So this is the time of year when all the property management companies start dumping EVERYTHING left in the rental houses around campus (Colorado State) onto the curbs. Yesterday on my ride home from work, I saw a couple of big piles with the usual broken shelves, toaster ovens, futons, etc. sitting on the side of the road waiting for the trucks to come haul them off to the dump. Figuring it merited a little extra time on the saddle, I rode around the neighborhood looking for a score. After about a half an hour of wandering around, I was about to give up when I saw the saddle!

Sweet! It looks like it might be old. Moving a couple of bags of not-too-smelly trash, I discovered a big 'Schwinn Approved' on the back of a big leather saddle that was in excellent condition. The saddle was connected to a Chestnut-brown frame that was stripped of everything except the fork and the handlebars, and that had Schwinn Suburban written on the side of it. Underneath I found the wheels, and a trashbag that seemed to contain many of the stripped parts.

I dragged the whole thing home by setting the frame on the saddle of the bike I was on and hooking a tire on each side of my bars, I was able to push it home 6 or 7 blocks with minimal effort. The bag contained just about everything the bike was missing except a few nuts and bolts. The derailleur, shifter, front and back brake calipers, a chainguard, and the front fender. Just the back fender was missing. I decided to go rummage through the pile and make sure I didn't miss anything, and sure enough, sitting under yet another bag was the rear fender!

It's a fixer-upper, but not bad for a free bike! The serial number is KK, which dates it to Oct. 1974. It's actually a five-speed, so it just has a rear derailleur. The OEM tires have been replaced, I believe, and while the ones on there are not in AWFUL shape, they're not in great shape, either. They'll definately get replaced. I'm going to repack all the bearings after I get off work today, and I believe the only piece I'm missing that may be hard to find is the outside piece of the "Twin-stik(tm) Gear Control" seems to be missing, so I'm going to have to figure out if I can find a replacement for it. The "Mattress-style" saddle is in excellent shape, though. I put some leather conditioner on it and it cleaned up nicely.

Here's a crummy picture taken with a camcorder.



Am I going to have a problem finding the missing piece of the shifter?
Who made the "Schwinn Approved" Saddle and Derailleur?
Someone peeled a sticker off the bottom and did a lousy job. Best way to remove it?
Is this thing going to look cool on the back of Shaka, my 1974 VW Bus, or WHAT?