, just hope I never
have to get them off!
Over all it's a much cleaner look and I don't have to worry about catching
my leg on a clamp housing if I ever fall.
And this is where the story of my first road bike ends.
From the start the frame was too large for me by a fair bit, a full 63cm
size, as where I fit much more comfortably on a 58-60cm frame. I
stumbled upon a guy on the DORBA forums in
early November looking for a large (63cm) frame to make into a fixed gear
bike for around campus at UTD. I sold him the Schwinn Traveler frame,
crank, stem, handlebars and seat a few days later. Leaving me Road-bikeless
during what has to be the most perfect riding weather during a November
Texas has ever seen. Just my luck. I should soon have the first
photos of my new road bike - my custom build Barracuda Mk. I - by mid
November.
So here, a final toast to my first road bike.
Covered the majority of this year's 750 miles on her - including one Metric
Century. Thanks for carrying me back into cycling, and helping find my
appreciation for vintage steel road bikes!
For more information about Schwinn bicycles
I suggest the following websites:
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