Bicycle Mechanics - Older road bike please help.

I found an mid 80's schwinn road bike in a thrift store, $5.95. I did not buy it yet, just asking if its OK. Columbus butted cromo frame, Mavic 700c rims with QR front and rear. can't rember hubset. Shimanno 6 speed casette with downtube levers that ratchet, rear der. says 2 way or something like that. Sugio double crankset, Dia comp dual pivot brakes, but rear brake is missing, brake levers have diamond shaped holes in them my guess is to make them lighter? Bike is in really decent shape, both shifters work well, as does front brake, no scratches or dings on frame, both rims show no wear but need trued. Can this bike be upgraded to STI? Almost sems to nice to let it get away, chain, cassette and rings show no wear at all. Any and all opinions wanted. I don't have a road bike, but want one badly, I don't want to end up piling $ into a junker. Thanks, Scott.

For six bucks I would get it and find a used rear brake. Don't worry about upgrading, just maintain it and when you buy a new bike convert this one into your fixed gear.
Make sure it is the right size or at least close.

Not sure if it is something you want to sink a bunch of money into with upgrades, but as the Rev. said, if it fits, six bucks is a no-brainer....even as a spare bike.

The rims alone are worth more than $6. Buy it, tinker with it, and learn about it rather than spend a ton of $ on a newer more expensive bike you doh't know how to fix.

PJ

1 good part= $5.95.

Dude you can't even get handlebar tape for $5.95... this is a no-brainer.

I switched a mid 80's Schwinn Voyager touring bike to STI. You have to have the chainstays reformed to fit an 8 or 9 speed cassett and a new rear hub. My lbs owner used to build frames, so it was easy for him and he had the tools. He did it for free as I let him bid on the STI's and the other parts I changed out.

The problem is now that I'm getting into 50-mile rides, I want a livlier, lighter and more fun bike. So I'm ordering a new frame set and plan to transfer most of the upgraded parts/wheels from the Schwinn to the new frame. Those older bikes were relitively heavy.

Al

Don't waste money updating this bike to STI. If you have a 126mm rear axle, you can trivially convert to 7 speeds in back, and simply keep your nonindexed shifters. If you do not like taking your hands off the bars, get some good old SunTour ratchet barcons, which will inexpensively give you this principal advantage of STI, particularly if you ride on the drops frequently.

Thirty years ago, I completed a 12:18 double century on a 25-pound Nishiki with 10 speeds (54-44/14-24) and friction downtube shifting. The one significant upgrade I made was where it counted, in a superb wheelset: Campag. Record low-flange hubs, DT spokes in a 3X pattern, Fiamme yellow label tubular rims, and about 110 PSI in the tyres.

If you do not like taking your hands off the bars, get some good old SunTour ratchet barcons, which will inexpensively give you this principal advantage of STI, particularly if you ride on the drops frequently.

Also, if you can find them, SunTour Command-Shifters offer a nice cheap alternative for on-the-bar shifting.

http://member.nifty.ne.jp/HiShimojo/suntour/command1.jpghttp://member.nifty.ne.jp/HiShimojo/suntour/command2.jpg

This is how they're mounted and operated. (Note - this is not my bike)

http://www.cs.unca.edu/~boyd/touring/tour99/day0/camera.jpg