BoxerRumble

Hey guys, I'm brand new to doing anything with bikes and I need your help. I looked at Sheldon Brown's page as well as Park Tools but there are some very very basic things that it doesn't go over and I need help with. I'm trying to get a 1979 Schwinn Traveler back on the road and I'm in the process of replacing the tires/tubes and cables. I took the rear wheel off and when I put it back on, the chain is now rubbing against the front derailleur and I am unsure what I am suppose to adjust for it to stop rubbing against it. It's making a subtle rubbing noise and I can see it. here's a picture..




Also, for the brake cables, I stupidly forgot to notice what they looked like before and didn't take good pictures so now I have some questions on putting it back together. First off, what are these parts? The silver part is from my old brake set and the black is the new one. In the package it says the black piece is the inner end cap.


Does the black piece go in the front here..


And the rest of the brake system...does everything look fine? I haven't adjusted the length or cut the cables to make htem fit yet, i just want to make sure I have them in the right order.

Does the silver piece go at the end and I pinch it to make it hold?


what is this piece called? I threw away the front ones by accident and need to get another one.




THANK YOU for all the help!!

BoxerRumble

Ok, I figured a few things out...the silver piece I posted next to the black piece...that goes above the brake levers...and since I threw away the other piece, it looks like I'll have to get new brake levers??


I still don't know where the black piece goes and I still don't know why the chain is touching the bottom part of the front derailleur.


Here's another question, is the back part of the bike suppose to look like this? It's kind of slanted, I would think tehre's suppse to be a washer or something there...

jimmythefly

Pic 1: If it's rubbing on the bottom, could be because you are in the small chainring and the small cog, so the chain is lower to the ground.
Solution1: Lower front derailleur to within an couple of mm to your big chainring.
Solution2: don't ride in the small/small combination of gears, you'll be fine.
If it's rubbing on the inner plate of the derailleur, you can adjust one of the limit screws to avoid this. Sheldon will help here.

Pic 2: black thingy should go over cable housing, to finish off the end nicely. You could put it over the housing shown in pic 5. Silver thingy goes on the end of the housing just where the brake housing enters your brake levers, up on the top. It helps keep the housing from getting pulled into the lever body, thus making you lose braking power.

Pic 3: All looks well in this pic.
Pic 4: The cable that comes from your lever should come straight down through the triangular metal piece (the straddle wire carrier I would call it). Can't tell from the pic, but the bolt might have a hole in it for you to pass the cable straight through, rather than merely pinching it off to one side of the nut/washer. Because it comes straight down, once you get it set up you will want to trim the cable fairly short so it doesn't hit your tire. The little silver piece (cable iend cap or tip cap) does get pinched on the end. BUT it is not there to really hold anything or take any force, just to keep the cable end from fraying. I can't quite be certain, but other than this main cable coming straight down, there should be the straddle wire, a short piece of cable that goes from one brake arm to the other, over the carrier's little groove.

Pic 5: That's a barrel adjuster. Now that you know the name, check Sheldon again.

Thanks for the pics, they help a ton.

Stacey

You're welcome.

Stacey

See that thing between the frame and the dreailer hanger... take it out Mount it on the back side of the frame and thread the bolt in thru the hanger.

BoxerRumble

Hey you two, thanks so much for helping! I got the inner cable cap and the rear frame/derailleur thing taken care of. Now, the only question left before I can get going is with the silver cap that goes on top of the brake lever, will it be ok if one side doesn't have it? I accidently threw out that piece and if i don't have to buy a new brake lever...that would be great, but if that silver cap that prevents the housing from going in the lever body is vital, then I'll have no choice but to order a new lever.

poopncow

that silver cap thing. go to the local bike shop, the older the shop the better. they should have a bin of old used loose parts just like this. The cap is vital because it stops the cable housing when you pull on the brake lever.

Stacey

If your bike shop doesn't, I do. PM me if you can't find one. I send it to you.

Have you learned a lesson today?

BoxerRumble

You guys are great!! I went to my not so local bike shop because I hear very good things about them..drove the extra 15 minutes to the other side of town and picked up the missing pieces I needed. They had both the barrel adjuster and the silver cap and it only cost me 3.19! The bike is up and running but still have to fine adjust the brakes because...I have too little mechanical advantage as Sheldon puts it on his website. Still figuring out how to make it brake better. It works fine now don't have the full stopping power.