Bicycle Mechanics - Report and questions - Salvation Army Schwinn?

So far I have done some general cleaning on the old Schwinn, but more is needed. This past weekend I cleaned and repacked the wheel bearings the grease was like peanut butter. Yesterday I cleaned and repacked headset bearings. Last night had a brain flash, and a quick check of one of my repair references confirmed that I had put the bearings in backwards! Oh well, that is easy enough to correct. I also replaced the brake cables. I wanted to replace the old cracking housings, too, but I got distracted at the shop and forgot to get any. I did bit the bullet and get the Park cable and housing cutter. I know these are all basic maintenance procedures, but I have not done any of them before, so each one feels like an accomplishment to me. The only major thing left is to pull the bottom bracket and clean/grease those bearings. I hope to do that this weekend.

Now I have another question. I would like to put hoods on the brakes. Having never dealt with tape and hoods before, I am not familiar with the process. My books say start wrapping an inch or two (to leave space for mounting computer, light, etc.) from the stem and work out doing a figure 8 around the hoods. OK, got that. But they don't say when the hoods go on. At first I thought it might be necessary to slip the hoods on with the brake lever assembly off the bar, then slip the assembly on the bar before taping. The more I look at it, though, it looks like the hoods just slip over the lever assembly after taping the bar. Is that correct?

On a related subject, when I took the bike to my secondary LBS t get some cables, my buddy there offered me a 15-20 year old Schwinn Voyageur he wants to sell me for $50. I would have bought it from him Tuesday but the tall frame gives me minimal standover height, like zero. Other than that, it actually seems to fit. It is in pretty decent shape except for garage storage grime and a little rust on the head tube. It has Shimano 600 components with a triple crank as well as Super Champion 40 hole touring rims. Schwinn apparently built the Voyageur as a SERIOUS touring bike. Should I jump at this bike, even though the standover doesn't leave much margin for error? He says, probably rightly so, that the parts are worth well over 50. I could use some of them, like the wheels, on my Salvation project. What do you think?

Follow-up question added later.

I thought I had located some Weinmann hoods, but the place was sold out. They are not made anymore. Anyone know of a source or substitute? Can I just put a few wraps of tape around the hoods as I wrap the bar to cushion them a little?
Thanks,
Raymoned

When I have re-taped my road-bike handlebar, it has been: lever assembly, then tape, then hoods. The hoods just slip over the lever assemblies.

Your feeling of accomplishment is something I can identify with. Those things may seem elementary to a lot of cyclists, but for those of us that have never done it before, it's a milestone.

For me, just successfully repairing a flat is a very satisfying feeling.

It's all relative.

Question: was the old bearing grease like smooth peanut butter, or chunky? I prefer the chunky.

Luckily it was smooth, but so stiff it's a wonder the wheel would turn at all! The headset "grease" was a different story. So funky, dry and full of grime, there was nothing that even resembled lubricant. Fortunately, the bearings and set races cleaned up quite nicely and did not looked scored or damaged from the neglect. Eventually, I will probably replace the bearings, but I a spending as little as possible on the bike right now until I am satisfied it is a keeper. Mainly investing elbow grease and things already on hand.

Regards,
Raymond

Your book is wrong. If you wrap from the stem to the ends, the exposed edge of the tape will eventually fold back. If you start at the ends and work towards to middle, your hand slides over the concealed edge. Use pvc tape to secure the ends 1" from the stem, and seal the ends of the drops with proper plugs, for safety.

You need a few inches of tape wrapped horizontally around the back of the levers, then a figure-8 around the lever.
You can use Weinmans without hood covers. I still see them in UK bike shops, Im sure a few better US ones may have them.

I has my LBS show me how to tape bars (and mend punctures).

I stopped by my primary LBS on the way home to pick up some cable housing. I asked about hoods, and, lo and behold my buddy went into the "vintage parts archive" (junk drawer) and came out with a pair of hoods to fit this type of lever. Even has a little punchout to fit over the stud for the "safety", aka suicide, levers! He said I should remove these levers, anyway. I agree, but what do I do with the stud that sticks out about 8mm? Are there replacement parts that fit more or less flush?
Regards,
Raymond

I'm trying to remember the appearance of the levers that came on my Nishiki, which also had "suicide" extensions. It's been too long... I do remember I was perplexed by what to do after I removed the atrocities, though.

Eventually I bought new levers--they were very inexpensive and look nice; I think they're DiaCompe. I believe I just covered over the extrusions on the originals with electrical tape till I got the replacement levers.

I think you're right not to worry much about the bearings. Concentrate first on what influences safety (such as brakes, etc.) and later the bearings can be replaced.

My Nishiki still has the original brakes. They're antiques! But they sure work nicely. To adjust them, you pry here and there, or use a hammer and a screwdriver to change the tension on a spring. Very crude, very effective, very simple, very unfashionable. And I wish the index shifting on my MTB worked 1/3 as well as the friction shifting on the Nishiki. No, that would be too simple. (Sigh...)

P. S. After I posted this I realized it sounded as though bearings were divorced from safety. Obviously the headset bearings have a great deal to do with safety! But as long as the steering is accurate, and there's no sideways play, and the headset revolves effortlessly--old bearings will still do.

MichaelW, a quick look at the bar tape my LBS put on shows that they put the tape on as you describe, ie, starting at the bar end and working in. It looks like either way puts you going "against the grain" with some hand positions. Wrapped from the bar end, your hands are pushing against the overlaps when in the drops but with the overlaps when up on the hoods. Opposite that when wrapped from the stem out.

Regards,
Raymond

Even on the drops, your hand tends to slide towards the ends rather than up towards the stem. The worst position for tape sliding is on the corner of the tops. Mine are starting to show patches of bare metal. You have to get enough overlap, and have sufficient tape remaining to reach the stem.
Has anyone ever seen continuous rolls of bar tape, rather than the lengths you get in packets?

On my touring bike, I used sections of old inner tube as padding, and was careful to route the concealed cables away from pressure points. They can be a real pain in the hand if you dont have grooved bars, but thats not a problem on a Salvation Army project bike.

I applied red vinyl tape kind underneath, and red cloth tape on top of that. After a couple of thousand miles of gripping and sliding all over the bars, no bare metal, and the gaps in the cloth tape are, of course, red and look OK to me.

Considering it doesn't take long to redo it, isn't it perhaps, just perhaps, a little excessive to worry about the tape getting roughed up or slipping...? Besides, people see the rough edges and if they have half a brain they know you've ridden your bike a lot. Isn't that good?