Touring - schwinn super sport

I'm totally ignorant of touring and touring bikes.

a gent around these parts is selling what looks to be a fairly nice schwinn super sport from the early/mid 80s for a fair bit of coin ($250). It's equipped with suntour cyclone gruppo, caliper brakes, and full front and rear racks. seems to be the same as the bike in this thread:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=2109309&postcount=2

my question is, a) is this worth the money he's asking?

and b) is this bike best suited for fully-loaded touring, or only light touring?

Nah, I wouldn't want to go that high-- but in Seattle, you'd get more money than that. Old bikes are worth a lot of money around here.

It's a real touring bike-- folks road this bike all over the world on tour. There's no reason you couldn't as well.

Some things to thing about.

Spoke corrosion-- I'm betting the spokes on the wheels are pitted and weak.

Fiction shifting-- it works OK, but it takes some getting used to it.

Freewheel-- the older, weaker system. Modern Cassette freehubs are better for touring.

If you're going to buy the bike, bring all this stuff up and see if the guy will sell for $150.
------------------------------------------------

If you do buy the bike, you can upgrade it pretty easy. New wheels would be great, with 7 speeds 13-32 maybe (using a 126 mm rear hub you can hunt down on EBAY with new rims). Good touring wheels cost $300 or so...and are worth every penny!

New Tektro caliper brakes and levers would really boost the safety/stopping power. That's $70 or so.

I'm not a Suntour exspert, so I don't know how big of granny gear the cyclone rear derailer can handle. 30T? maybe. There are old Suntour MTB derailers out there you could use. I might find one in my basement if could maybe have......

-------------------------------------

You work on bikes much? Or want to learn? This is a nice project bike....

PM if you have any questions. It's a cool bike.

yup yup, I love to wrench, in fact I have a bit of a problem with old bikes. I have a couple of frames and forks hanging in the basement for various stuff, a semi-disassembled 1957 Rudge Sports, and 3 bikes (plus the wife's). I've never ventured into freewheel land, though. Oy. I'll probably go check this bad boy out, see what I can see, and in the meantime do some serious pondering about if I can get away with another filly in the stable.

the man said the suntour rear der. is an x1, but I can't seem to find any info on it.

thanks, tacomee, yours is a very kind post. I should hang out in touring more often.

oh, I just thought of something:

is the fact that it has caliper and not cantilever brakes a serious consideration? I mean, what are the limits of wheel size with calipers?

Freewheel-- the older, weaker system. Modern Cassette freehubs are better for touring.


Why?

I just saw the latest flyer from Performance Bikes, and they have reduced the price of the 2006 Schwinn Super Sport to $299! I bought this for my son at $349; he'll use it as a "starter bike" for some mini tours with me this spring and summer.

I can't speak to the differences between the 80's model and this current one, but the 2006 model is a flat bar road bike with braze-ons for fenders and racks. It's aluminum and has decent components for this price range.

Good luck with your research and purchase!

Ken

Hi Commradehoser,

I did a quick sweep of EBAY and found these hubs listed.

http://cgi.ebay.com/SHIMANO-105-HUB-SET-N-I-B-VINTAGE_W0QQitemZ110102101648QQcategoryZ36144QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I'm not sure if they are the older Uniglide or the newer Hyperglide (you want Hyperglide)
You could email the sender. The paperwork seems to with the hubs.

And these much better brakes. If there isn't any rubbing on the frame, these brakes will take 32mm tires.

http://www.bikemannetwork.com/biking/p/BR7304

I'd show the seller these *upgrades* and ask for a $100 price break.

#5
zowie
Oldbie

Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: N.Jersey/NYC
Originally Posted by tacomee

Freewheel-- the older, weaker system. Modern Cassette freehubs are better for touring.
----------------------------------------------------------

Why?

----------------------------------------------------------

Because the freewheel screws onto the end of the hub body, the bearings are farther away from the gears. Cassette type hubs put the bearings under the gears, less chance of bending the axel, less wear on the drive side bearings.

On the flip side, people toured with freewheels for a long time. I rode them once apon a time, and a bent a few axels and walked 25 miles out of a logging road once. If you're currently touring with a freewheel, I wouldn't sweat it until it breaks.

Because the freewheel screws onto the end of the hub body, the bearings are farther away from the gears. Cassette type hubs put the bearings under the gears, less chance of bending the axel, less wear on the drive side bearings.

On the flip side, people toured with freewheels for a long time. I rode them once apon a time, and a bent a few axels and walked 25 miles out of a logging road once. If you're currently touring with a freewheel, I wouldn't sweat it until it breaks.

Interesting.

hey tacomee,

I went to go see it... man it was a glorious bike. yoked seatstays, beauty long-point lugs, immaculate paint.

a really high degree of craftsmanship.

however... it was truly a sport tourer and I realized I already have a bike that could serve that function (jamis nova), so I had to sadly pass. only one waterbottle mount, quick geometry.

The odd thing was that it also felt small, as in low. part of that was that the seatpost couldn't really be raised high enough for me to get a good extension. I usually ride a 57, this was a 58. standover was snug, but it just felt strange. Is that usual for a touring bike? (low BB, maybe?)

comradehoser,

Yeah, full blown tour bikes like the Surly LHT with super long wheelbases weren't really around much in the 80s. It was a great decade for lugged sport tourers. I bet that Schwinn frame who be whippy if you loaded 40 pounds on it. That classic lugged steel ride isn't super stiff.

Sizing with different in the 80s as well-- the standover was supertight, the bars were higher the seat post was often *one fist* between the seat and the frame. Totally different from today's bikes.