andrewnwi

I just got a hold of a '86 Schwinn WS and want to slowly do some upgrading to it. It rides fine (I need new wheel sets), but I wanted to, well, upgrade. I do not want to go all crazy (I am not even sure if this bike is worth upgrading, I just got into cycling) and want to use this as a commuter. Any websites, and suggestions?

Also, I wanted to paint it; so, a place to order new WS decals? I am not sure what all I want to do to it. Hmm...

hybridbkrdr

edecals.com? What do you want to upgrade? I can think of lots of sites that exist: Airbomb, Aebike, Velo-orange, Harriscyclery, Icycles, Bikeparts, Bikeman, Jensonusa, Niagracycle, eBikestop, Cambriabike, Universalcycles, Smallbikeparts, Wheelworld. And in the UK, Chainreactioncycles, Saint John Cycles. And in Germany, Bike24 and Bike-x-perts. Also, Specialized sells tires online.

What are you looking to upgrade? What do you want?

andrewnwi

Well, I know I want to paint the bike and redo the decals. I need grips, crank and chain, seat, and a wheels set (27s). Everything else can wait (i.e. brakes, handle bars, pedals, etc.) since it doesn't look to banged up. I just wasn't sure if there was a good site where I could find parts for such an old bike, or maybe it's not that old. I just read it was hard to find compatible parts for some 80s bikes. Thanks for the help.

HillRider

I hope that bike has some real sentimental value to you because by the time you get prices for all of the replacement parts, particularly the repaint and decals, you will be near or above the cost of a slightly used or even new modern bike that will need almost no replacements.

How much of the work can you do yourself or are you going to have to pay a bike shop to do the installations?

hybridbkrdr

I almost forgot, amazon.com Here's a link to parts (on the left side). https://www.amazon.com/Components-Par...d_i=2232464011

I have some disagreement about Hillrider's post. If you find the bike you have has a perfect fit, it may be worth you while to restore it. As a matter of fact, after riding mountain bikes, a 24 inch BMX, road bikes, single speed bike, cruiser style bike etc, I decided for the first time in my life, to build my own bicycle from the ground up. Now, I can choose everything I need/want the way I WANT IT.

Just some side notes on things you may want to know. If you're choosing an affordable crankset with square taper cranks, you could choose Shimano BB-UN26 or BB-UN54. The 54 model is the higher quality model. Rear wheels either have cassettes or freewheels. You can measure the rear dropout and the bottom bracket length (68 or 73) yourself.

andrewnwi

Well I can do all the work myself, that's what I planned on. I'm not looking to go all out, (hmm, maybe I shouldn't have said "upgrade") and spend a ton of money. I was just looking for decent replacement parts. I plan on using it for a commuter to save money on gas. So, with that said, is it easily able to do around $300-350? I don't really mind spending that much. I know I could probably get a newer bike for that, but I am into fixing up things. This is just a fun project for me.

hybridbkrdr

You can do a heck of a lot with that amount of money. It's more difficult to guess if you're not naming specific parts. Then people can say whether they like this or that and make suggestions.

dedhed

Check out the C &V sub forum and Look around here too.

https://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpeeds_1/

andrewnwi

Ty.

dedhed

might not be the right color but close in vintage.

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=263602_263622

velo-orange

I must have built 400-500 of those Schwinn World Sports at Brands BITD. They retailed for around $250 if I remember correctly. alloy QR front and rear wheels, 6 speed index shifting, alloy stem. alloy crank arm. Hi Ten steel frame and fork. 'Lugs'. Equivelant bike today would be in the $4-600 range, if they are available.

andrewnwi

Yeah, I found those earlier today. I wasn't sure if they would come off straight black or grey...Can you even add colour to decals? I was hoping to find some bright coloured ones...Oh well, I'll keep searching. Thanks for the find.

andrewnwi

So, hopefully fixing it up for around $300 won't be that bad at all! The bike was abandoned and my cousin had found it. Since he already has a Schwinn Cruiser he gave it to me.

andrewnwi

Wow, I didn't even think about Amazon.com! That Shimano isn't badly priced, this would be compatible with my bike? Sorry, if my question come of "newbish," like I said I'm new to this and don't want to get stuck getting the wrong equipment. I think my next check will be WELL spent.

CaptainCool

Make sure you check for bike co-ops or bike shops near you that deal in used bikes, too. It depends on your location but if you get lucky you might be able to save a lot of time and money on replacement parts by digging through some parts bins.

You can probably put a modern crank and sealed BB on that bike. Wheels might be best bought online.

andrewnwi

Yeah, I just wanted to get a rough idea of what to look for. I plan on heading out to Chicago this weekend to look for some secondhand parts, plus I don't plan on ordering paint/bar tape/etc online when I can head to a local shop. I am not to familiar, but I know we have a Trek store, and some others (I think two stores) in my area. I just wanted to do some homework before I went into the store. Good point though! We use to have a real nice bike shop I remember going to, but last I heard the closed down. I think the city will be my best bet.

kludgefudge

Sounds like you are doing this properly. It looks like the frame you have is not "worth" upgrading, but that doesn't mean you should be persuaded from spending a little money to make it work. I buy LOTS of used parts, I'm amazed at the kind of stuff people throw away/donate to co-ops and bike stores that deal in used parts. A little more expensive than the internet sometimes, but you get to see it and get pro advice before spending your money. the whole paint/decal thing sounds excessive to me but its your money and you can spend it however you want. I'd put my budget toward parts. as far as parts go, pads are cheaper than brakes, used chainwheels in great condition are like a tenth the cost of new ones, and most importantly, IF IT AINT BROKE DON"T FIX IT. good enough for you is good enough for you, so don't be persuaded to spend money on so called "upgrades". that said, things like cheap true aluminum rims are a worthwhile upgrade to any bicycle over cheap steel rims as far as performance is concerned. if your bike has "suicide" brake levers, the ones with the auxillary levers that can be operated from the tops of the drops common on old low end bikes, switch them out for comparable used levers that do not incorporate that feature, they are a dime a dozen and improve looks and functionality immensely. last but not least, if the bike has one sided quill pedals without toe clips, please do everyone who cares about this sort of thing a favor by switching to normal double sided pedals, if you are not planning on using toeclips in the near future. Even if you are, quills generally suck for all but the narrowest of street shoes.



A note on bar tape: I have noticed some serious differences in prices of standard cork bar tape in my area. i have run the gamut from 8 dollar to 15 dollar "cork" bar wraps and I will tell you the only real difference i have found is how much you get. also on quality of the finishing strip (f* that thing anyway, go for electrical tape) : cheap stuff is all you need for narrow vintage drops, even with extra wraps for hoodless levers. be warned if you are wrapping extra wide bars.

andrewnwi

Thanks for the pretty in-depth response. Yeah, I think I made it sound in the beginning like I want to turn this into something its not, or what I want it to be. I just needed the aforementioned cause they're all rusted out. I just planned on giving it a nice bright color, nothing fancy with the paint, which is why I just wanted the Schwinn that goes on the seat tube and the World Sport on the top tube. I just don't like the colour of it right now. I mean I have the rest of Winter so I figured to get as much out of this project as I can. Yeah, I planned on using white surgical tape on the bars, that padding is so dry rotted just touching it gets black crap all over my hand. I planned on keeping this thing pretty budget savvy; however, I planned on the most money going to my wheel sets. Thanks again!

dedhed

the cheapest way to do it is find a donor bike with good parts and swap them over. I'm building a Schwinn Sprint of the same vintage for my daughter and found a barely used Raleigh for $40 that had all the stuff I needed. Then i sold the frame for $20.

kludgefudge

assuming you are going to go the frame painting route-which is fine, I totally understand wanting to do a cheap paint job on a bike you are going to ride, - know now that there are a couple of specialized tools you need to get your frame clean enough that you can give it a decent paint job. namely a crank puller and a BB tool. you may know this all ready. these tools are worth buying if you plan on doing maintenance on your own bikes. I would say pulling the headset cups is unnessessary, just tape them off.

Important lesson on buying a crank puller: some crank pullers for square taper cranks only work on the type of spindles where a bolt threads into the spindle, as opposed to a nut threading onto a threaded protrusion on the spindle itself. I bought the wrong type after ruining my park tool puller by not cinching it down tightly enough. buy the park tool puller, it works with both kinds of square taper BB's.

Wheels are a great place to spend money. qualifying this by saying i am not familiar with your bike and its dimensions, i will say that i have had issues with modern QR wheelsets fitting certain older bicycles forks designed for bolt on type axles. the axles are a bit too big of a diameter and will not slide in without careful filing of the threads...carefully, only horizontally and evenly on both sides, otherwise your wheel will sit crooked. often a little too wide, too as per my thread on the subject.(verdict:no big deal)

sorry if this is more information than you need, I know i answered a lot of unasked questions, just trying to save you some of the costly and infuriating hassles that come with doing your first build up on "vintage" equipment with a limited budget.

andrewnwi

NO that was perfect, I didn't even think about, or even know the BB needed its own tool. Naive (newb) I figured everything was allen/screw driver. I knew about the spokes having their own tool (of course) but didn't know that about the BB. So thanks there! Yeah about the paint job, whoever the previous owner was scratched, and mean SCRATCHED this frame up. I checked it up and there's no serious dents, nor is the frame bent, just scratches! I figured my biggest concern is the wheels, since the front was missing when it was found and the back is really bent and rubbing.

I've been hearing about the square taper, and I am sure there's another (or more)...give a quick rundown on that stuff. Not really familiar with it. Much obliged.

kludgefudge

sites like sheldonbrown and parktool can give more concise information than i can on the best way to perform certain jobs, on your particular bike. you can also get good info on what tools you need for your particular bike by posting pics to this forum. I am a total amateur, and try to keep within my knowledge when posting. low budget pseudo vintage builds are definetly something I have experience with though, and I think I can read between the lines to understand others personal level of knowledge in relation to mine, as with you.

the bb in particular comes in many different iterations and has evolved much in recent years. i know very little about this, my bikes only go as far as square taper bbs, they are the most common on 80's to mid 90's bikes, are readily available today and work just fine in comparison to any other system in applications that don't involve racing. find out more on the internet!

those are not the only important tools you need to tear down and rebuild a bike by the way. things like a chain tool, housing/cable cutters are important too.again..the internet... the only place home mechanics gets truly cost prohibitive is in home wheelstands and headset tools. bike stands may be expensive, but once you own one , you use it 95 percent of the time you work on your bike.

velo-orange

there is also a value in working on the bike to gain knowledge: compatibility, adjustment, cleaning, assembly, disasembly, assessment of condition, etc. With the exception of some compatibility fits, none of this is something you can read in a book or website. You have to go through the experience multiple times for it to sink in and to develop a working and recallable knowledge.

That's why bike mechanics are worth their weight in gold.

andrewnwi

That is what I was also thinking. I mean in just the past two days of getting this bike I have already started to familiarize myself with the different parts. I have, of course, changed a flat tire, but a, derailleur, cassette, etc...no. crankset