TallRider

I bought a 1980 Schwinn Traveler off eBay, because it was a very, very large frame. 67cm seat tube (ctt), 62cm top tube (ctc). I've always ridden frames that were somewhat too small for me, with long stems and seatposts. I'm 6'5" with long legs. So, I jumped at this chance to ride a larger bike, for relatively cheap. here's my original thread detailing the purchase, comparing the size of the bike to my other bikes.
I purchased the bike from eBay seller douglasi_cycles (a helpful guy, btw). It had bike has steel-rimmed wheels, steel chainrings, all-original parts, handlebar tape, etc. He traded out the stock wheels for some alloy-rimmed ones he had sitting around, for a bit of extra money. Here's a picture that he supplied with his auction:


Upon receiving the bike, I disassembled everything, and rustproofed the inside of the frame with Frame Saver, and reassembled with the original headset. Slightly pitted cones on the headset but it turns smoothly enough, which is good because these old Schwinns are weirdly-sized, especially the crown race fitting. The bearing cups and the balls themselves - which are loose, and legion - are in good shape. The frame is pictured next to my Miyata commuting bike frame (which I also rustproofed at the same time), with a 62cm seattube and 56.5cm top tube. Surprising how much size difference. A bit of the difference is optical illusion because the Traveler frame is in the foreground. But only a bit of it. Frame+fork+headset weight is a little under 10 pounds.


Here are pictures of the (mostly) completed build. I'll probably end up using different handlebars - Nitto B-115 45cm alloy bars, wider and much lighter than the current steel randoneer model. And perhaps I'll stick modern aero brake hoods on there as well. Depends on how much I like riding it, etc., and what I think I'll use it for. Possible that I'll stick a rear brake on there as well.



I'm using an old cup-and-cone bottom bracket with rubber seals on the cups. Took the 52t steel chainring off the crank and am just using the 40t. 170mm crankarms.



I bought the 27" rear wheel from eBay, was advertised as a track hub with the 3/32" width cog JB-welded onto the threads. Turns out it was a poorly converted freewheel hub, with a 1/8" track cog JB welded on and then a bottom bracket lockring screwed on for insurance. I got most of my money back, but converted the spacing so that the wheel could be dished evenly, then trued and tensioned it perfectly. I can't replace a spoke if one breaks! The cog necessitated a 1/8" singlespeed chain, which seems to work fine with the 3/32" steel chainring. Q/R doesn't hold the rear wheel quite as tight as might be ideal, but it works. I may rebuild the wheel later with a solid bolt-on axle. Chainline is at 39.5mm from the centerline of the bike, crank chainline is at 41, so not enough difference to matter at all.


The steel randoneer bars look nice and retro (and of course are very strong), but I'll probably replace them. And wrap the replacements just like regular road bars. 42cm in the drops, 34.5cm wide at the brake hoods. Independent of the handlebar choice, I'm not sure if I'll leave the reflector plugs in. The stem is an SR, 100mm extension, and has a 20.0mm diameter quill to fit in the slightly narrower headtube. So I can't use any other stems that I have sitting around, or any of the 26.0mm-clamp bars.


Dia-Compe centerpull brakes. Very, very good stopping power, especially when I get around to replacing the old, hard pads, which work just fine for now. I've got a Lizard Skins headset protector on there too, as I don't want to risk this headset getting dirt and pitting.


Finally, for all you old Schwinn fans, here's some frame badges, serial, sticker, etc. Serial is B025913. Stamp on the headbadge reads 0520, which means the bike was assembled on the 52nd day of 1980.

cyclotoine

Is that an ATOM rear hub? The plasic nut on the QR looks like the one I have. Just curious...

TallRider

Q/R isn't original to the hub. I got it off a Normandy hub, and the skewer-lever says Sachs-Maillard. The plastic nut may not be original to the skewer, either... they have different serration patterns for grip.

cuda2k

Gotta say it one more time, looks like a great build. Looks like your traveler was treated a bit better in its past lives than mine was. There are lots of 25.4 bars out there, of course that doesn't matter much when you have a pile of 26.0's sitting around already that you'd like to use huh?

reich17

My Le Tour from the same era and similar paint has an Atom hub.



It's real close to 67cm in size and on it's way to fixed gear conversion too.

reich17

I'm with Cuda by the way, nice looking build.

well biked

Once again.........well done!

pastorbobnlnh 

Great job Tim! You'll soon be known as the "Big Blue Flash Man" on campus!

Bob