vonfilm 

Early this morning I saw an ad in CL for a 1986 Schwinn Peloton for $250. I looked at it this evening and purchased it. The paint and decals are in pretty good shape with some chips and scratches. I think under the paint it may be chrome plated. It fit me perfectly at 56cm. It has a Brooks Professional saddle that is nicely broken in. It had a set of mismatched wheels with a Dura Ace hub in the back and an Ultegra hub in the front. The rims have alot of brake scratches. It has Dia Compe Grand Compe sidepull brakes, Cinelli stem and handlebars, Dura Ace FD, Superbe Pro RD, Suntour Sprint crankset.

It rode great on a short test drive. I dropped it off at my local bike shop while I make room at home for it. I think I will replace the wheelset with a much nicer looking set of Campagnolo Athena low flange hubs with Matrix ISO CII 700C wheels with Continental 700x23 Ultra Gatorskin tires. I will change the freewheel to something like a 14-34 Shimano Megarange and the RD to a Suntour Vx GT. [I] may use a NOS Campagnolo Xenon compact double crankset I have that is 50/34. I may use a Shimano XT FD that I have.

I read in the 1986 Schwinn catalog that the claimed weight of this bike was 20 lbs with it's mix of Columbus SL and SP tubing and fork. It was second to the Paramount in the 1986 lineup. I think this will go well with my nearly restored and modified 1973 Schwinn Super Sport. There will be pictures of both in the near future.

I recently won a 58cm 1987 Super Sport frame and fork on Ebay. This may be too big. I don't know what I am going to do with it.

rat fink

I have one of those. Great bikes! I'm looking forward to pics.

Kuotient

HA! So YOU were the one that snagged it.....

Apparently someone thinks you're just a "damn bike flipper" =P https://cl.ly/6Hpi (a screenshot since the original listing will probably be flagged by the time you see it)

thenomad

Post it up for sale just for spite.

Probably just another flipper posting that anyhow. Who else is always "looking for good deals"?

huerro

I thought that looked tasty when I saw it this morning. Glad it went to someone who will ride it.

If you want to sell on the wheel set, send me a pm.

txvintage

Forget about the haters. A seller I got a sweet deal on a Cannondale from last night said he got some nasty replies when he told folks who were after me that someone had replied instantly and was coming to look at it in a couple of hours. Same deal with telling him I was just a flipper and the bike would be posted back up tomorrow for close to twice what he was asking.

vonfilm 

That is interesting. I checked CL a little later in the day and the ad for the Peloton was gone. The seller said he had so many responses of people wanting to buy the bike he took the ad off. He was true to his word to give me first shot at the bike when I got off work.

Austin is hungry for bicycles. I think it has some of the highest prices in the country. The only way to get a good deal here is to check CL often and respond quickly to recent postings. I am not a flipper, only a hobbyist.

jeebusaurousrex

NICE find, I'm quite jealous, one of the nicest 80's Schwinns out there. Pretty sure this was made in Japan since the 1985 was. It's different from the ones that come after it with old school touches like bottom bracket cable guides, a fancier rear brake bridge, and the rear derailer cable stop on TOP of the stay not on bottom.

It also doesn't hurt that it's a full Columbus frame set, including fork!

Here's my buddy's with 105 9spd Flight Deck group:

abarth

If it was my bike. I will post a fake ad just to piss the guy off more.

Congrats on the Peloton, post some pictures.

cycle_maven

Great snag! I saw that ad, and almost responded even though it was too small. I got my '85 Tempo from CL in Austin last year for $75- but it was listed as a "Schwin Bike" with a fuzzy picture. I drove way up north on the chance it was one of the Columbus-tubed beauties rather than a varsitennial. I'm still on the lookout for a Peloton in my size (sigh).

+1 on the post pics, and I'm glad it went to a fellow BF member!

rat fink

When I got my 86 Peloton, it was from one of those classic tiny, low light, cell phone pictures. The title was "Scwinn Bike $75" or something like that. I recognized the paint scheme, and the shape of the Superbe Pro rear derailleur. Heh heh.

rat fink

That's awesome. I didn't know that the 85 had a Columbus fork, too. I'll have to keep an eye out for that one.

Kuotient

I saw the listing about an hour after it was posted, but I'm not longer in the mentality of "try to snag ever awesome deal there is for me or my friends" because I'm just too lazy. Haha that, and I'm already taking up space with 2 bikes in an apartment of 4 guys...

Last summer I got lucky somehow with my Ironman find. The listing was up for an entire month for $250 by the time I contacted the guy!

But yeah, nice snag. Good finds are definitely hard to come by here in Austin.

jeebusaurousrex

I can't tell too well from the photo in your sig, but my friend's '85 seems somewhat different from your '86. First thing I noticed is the cable stop. Is your rear brake bridge just a straight tube or a fancier 2 tubes & "dice" with a bolt hole?

rat fink

The former. The newer ones also have a Tange fork instead of having full dove status. It's a really good fork though. I wonder if the 86 was stiffer than the 85. My two Colnago Supers were both SL, but were night and day in terms of (excellent) ride quality and handling. The blue one was very alive and organic feeling. I could feel the tubing distort under braking, acceleration, and cornering, but it was very snappy and resilient. What it gave up in stiffness it gained in 'feels like a part of you' and 'one of the best descending bikes I ever ridden'. The yellow one had beefier seat and chainstays and was considerably stiffer, but lost that cool twisting under load effect. The Peloton is possibly a little stiffer than even the yellow Colnago, but has a more agreeable geometry for my body. The Colnagos I had are good examples of their better workmanship, but the Peloton, I feel, is on par with them.

jeebusaurousrex

Interesting. I was thinking the '86 model would be just a carry over with new paint and decals. The 86 catalog specifies "Columbus blades", but maybe yours was a late model year build after they changed specs?

I've come from a Tenax Tempo to SL Circuit and I feel the difference you're talking about. It took me a month of solid riding to get used to the whippy feeling under hard efforts. Felt very odd at first, but I've gotten used to it. Not sure if it's better or worse, just different. It's a weird feeling when a frame "snaps" back at you!


/threadjack

Collin2424

Glad to see Pelotons getting some love. My Peloton is next up in my to-do list when that darn Khatfull gets my wheelset built

rat fink and I have virtually identical Pelotons:

I've slowly built up the Superbe Pro groupset that came with my bike rather than the weird mix of 600 and other stuff that came on it. Mine had a mismatched wheelset too, but I'm putting together semi-aero tubulars with Sunshine ProAm hubs (Superbe Pro equivalent).

vonfilm: can we talk you into keeping your bike slightly more....original? I'm not against any of the parts you've chosen, but this bike was a real star in its day and it seems wrong to throw that mix of components on there. I'm sure I'll catch flack for saying that and I strongly believe a bike should be ridden, but the components Schwinn chose for your bike are first rate. Totally up to you of course. You could probably sell the Dura Ace stuff it came with and fund the rest of the Superbe Pro you need.

Lastly - is that 1987 Super Sport the pink frame?

Cheers,

-Collin-

Oregon Southpaw

This needs a NSFW tag.

vonfilm 

Colin,
It is not really original now. I believe that it originally came with tubulars. Those are long gone along with the white Rolls saddle. I promise not to repaint it though.I need more gearing for the hills around here than Superbe Pro can handle. The Athena wheelset with Matrix rims is a set that I had on hand is better looking than the mismatched set that came with the bike.The Superbe Pro RD on it now is very worn cosmetically. I actually do have a nice Superbe Pro RD on hand and a FD on the way. I may build the Super Sport frame with those. The SS is a Red/White fade from how it appeared on the Ebay auction. It was said to be 58CM which may be too big. I may sell the SS to recoup funds. My Peloton looks just like yours, but needs a little cleaning up. I took it to my LBS to be on their back burner for awhile. My wife just might kill me if I bring another bike home right now. My 1973 Super Sport Resto-Mod should be ready on Friday.The 87? SS frame and forks arrives tomorrow. Now where can I hide that? You can see that I sort of have a problem with Schwinns.

Collin2424

You suffer from the same problem I do in regards to Univegas/Miyatas. Oh who am I kidding, it's not limited to any one brand.

I love the early Super Sports. That's the fillet-brazed one, right? The '87 Super Sport should be awesome as well. I'm already thinking if I have a smaller frame to trade you, because 58cm is my size and I love these Schwinns too. Actually, I might have a buddy getting rid of a 56cm Circuit, come to think of it

Anyway, congrats and I'm sure you'll enjoy the bike.

-Collin-

vonfilm 

Here are the pics from the CL ad:

Peloton1 by vonfilm, on Flickr

Peloton2 by vonfilm, on Flickr

vonfilm 

Here are som picis of the repainted 73. Yes, It is fillet brazed. I bought it new in 1975.

73SuperSportMarsRed 001 by vonfilm, on Flickr

73SuperSportMarsRed 016 by vonfilm, on Flickr

73SuperSportMarsRed 013 by vonfilm, on Flickr
Paint Stripped:

73SchwinnSuperSport53010 004 by vonfilm, on Flickr
Before:

73SchwinnSuperSport53010 002 by vonfilm, on Flickr

Collin2424

That's a gorgeous Super Sport. Very tastefully done. Congrats!

vonfilm 

Thanks Colin. Hopefully my LBS will be finished with the 73 SS tomorrow and I will get some pictures up soon.

The 87 Super Sport frame and forks arrived today and I think this frame fits me. I slipped on a 700C wheelset and I was able to straddle the top tube flat footed. It feels about the same as the Peloton so I think it is 56cm and not 58cm. Now I need to decide if I am going to touch up and polish or do a complete repaint. There is some surface rust and some painted areas that are bubbling up. The following photos are from the ebay auction:

87SS1 by vonfilm, on Flickr

87SS2 by vonfilm, on Flickr

87SS3 by vonfilm, on Flickr

87SS4 by vonfilm, on Flickr

87SS5 by vonfilm, on Flickr

87SS6 by vonfilm, on Flickr

vonfilm 

More pics from the ebay auction;

87SS7 by vonfilm, on Flickr

87SS8 by vonfilm, on Flickr

87SS9 by vonfilm, on Flickr

87SS10 by vonfilm, on Flickr

87SS11 by vonfilm, on Flickr

87SS12 by vonfilm, on Flickr