What is it about this bike that makes the bike shop think its a Big Box bike?
 

I haven't really posted pics of my main bike, but this is it. The 07 Schwinn Voyageur I got from the LBS Schwinn dealer that later had to stare at it to determine it really was one he sold and not from walmart? The tires are the same brand as the OEM ones, those are my third set of pedals, and the brifters may be cheap, but they are many times better than the oem gripshifts.

http://www.bottlesoffire.com/bikes/0...y/IMAG0080.jpghttp://www.bottlesoffire.com/bikes/0...y/IMAG0083.jpghttp://www.bottlesoffire.com/bikes/0...y/IMAG0084.jpg

btw, No, I do not like that megagear. after I get a new saddle, the gears will be next.

Does he still sell Schwinns?

Could be that RD that says Tourney...

I've never understood the stigma about the so called "big box" bikes.

Almost every bike delivered to the variety store and local bike shop comes in a box. The only difference is how it's assembled at the store or bike shop. As long as the bike is safely assembled it's ok. The staff at the variety store have a bad reputation when it comes to assembly, but on a occasions in Australia (where I come from) my experience was that the "mechanics" at the local bike shops had very poor skills too. By the way..these LBS I speak about only sold "high end" road bikes.

It came that way, but it hasn't given me any trouble. The bottom bracket though...

Actually, yes, both bike shops that this happened at still sell Schwinns, though the closest one which I referenced sells the most of them, I believe. I really don't like the newest Voyageurs, ugly little things they are.

The LBS (at the time an authorized Schwinn dealer) where I bought my Schwinn Sierra GS last fall also had a Voyager in stock. After the fact, I wished I had spent the extra money and chosen the Voyager. This particular LBS is closing out its Schwinn inventory and appears to not be ordering any new Schwinns. The shop's website also has removed all references to Schwinn being a brand they carry. No big loss to me, as I quickly outgrew my Sierra GS. With all the changes I've made to the bike, the shop would hardly recognize it. It does serve me as a decent commuter bike, though the Voyager would be better.

The "Megarange" 14-34 freewheel is easy to change out. You can pick up a better suited 13-28 freewheel and the Park freewheel tool from Amazon for about $25.

I might do that, been considering it for a while actually, but trying to keep a balance between miles and cost, and that saddle is a real pain somewhere between the 15 mile and 30 mile mark. I do enjoy that it has the mounts for the rack on the tube though. I took the panniers off the other day, and the bike felt like it woke up from some kind of slumber. It isn't a high end road bike, but it really can hold it's own. The brifters though... the local Schwinn bike shop had a set that after being installed cost me about 55 bucks, which is cheaper than when I asked them to check and make sure the shifters were set right on my other bike, which I only asked of them because they changed one of the gears and it hasn't been quite right ever since. (and they put a smaller one on it, too. I really need to be more super specific with that place.)

I think I have a 13-34 on it already, now, if I could get an 11t on there.....

Your bike has a freewheel instead of a freehub/cassette, so you will have difficulty finding a freewheel with an 11t cog. You can find a generic DNP 11-28t, but I prefer to trust the real Shimano ones over the DNP freewheels. My son's Target Schwinn has a DNP freewheel, and his bike arrived with no grease in the freewheel bearings. I took care of it right away, but still am leery of putting a DNP freewheel on my own bike.

I understand that your bike has a 13-34t already. If you want to get rid of the Megarange 34t cog, you have to switch out the entire freewheel. The Shimano 13-28t freewheel that I mentioned above gives a more useful gear range (in my opinion) than the 13-34t, and it is an easy change. If the Voyager came with a cassette instead of a freewheel, you could simply change individual cogs to suit your needs.

I only said that part because it had said 14-34, which does appear to exist as well. Didn't see any freewheels any smaller than 13 though. Not sure if the other LBS could find one tough. Might have to focus on the front gears, but then again, I still want a true road bike, so...

I think I went down the road you are on with my hybrid, though your bike started off life with better components than my hybrid.

Your Voyager has a maximum of about 100 gear inches. That's pretty good, considering its geometry doesn't exactly put you in an aerodynamic position. If you are running out of gears on your current gear setup, you are going over 25 mph. If you want to make the bike faster, it will cost, as a road crankset won't work well on it either. You can make it faster by putting lighter wheels and tires on it. That will give you a noticeable increase in speed, as the wheels will spin up faster. Shimano no longer makes freewheels with 11t or 12t cogs, so the choices are either paying dearly for a NOS Shimano freewheel with a 11t cog or getting an off-brand such as the DNP Epoch 11-28t freewheel.

If you are wanting to eventually get a road bike, I would suggest riding the Voyager as is and working toward getting an additional bike. That is what I eventually did, though it wasn't until after I had changed or added many things on my hybrid (crankset, freewheel, handlebars, shifters, seat, fenders, rack, tires, etc...). I ended up finding a Specialized Allez on clearance for $399, and am happy with my two bikes that serve me better than either one would alone.

EDIT: I see that some Voyager models came with the smaller 24/34/42 crankset (like my Sierra GS came with). If yours has this one, switching it up to a larger 28/38/48 is pretty simple and not too expensive. This will give you a noticeable improvement in gear ranges. Your front derailleur will work. You may need a different bottom bracket. I needed a different bottom bracket when I changed up my crankset. I am glad I made this change to my Schwinn.

If you are going to swap the freewheel, consider a 13-25T Sunrace. I have had better luck with Sunrace freewheels than Shimano freewheels.

This is good information to know. Thanks for posting, as my wife's bike, my son's bike, and one of my bikes all use 7-speed freewheels.

The BB has already been changed, and the tires have been changed (see, they are blue!) from 42's to 25's.

I did notice the tires. A road wheelset will probably weigh less than the wheelset that came on your bike. I'm not suggesting you change your wheelset, as it's probably not worth the money on this particular bike for what will appear to be minor change at best.

Changing your BB won't impact your speed on the bike. I was simply saying that some crankset changes require changing bottom brackets to get a proper chainline (due to differing spindle lengths). From inspecting your photos, it appears your crankset is already the 28/38/48 crankset, so you will have difficulty in putting a larger crankset on the bike as larger crankset gears will be designed to fit road bikes.

By the way... Your bike setup looks good. Have you considered using it for touring? It would be well suited for touring.

Does the seat post you have make a difference in the ride at all?It is a suspension post,correct?

yeah, it already is the large one.

I have done some local scenic tours, no more than 50k so far, finances took a nut shot this year, but I had planned a multiday ride to Michigan. Until I had the brifters, riding more than a short ride caused my arthritis pain to flare up, which is a pita since I am only 31. I had priced out converting it to drop handlebars, but couldn't find the brifters going that route in a low enough price to even think about it. (I do have panniers, but they really do slow the bike down)

Does it make a difference? Dunno. No, that is not a suspension post. That black rubbery thing is there to keep water out of the inner workings, as far as I can tell. I'm not a big fan of suspension on bikes so far, which is part of why I got the particular model I did, it was the nicest one with a ridged fork. If I had it to go back and do again though, I'd have a Le Tour. The reason I don't is just one of my personal demons, one I finally understand, but that a story for another day.

OP, that is a suspension seat post shown in your pictures. The ones Schwinn puts on their bikes have very little travel, and can be effectively disabled. There is a bolt in the bottom of the post (the part that is usually down in the seat tube). The bolt uses an allen key for adjustment. Simply crank it down completely and you lose your suspension. The rubber grommet you see does keep water from going down in the seat post, and covers the gap where the sprung part of the post slides into the larger main seat post shaft. My Sierra GS's suspension seat post looked identical to yours, and has been replaced by a rigid seat post.

It is good that your bike doesn't have any real suspension, such as a suspension fork. The only time I find the suspension fork on my Sierra to be of use is when I ride with my son on washed out dirt trails of the nearby wildlife refuge (one of his favorite places to ride). I am thankful for the fork there. Your bike appears to be used mainly on pavement, so the suspension fork would've been a waste.

On to the topic of brifters. Here is a picture of brifters, which are brake levers with integrated shifters:

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=205593

The little black tabs on the brake levers are for shifting gears. http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_bo-z.html#brifter They are found on drop bar road bikes, and usually won't mount to flat bars. The word brifter is formed by combining the words brake and shifter.

When you refer to brifters, are you talking about your bar ends? http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_ba-n.html#barend Bar ends are a great addition to a flat bar bike, as they give you additional hand positions for longer rides:
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=205594

Low end doesn't mean department store quality. Nothing at all wrong with Tourney on an entry level bike; seen it on many. Wife has it on her quick 6; bike shifts fine.

They are on some department store bikes. I've even seen Acera on one.

Pulled out my seatpost, learned something new about it. It was effectivly disabled on my bike until just now. It may end up disabled again too.

As to the brifters, you showed road bike style ones, but same effect. The bar ends I had put on there when I first got the bike a few years ago, the brifters I didn't really take a pic of are, as far as I can tell, Lion brand.

You have sparked my curiosity about your bike's shifters. I've only seen a few brifters (Campys) that were for flat bars. I haven't been able to find any Lion brand ones, though yours may be rebadged ones from a different manufacturer.
Could you post a picture of your shifters? I am interested in the prospect of cheap brifters that fit flat bars and will work with a hybrid front derailleur.

For my own bike, I swapped out the grip shifters for Sram X3 trigger shifters and love them. They are less complex than brifters, but much more stable than gripshifters. I don't like gripshifters because of accidental shifting that can occur during off the saddle climbing steep inclines.

HA! I knew it! LOL,Let me know the difference...

not enough to really mention.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=205641http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=205642http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=205643
now, are they great? they are nice. mostly. They are better than the grip shifters, but the left thumb trigger was hard to hit all the way until I did a fair bit more adjusting than I would have preferred. I havn't seen any other markings on the device, no luck googleing them when I tried, but... they were $25 at the LBS, he had them laying around in a bag in the workshop area, and about the same for the installation and new cables.