Classic & Vintage - Need help on a new (old) Schwinn Super Sport, busted rear wheel

So I went out to meet this guy the other day to buy a Univega for my daily commute. I was just about to hand him the $50 when I noticed he had an old Schwinn Super Sport in the corner. It was a light steel frame, whole bike weighed about 23 pounds or so with all Suntour parts, but it had a busted rear wheel. After a bit of negociating I took it home for $85 with the busted rim: he called Recycled Cycles for me down in Seattle and said I could pick up a used rear wheel for $15 there, so it seemed all right.

Well, turns out today that Recycled Cycles didn't have any $15 wheels (I should have known). They had a new one for $50, but I was hesitant.. total would come out to $60 with installation including swapping out the 6-speed freewheel cluster from the busted wheel. My budget is pretty damn limited as well.

What should I do?
1. Go ahead and buy a new rear wheel, have them install the 6-speed cluster
2. Look for used wheels on Craigslist (can I use a wheel with a shimano cassette? do i have to get 6-speed?)
3. See if the guy will take it back (last resort), I'm not sure how much a Super Sport is worth, though, and whether or not I got a good deal. But after all, he put me under the impression that I could have the bike up and running with $15.

I'd love some help.

Personally, I'd go ahead and spring for the new wheel. Hopefully, it will be a good one, and if nothing else, you'll have peace of mind. Just my two cents....

I would get a new wheel. There's gotta be a co-op in Seattle where you can get a nice wheel cheap. 126 spacing? I'd switch to a 7-speed freewheel. Assuming you are using friction shifters, either one should work.

Another thing to consider, especially if the rear hub is nice, is simply rebuilding the wheel with a new rim and spokes.

Super Sports are nice riders but not worth a whole lot.

Yep. Got friction shifters. So I guess I'll go for the new wheel. Hopefully won't have to spend too much.
Tell me a little bit more about spacing, though - is there a way to fit a newer hub (say, 130 mm) into my 126 mm frame, without having to risk damage? That 4 mm difference doesn't seem to huge.

I just feel a little like I made a mistake with this whole purchase. I haven't even been able to find a good price estimate, and maybe I overpaid that guy. Ah well.

Most reports say that there is No problem spreading a steel frame that much.

Sheldon Brown's site has information on cold setting a frame in case you don't want to squeeze your wheel in every time you take it off.

Slipping a 130mm into a 126mm spaced frame is no problem with a steel frame. No bending -cold-setting- needed.

You can run any brand of freewheel with any brand of derailler. The only problem you may find is that short cage deraillers won't make the shift onto the larger sized cogs -- say 32-34 tooth.

I'm spinning an Atom freewheel now on my commuter with Suntour deraillers.

Keep looking. Check out this weekends garage sales. I often find 27" wheels.

Good luck.

Yep. Got friction shifters. So I guess I'll go for the new wheel. Hopefully won't have to spend too much.
Tell me a little bit more about spacing, though - is there a way to fit a newer hub (say, 130 mm) into my 126 mm frame, without having to risk damage? That 4 mm difference doesn't seem to huge.

I just feel a little like I made a mistake with this whole purchase. I haven't even been able to find a good price estimate, and maybe I overpaid that guy. Ah well.

I recently built some new wheels for my Schwinn Super Sport - the old wheels were still OK, but I wanted something which would give me more choices for gearing. $30 for a pair of Shimano Ultegra 600 hubs from eBay; $60 for a pair of Mavic MA3 rims (LBS); ~$50 for the spokes (LBS). That was for two wheels, and I did the work myself (LBS charges ~$40 to build a wheel). I now have a rear wheel which will take Shimano HG cassettes. Even with the downtube friction shifters, the shifting is so much better with the newer cassettes.

Sounds like you got reasonable deal, even with the gammy wheel. What's the condition of the rest of the bike?

- Wil

Sounds like you got reasonable deal, even with the gammy wheel. What's the condition of the rest of the bike?

- Wil

The bike itself is in pretty nice condition. With the exception of some very ratty old bar tape, everything works fine and there is practically zero rust. Decals are pretty much shot, but hey. It's fine to me.

I ended up wedging in a Bontrager Select from my road bike onto the Schwinn yesterday night. The hub was 130mm, so it took a bit of grunting and pushing to fit it into the 126mm dropouts, but I did it. It's amazing how smooth the bike runs, especially with the SRAM 8-speed cassette from my other bike :rolleyes:. No problems shifting, even with the six-speed chain (hopefully I'm not destroying the chain or cassette or something).

What I think I'll do is save up a little money and get a decent used wheelset with a 7 speed road cassette or something. After taking a ride on the bike yesterday I felt better about my decision - it flew like a dream.

After taking a ride on the bike yesterday I felt better about my decision - it flew like a dream.

I knew it would!