Classic & Vintage - My 70's Schwinn Continental :)

So I'm back in the cycling game for the first time as an adult. Today I picked up a Schwinn Continental from a retired gentleman off craigslist for 30 bucks. He listed it as a 1973 but I researched it and they never made red that year. It seems to be a darker red leading me to believe it is a '71 or '72. The serial is EH055123 if anyone can help me out. Anyways this thing seems totally worth the money to me. I do have to get used to the twinstick shifters as the only one's I have used were mountain bike style when I was a kid. It is a ten speed and seems to shift smoothly, the brakes are pretty squeaky but work, and the tires and rock hard seat are crap but i had planned on replacing those anyways. Something that I thought is really cool is the working schwinn approved generator on the back wheel powering the front headlight and rear brakelight. The only thing funny about it is when I ride the light isn't constant, but flashes on and off repeatedly. I couldn't tell if it is supposed to work that way or not. Anyways I love this bike already and I would love to hear some of your suggestions to customize/improve it in any way. Here's some dark pics i took tonight:
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w349/sk8masta716/0618092147.jpg
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w349/sk8masta716/0618092143.jpg
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w349/sk8masta716/0618092149.jpg
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w349/sk8masta716/0618092141.jpg
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w349/sk8masta716/0618092141a.jpg
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w349/sk8masta716/0618092140.jpg

Looks good. I need to get me one of those Schwinn-approved generator light sets.

A frame with serial number EH055123 was built in May, 1972, according to OldRoads (http://www.oldroads.com/sh_sn.asp).

thanks doohickie, i just figured it out when i saw that this one in the 1972 catalog is identical to mine
http://www.geocities.com/varsity1966/consumer/1972/72ccpg11.jpg

Nice find great price nice cond!
Lucky
I had one in blue. nice bike but I couldn't really enjoy it as the frame was too big.

Don;t think mine had a taped handlebar though

Welcome to C&V and the alure of old Schwinns. I was about to suggest you had a '71 or '72 Burgundy, and then I scrolled down to the ad you found! Good job on the research!

My guess is that a contact is loose, or you have an intermittent short on the generator-light set up. Check and tighten the connections, including inside the light housings and the bulbs. See if any of the wiring has frayed and a strand is touching the frame, or the wire is pinched between something.

Your best bet for upgrading a Continental is to first find aluminum replacement wheels. On the cheap you can do this off another CL bike. For about $60-120 you can order new wheels. You also need new brake pads, probably new cables (they help with braking), and you should clean the old grease out of the bottom bracket and headset.

What kind of budget are you on?

Welcome to C&V and the alure of old Schwinns. I was about to suggest you had a '71 or '72 Burgundy, and then I scrolled down to the ad you found! Good job on the research!

My guess is that a contact is loose, or you have an intermittent short on the generator-light set up. Check and tighten the connections, including inside the light housings and the bulbs. See if any of the wiring has frayed and a strand is touching the frame, or the wire is pinched between something.

Your best bet for upgrading a Continental is to first find aluminum replacement wheels. On the cheap you can do this off another CL bike. For about $60-120 you can order new wheels. You also need new brake pads, probably new cables (they help with braking), and you should clean the old grease out of the bottom bracket and headset.

What kind of budget are you on?
+1 To these upgrades. Note, you will have to do most/all of the work yourself, or you will end up with a lot more $$ in a Continental than it is worth.

+1 To these upgrades. Note, you will have to do most/all of the work yourself, or you will end up with a lot more $$ in a Continental than it is worth.


I am on as low of a budget as I can possibly be on :) I plan to do as much of the work myself as possible, not just to save money but to learn bicycle mechanics as well. There is a great shop called niagara cycle about 20 minutes from here and I am picking up new tires, kool stop brake pads, brake lines, and cinelli bar tape tomorrow. The frame is a little beat/knicked up for me to consider fully restoring it so I just want to make it look fairly nice and enjoy it. I would love some alloy wheels but they are a bit beyond my budget right now, but I am keeping an eye out for a cheap set. Any recommendations on cleaning up the metal components? I was planning on using some sort of degreaser and then chrome polish.

For the chrome and aluminum pieces, try bronze wool and a metal polish. I like Blue Magic, but there are others. Look for a cheap bike on CL. For instance:

http://buffalo.craigslist.org/bik/1228465917.html

I'm not certain but it looks to be about 1991, and my guess has aluminum wheels.

http://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1991_2000/1991_27.html

If you can talk them down to $50, you have a sweet deal and even more spare parts.

Or here's another possibility at $30. Just make certain the wheels are not steel.

http://buffalo.craigslist.org/bik/1228471627.html

I order a lot of parts from Niagra Cycle. They have some great prices.

Cool bike.

I am on as low of a budget as I can possibly be on :) I plan to do as much of the work myself as possible, not just to save money but to learn bicycle mechanics as well. There is a great shop called niagara cycle about 20 minutes from here and I am picking up new tires, kool stop brake pads, brake lines, and cinelli bar tape tomorrow. The frame is a little beat/knicked up for me to consider fully restoring it so I just want to make it look fairly nice and enjoy it. I would love some alloy wheels but they are a bit beyond my budget right now, but I am keeping an eye out for a cheap set. Any recommendations on cleaning up the metal components? I was planning on using some sort of degreaser and then chrome polish.

If you do plan on getting rid of the wheels, I know someone who collects original 70s schwinn hubsets ...:innocent:


I am picking up new tires, kool stop brake pads, brake lines,

This is the usual and recommended course of action. +1 on kool stops--this will help with keeping the steel rims


and cinelli bar tape

:eek: Incongruity altert!! What's wrong with the current tape?


Any recommendations on cleaning up the metal components? I was planning on using some sort of degreaser and then chrome polish.

You are on the right track.

Chromed Steel: Just don't use /steel/ wool or a /steel/ brush on the chromed steel. Steel scratch the chrome and/or take the chrome right off. Bronze/brass is OK, as it is softer than chrome. Naval Jelly will also take the chrome off. If you have a lot of rust that doesn't come off with brass wool and polish, then you need Oxalic Acid, commonly found as deck bleach at big box home repair stores. Works miracles. Search these forums for instructions.

Aluminum bits: I like Mother's metal polish for the aluminum. #0000 steel wool also does a nice job of taking off the top layer of white crust (alu rust) that forms on aluminum parts. Grades of ultrafine sandpaper (100, 200, 400, 600, 1200) to take out scratches and make a better-than-original mirror-like finish, if you like. I do.

Welcome! Welcome! Welcome!!!

Eric

For the chrome and aluminum pieces, try bronze wool and a metal polish.

Lemon juice and tin foil does the trick, too:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e341/Doohickie/09Varsity/100_4011.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e341/Doohickie/09Varsity/100_4012.jpg

I order a lot of parts from Niagra Cycle. They have some great prices.

Cool bike.

And sk8masta716 is about a half hour from there by car.

Looks just like the one I was forced to buy to get to work in the spring of 1971 right down to the generator.:thumb:
Had my license suspended for 75 days for drag racing.:(
Mother made me sell it to a kid down the street after I went back to 4 wheels again.

Lemon juice and tin foil does the trick, too:

so does coca cola and aluminum foil

Hey, Nice find. I would be interested in the seat for my continental since you plan on replacing it.

Ah just got home from working the bar and had to check in here before bed. Tin foil eh? I never would have known that. So i just put the lemon juice/cola on there and rub it with tin foil? I disassembled most of it yesterday afternoon and cleaned up the chrome a bit. The spokes on the wheels are very oxidized, they'll be a pain but I want to shine 'em up nicely. I plan to take a trip to niagara falls and pick up the needed parts when i get up.

Roll: I'm not trying to restore this bike to it's original form. I'm a younger guy and I have to add my own style to it. I'm thinking white bar tape and white brake lines with whitewall tires on the burgundy frame will look pretty nice. But I may get a little crazier who knows. If I pick up some alloys you'll have dibs on the hubs for sure.

Mkeller: I rode for about an hour today and I feel like I have been raped! I'll probably pick up a new seat while I'm at the shop tomorrow, but I may be cheap and just use the gel pad I found in our basement for the time being. I'll let you know when the time comes.


Thanks for the suggestions/insight guys and keep it comming! I hope I can be of help to some of you eventually too.

So I finally got my parts in from niagara cycle. This past week I have been cleaning/degreasing the **** outta this thing and it looks to have finally paid off. New tires, tubes, bar tape, and seat went on this afternoon. I have no bicycle maintenance knowledge and everything has gone smoothly except the pads I bought. They are kool-stop salmon cantilevers and I don't understand how to mount them. I'll do some searching online later but i have to get to work. Did I buy the wrong type or do I just need some different hardware to mount them? Anyways here's some updated pics.

So I finally got my parts in from niagara cycle. They are kool-stop salmon cantilevers and I don't understand how to mount them. I'll do some searching online later but i have to get to work. Did I buy the wrong type or do I just need some different hardware to mount them? Anyways here's some updated pics.

You need nutted brake pads and the ones for canti-brakes are not that kind. See if you can return the ones you bought and exchange them for the correct ones.

I think the white tape and white wall tires look sharp on that bike. Good call -- IMHO.

I think the white tape and white wall tires look sharp on that bike.

Arrrrrgh! :twitchy:

Yeah, like sonatageek said about the brake pads. Look for the Kool Stop Continentals, those should fit.

I like the white walls a lot too, but I lost my love for white cork... it just gets so dirty so fast. You did a really nice job cleaning that up btw, looks brand new.

ska8masta your bike turned out nice. I'm really diggin' the whitewalls, maybe do the cables too. Let the air outta the front tire and wiggle your valve stem straight. Ya can't have crooked stems on a bike that nice! :thumb:

+1 on Niagara Cycle, +100 on your bike! I am liking that white really well against the burgundy. I had a baby blue '74 back in my paperboy days. Those were tanks, but that was the sign of a quality bike.

geek

Arrrrrgh! :twitchy:

Hey, it does not look stock or restored but it gives nice contrast. Now when I see fixed gears with pink chains and the like I start to get a little :twitchy:I l

I looked at the picture again and I think the white gives a 70's vibe -- not a Schwinn vibe but more like a Lincoln Continental.

Yeah, like sonatageek said about the brake pads. Look for the Kool Stop Continentals, those should fit.

I like the white walls a lot too, but I lost my love for white cork... it just gets so dirty so fast. You did a really nice job cleaning that up btw, looks brand new.

Thanks, I dunno why I confused the pad type but I did. These looked exactly like the style on stringbreaker's continental so I thought they were the correct style. Oh well, luckily Niagara is a short drive to return them. I was thinking the same thing about the white staying clean but it looks so nice I won't mind cleaning it. I am a huge fan of contrast and this came out exactly as I had hoped. I skipped the brake lines for now, but i do plan on replacing them soon. Well time for some breakfast and my first real ride! Hopefully the sun will dissipate my hangover :)

Thanks, I dunno why I confused the pad type but I did.

This bike stuff is confusing. When dealing with an older bike, the stuff that was "standard" back then is not common now, and the "standard" stuff for today's bikes don't fit the stuff from even 20 years ago... and your bike is much older than that. The white accents are awesome. If you wonder what the effect of white cable housings would be, wonder no more:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e341/Doohickie/09Varsity/0625091804-00.jpg

If the cork starts to bug you, Fizik sells white handlebar tape that is cleanable, I want to try it out sometime myself. Your tires will stay bright and shiny with a magic eraser, or degreaser and a rag.

http://www.excelsports.com/image/Fizik%20Handlebar%20Tape.jpg

Get a white sadle . Velo has them for like $18 more or less depending on the shop.

I actually didn't go with the cinelli cork tape. I cheaped out and got this 5 dollar padded tape that works fine for me. It has a smooth "plasticky" finish and should clean easily. I actually had planned on doing a white saddle but Niagara had a nice black memory foam one for 20 bucks so I just picked that up while i was there. I had a great 2 hour ride today and everything (but the brakes until I upgrade) feels great!

In regard to the generator set, if all connections are good, the roller wheel on top of the generator is probably not making proper contact with the rear tire. Try making sure it falls on the black tread potion of the tire with adequate pressure. It may have been running lightly on the gumwall sides, causing inconsistency in the power output. By the way, the square headlight on those generator sets are pretty sharp. Somebody else just picked up a really nice light blue Schwinn for $50 with one. You both got very nice deals.

For the generator: Make sure there are no shorts, either in the wiring or in the lamps themselves. I had that issue with a generator light on my Raleigh. The rear light would come on if I disconnected the front lamp. If I reconnected the lamp while riding I got a big ol' spark. When I had the front lamp connected, it was shorting out the whole system. I opened up the lamp fixture and made sure none of the hot side was touching ground and now it works fine.

Actually I believe what cycleheimer described is most likely the problem. I remember before I threw out the old gumwall tires that there were black marks from the generator across the gum sidewall. I haven't put it back on the bike yet but I'll see if that works. Thanks!

Regarding the flickering generator lamps: another possibility is that the rear wheel needs truing. If it is out of round, the generator wheel will not be in contact with the tire consistently, and the inconstant generation of power will manifest in the flickering of the lights.

Regarding the flickering generator lamps: another possibility is that the rear wheel needs truing. If it is out of round, the generator wheel will not be in contact with the tire consistently, and the inconstant generation of power will manifest in the flickering of the lights.

That's also a good point. I cleaned it all up and did a very basic tune up, but i have not had the wheels trued yet.

I just picked up an orange continental for $50. Paid way too much given the condition (needs new brakes and cables, plus had to put in a new tube immediately), however frame is in great shape and the thing is a champ.

Now I can't decide whether to pour sweat into this or give someone $100 (or so) to make it work out nice. I figure I could still recoup most of that on CL if I want to sell again later.

I just picked one up yesterday! :thumb: not as nice as most of the Continentals poster here, but still pretty cool!

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/stumpyspic/continental003.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/stumpyspic/continental002.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/stumpyspic/continental001.jpg

If your connections are all good try spinning the wheel while generator is on tire.your wheel might be out of true and needs to be trued up or the generator is not constantly making good contact to the side of the tire.Remember those generators do cause a lot of drag and use up alot of energy.Eventually if you do alot of night riding get one of the new light setups.They are much brighter and can be seen much farther.

I just picked one up yesterday! :thumb: not as nice as most of the Continentals poster here, but still pretty cool!

On the contrary- it looks great!

http://www.niagaracycle.com/product_info.php?products_id=6124

I think you should get some of these, but that is just me - I hate stem shifters, and hate taking my hands off of the bars to shift. I think the cost/benefit is huge. Plus, they look real cool.

Your bike looks great - I second the wite saddle/cables. That would look fantastic.

On the contrary- it looks great!

Thanks. :) can you believe there was a time not so long ago when certian members thought that the "lower end" Schwinn road bikes would never be "desirable" or "worth anything." :)

Here are a couple of pictures of my first year 10 speed Continental. Made in March 1960. Roger

http://www.niagaracycle.com/product_info.php?products_id=6124

I think you should get some of these, but that is just me - I hate stem shifters, and hate taking my hands off of the bars to shift. I think the cost/benefit is huge. Plus, they look real cool.

Your bike looks great - I second the wite saddle/cables. That would look fantastic.

I can say I do hate taking my hands off the drops to shift. I just can't justify putting that much more money into this particular bike. I haven't gotten around to replacing the brake lines yet, been wayyy too busy with my new job. I actually haven't ridden in over a week, I really need to make time for it.

ilikebikes: I think your frame looks a lot cleaner than mine. I really like the light blue color too!

Here are a couple of pictures of my first year 10 speed Continental. Made in March 1960. Roger

Way cool.