fender1

You could also do brown Newbaums cloth to match the saddle. I am with PB on the original tape. I had it on my Schwinn's as a kid and it was the first thing I always got rid of.

Hoss Cartright

The Suntour Schwinn Approved barcons are on eBay all the time. I have several sets on my bikes. Usually I pay around $40.00 for them.

From my personal experience with barcon shifters and this OEM derailleur - When you put barcons on and you are still running the Campy GranTourismo rear DR, you will find out how really bad that derailleur is.. With the longer cables for the barcons it becomes almost unusable. Buy a Shimano Crane GS or a Campy Rally and use the Original DR for a paperweight. (The Crane is a great product and as others have said, became OEM from Schwinn on later models. They can still be found on eBay for cheap money. I paid $35.00 for the NOS one that is on my Sports Tourer.)

I'm running the Crane on my '72 Sports Tourer with Suntour barcons, and a Campagnolo Rally on my '72 P15-9 Paramount with those shifters as well. Both work great.

Nice bike! (my size) Great score!

Salubrious

White works well. It matches the graphics (my ST is OB as well).

Jeff Wills

Yahbut... that rack is at least ten years newer than the bike. Bent & welded aluminum rod racks didn't come on strong until the late '70's/early '80's. Jim Blackburn started about 1975: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...blackburn.html

fender1

It still looks good. Period correct restos are boring anyway!

Jeff Wills

Wait until I finish my green Superior.

Flog00

I'll keep the old rack, it can go back on it in a jiffy. The Jim just looks so much better.
I'll likely store the rack, lights and rear drive in a box to be reinstalled if I sell it.
@fender1 is a good seller, he shipped so fast I got the rack the day before I bought it

fender1

Ha! Sometimes you just get lucky when shipping......BTW,if after riding for it a while you like the bike and it fits well, there many non-permanent, changes you can make to improve the the ride.

Salubrious

I found a candy apple green Sports Tourer a couple of days ago. The paint is pretty good! The serial database indicates it was built in July of 1973 but the 73 catalog does not show the color available that year. How did Schwinn store the frames?

I got a little documentation with the bike that indicates it may have been sold in 1974. One thing that is throwing me is the girder-style stem. Anyone know who made it? Also, what is the proper rim style? It has Weinmann rims quite unlike the ones on my 60s Paramount...

pastorbobnlnh 

I have a '75 green Sports Tourer with a 1973 serial number. There are quite a few examples of Sport Tourers and late '70s Superiors that have early '70s serial numbers. The theory is these were frames saved back for warranty purposes.

The stem was used on the larger frames. I believe it was made by GB in Great Britain.

Salubrious

That stem was stuck pretty hard. I treated it with Kroil and let it set a day. Then I tried to move it- and it made a 'tick' sound and stopped. So I added more Kroil and worked it back and forth. After a while I could move it most the way around but it would not come up. I felt the stem and it was warm, so I Kroiled it again and let it sit a couple of hours. After that it came out with no effort.

I cleaned the stem and sanded off the pitting using Scotchbrite. Then I applied lithium grease to the stem and the inside of the fork tube.

All that and now I have the stem set about 1/8" lower...

The paint and chrome bits are in good shape as is even the original bar tape.

Definitely the Cadillac ride- smooth, almost regal compared to almost any road bike I've been on recently.

Metacortex

That is a 1975 Sports Tourer, the only year they were available in Lime Green. For further verification note that many of the original parts used on that bike may have date codes including the fork, hubs, rims, stem, handlebar, brake levers and pedals.

Schwinn apparently built these frames in batches, and it was not uncommon to see one or more years difference between frame and bike builds. For example I have a '75 ST with a BJxxxxxx (Feb. '73) dated frame and I've documented fillet-brazed Schwinn frame and bike assembly dates up to 6 years apart.

As @pastorbobnlnh indicated that girder style "S" stem was made by GB (Gerry Burgess) in Britain. That stem was used on certain 24" and larger framed models from '73 through '78.

The original rims on a '75 Sports Tourer would be Weinmann, however they were different than mid-'74 and earlier versions in that they have hooked beads along with a slightly different profile and stampings. The following pic shows the mid-'74 and earlier straight-side style (top) and later hooked-bead style (bottom). The later style will also have date codes stamped on the inside under the rim strip next to the valve stem hole (the example shown dates to 7-74). Schwinn used different Weinmann rims on Paramounts.

Salubrious

Thanks! Looks like I have the correct rims. Someone went through some effort to replace the rear hub but retained the original rim.

I bought the bike from the original owner. He had an owner's manual (which, while it indicated Paramount and Sports Tourer, was mostly Paramount) with some notes that indicated 1974. Could any of the green bikes have been late in '74? I thought there was supposed to be a 4-digit number on the headbadge but there isn't anything.

Metacortex

I don't believe so. At that time Schwinn didn't start making a given year's models until about two weeks after the beginning of the year. I would check all of the date coded components to see if any have '75 dates. Many parts on a '75 might have '74 codes (Schwinn stockpiled parts as well as frames) but the latest one will be the most telling.

Schwinn began using headbadge date stamps in 1976.

Lascauxcaveman 

I'm with you Jeff, the original rack looks much cooler. And I would trust it with a load of one; possibly 1.5 pounds.

Seriously, those two-legged racks suck. I've broken at least three of them, because I trusted them to hold my stuff. Good for show + your windbreaker only.

RJack

I have a 1972 Sports Tourer that I am trying to use as a commuter. It has aluminum rims that have a smooth inside (I think that they are "not hooked"?) I replaced the tires with KENDA K35 Gumwall 27 x 1-1/4 tires. One of them blew off the rim at 90 psi, after replacing the tube it seemed to be fine at 80 psi. The next morning it blew on the way to school. I like that this bike is all original, I also would like to ride on higher pressure tires. What do you think about this? I need some experience.

Jeff Wills

It's like owning an old house: you can't have archaic and heat it, too.

If you're bound and determined to keep it "stock", track down some of the later Weinmann rims with hook beads (see above). If you're willing to settle for a little anachronistic equipment, lace up a set of Sun CR-18 rims and ride to your heart's content.

oddjob2

If you're cheap, these CR-18s built up are more cost effective than building your own and actually nice for the money.

Sun CR18 27 5,6,7 Speed Freewheel hubs Road Bike Wheelset [72274726665] - $115.00 Velomine.com : Worldwide Bicycle Shop, fixed gear track bike wheelsets campagnolo super record vintage bike

My Sports Tourer is a built from a substantially bare frame, but the ride is sweet nevertheless and only the BF C&V crowd would know what's not stock on it.

RJack

You guys are great. The following is what I was trying to post before I read The Albert Einstein quote. I keep getting logged off before I can finish typing:

"Thanks Jeff. If I go anachronistic can I just replace the whole wheels? Will the rear cassette come off and fit on another hub? Why did you suggest Sun CR-18 rims?"

Mine looks almost identical to yours oddjob2. It's like they were made by the same people.

The Golden Boy 

Those rims are among the few 27" wheels still made. Those wheels that are linked to have been used by a lot of people here to good review.

By The Way... the cogs on the back are a freewheel not a cassette. That'll matter for what you're looking for. A freewheel hub just has threads to thread on the freewheel, a freehub has the 'drum' thing that the cassette cogs slide on to.

RJack

So the cogs on my freewheel will screw off and then they will screw on the new wheel that has been linked to above?

The Golden Boy 

Sort of. The body of the freewheel will screw off and then screw on.

I'm not doing this to be pedantic- if you're looking for a freewheel and you order a "cassette" you're not going to get what you need.

I'm not so good at describing this- it took me a while to understand the difference. Google 'the difference between freewheel and cassette' and see if it makes sense to you.

You can really tell when you see the hub- and notice the cassette cogs are individual and held together with a zip tie- while the freewheel cogs are all on the freewheel body

RJack

There's no zip tie holding my cogs together.

The Golden Boy 

Sorry, I was referring to the picture I linked to...

Also, I'm sorry to drag this away from the discussion of your bike!

Metacortex

Modern tires will blow off the original non-hooked bead rims if you exceed ~75lbs of pressure. Keep the pressure at that or less and you'll be fine on the stock rims.