I was happy then was bummed....now I'm uncertain
 

I answered a CL ad on this bike and at $50 I thought I should be getting a deal but after getting it I wonder. The ad had one crappy pic and my wife picked it up for me. She was not impressed!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...lls/001-24.jpg

I'm guessing it's a '77 model but am not sure. and the SLDB page does not match the bike perfectly for any year noted.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...lls/002-24.jpg

The bike obviously sat outside and was neglected for some time

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...lls/003-23.jpg

I am liking the original Shimano 600 stuff and hope the parts are serviceable

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...lls/004-21.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...lls/005-21.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...lls/007-18.jpg

This has me bummed! What to do?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...lls/006-22.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...lls/008-13.jpg

After a good look over I find the bike has a lot of issues. The front wheel is not the original. I can't tell if the fork is bent. The broken brake cable hanger has me perplexed.
The frame is in bad condition paint wise... a lot of deep scratches and chips
The guy said it had a leather saddle so I was hoping... but alas it is only a cheap replacement from a long time ago.. fake padded leather.
The bike is too big for me, I knew that ahead but was hoping it would be a nice restoration bike to sell later but know don't know what I am going to do with it.
Any thoughts?

other than the broken housing stop the bike looks like it just need alot of TLC. the way I see it you have several options well maybe three. just clean it up super nice put some cheap tires and a 3spd style housing clamp then resell it, simply put the ducktape back on and sell as is, Fixie it, they only use a front brake right? or you can set it in the corner of the workshop and sulk over it all winter :)


it has potential for someone it just need you to bring her back to life and pass her on

Flip as a fixed w/front brake only.

-Kurt

Other option: Kill the other cable hangar, use housing clips. That assuming the frame cleans up nice. Interesting switch to what look like track bars?

Or like Kurt said, SS it, front brake, keep the Shimano 600 RD/FD for something else.

If you part it out in total, dibs on the calipers (see sig) :)

http://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1...0/1977_07.html

this is the lowest level schwinn bike for that year to get the Chro Moly frame. 229$ new 26 1/2 pounds versus the Regular Le Tour that was 29 lbs. and 164$ new.

I would restore it, but I am told I have more money than good sense. ( and I don't have that much money...)

Aside from the chain, freewheel and some steel bits in the FD/RD/Brakes that would need to be OAed, it doesn't look too bad. The big decision is how to handle the broken hangar.

If you have a market for a big geared bike try going with geared, you can always SS it later if it doesn't go as geared?

There is no market here for much of anything. Quality vintage bikes are very slow movers. Mostly it's a crap shoot to sell anything over $100
I sell most all of my stuff on Ebay. I really am wanting to do a resto but this one would flip better as a fx/ss I think as you all have said.
I'm torn because I see this bike as a poor man's Paramount and would hate to part it out.
What options do I have for the cable stop replacement?

I have some shimano cable stops. We can get together sometime and I can give them to you. Or I can mail them to you, it should not be more than $0.75 to mail a padded envelope a few miles east.

-Jake

Don't they make nice chrome clamp on replacements?

http://cgi.ebay.com/FRAME-MOUNTINGG-...#ht_500wt_1154

Thanks Jake!
PM'ed

If you want to fix the cable hanger but don't braze, I would consider running a continuous cable housing for the rear brake and J-B Weld cable hangers to replace the broken one plus another at the mid point of the top tube. If you use continuous housing, the hangers see very low loads and the J-B Weld should hold up okay. I even have an old sacrificial frame I can cut the cable hangers off and send to you (although they won't be the same style as the old hangers).

I've done this on a bike (my '87 Schwinn Prelude) and it's holding up fine so far.

EDIT: The bolt-on solution works too.

You could always do a Drum or Coaster brake in the rear and eliminate the need to use the busted Cable Guide entirely.

This thread title sounded like the first line to the song, "I Will Survive". ;)
I've learned the hard way to not let someone (especially one's spouse) who isn't an expert in bikes, to go see and pick up potential buys. They can't evaluate to our personal level of acceptance.
Got burned for three mtb's and a frame when I asked my wife to pick them up. So, don't feel bad, you're not alone. With that out of the way...
If you plan to strip and refinish, then remove the remnants of the cable stop, and TIG on a replacement. A tack weld should do it with with minimum cosmetic damage to the tubing. Otherwise I must concur with others, get it to flippable condition and make your costs back or better and go buy a better example.

Does the seat post come out?

If khatfull gets the calipers, I want the cranks. They look like 1st-gen Dura Ace to me and cleaned up and polished, they'd probably fetch twice what you gave for the whole bike on eBay if they're in any kind of decent condition. OFG makes an important point on the seatpost, btw.

With a swaged spider?

I know it's a fool's errand, and it's not a cheery thing to say, but I'm going to go with bent fork/steerer.