Sirrus Rider

Is there anyone who has had experience refurbishing a '60's to 80's Schwinn Town & Country trike? What I'm most curious about is how the rear axle is put together. As many of you know I own a '07; however, due to its cheap Chinese heritage there are several things about the modern design that just rub me wrong. For starters, the rear axle uses sleeve bearings this has the effect of cutting down the trikes' overall speed as the rear axle does not spin as well as something running on ball like on a bicycle or needle bearings like what you would find in the hub of a car wheel. In fact, if you wick a little 30 weight oil onto the sleeve bearings there is a noticeable reduction in drag until that oil burns off. The one good thing I like about the drivetrain on the 07 is it does use a Sturmey Archer three speed (SRC3) and I know the majority of the older 70s to 80s Town & Countrys use Shimano three speed which is not looked upon favorably particularly in the writings of Sheldon Brown. Also the stem and the bars on the 07 are perceptibly flexible which I find on the annoying side.

I am in the position to buy a 1980 Town & Country; however, I am wondering if it would be an improvement over my '07 Particularly in the rear axle design. I know one of the major differences is the older 19-Something Town and Countrys use a 24 inch rim as opposed to the 26 on the 2000's production. Which when I first got my 07 was one of its selling points as he used a standard mountain bike tire and I'm a little concerned whether 24 inch tires would continue to be available for these older Schwinn's or if there is a 24 inch nonproprietary rim and tire combo that the older trike could be converted to.

Also, although I do not have the exact weight of old versus new they do differ in frame material. The new production uses aluminum and the old of course uses the good old Schwinn "electro-Forge" steel. In truth the new production Town & Country frame is nothing to sneeze at. As a loadbearing structure is both very strong and very light. The problem arises as with all be other components hang off of it with the exception of the "transmission" I sometimes wonder what could be done to "hot rod" it, but I am stumped as to what to do to make the rear axle more efficient.

Anyhow, I would like to hear the opinion of the more seasoned restorers out there. And I'm wondering which of the two you would own if you could.

cranky old dude

I've got one out in the garage. I'm going out of town for about a week
but when I return I'll poke around it a little and see what I can learn.
I don't have the time or the desire to tear it down so I may not be
much help.....we'll see. Also I'll try to weigh it for you.

Happy Trails

CCR

The 24" tires are still available, harder to find but still available. memory lane classics has them in blackwall & gumwall for $12 each, the white walls are probably $20-25 though. If you did get the bike and were worried about tires, i would go ahead and buy a set now for later. Been a while since i had a trike but i think the T&C's had keyed hubs, so to make them a 26" youd have to relace new rims to the existing hubs, i dont know if it would interfere with the fender braces and such though.