Originally posted by --walt--
This is a Schwinn World, one step above the Caliente, on a good year it sold for $190. I has pressed steel hubs famous for separating at the press, this mostly happened when the rear triangle (soft grade hi-ten steel) got bent (almost as often as stamped stay Murrays--remember those?) and caused the rear axle to break, because the drop outs no longer lined up and the frame with a heavy rider didn't have the strength to hold the hub together. ... I'm not even going to get started on the steel rims, side pull brakes (that would scrub some speed before impact but would never skid a wheel--as required by law) or the "safety levers" on the brake levers.
Am I passionate? Not about 20 year old death traps.
Walt, if the wheels are as you describe, they are indeed junk, and I have never cared for suicide brake extension handles. However, it is not difficult find decent used road wheels (on or off bikes) at yard sales. Today's $200 *-Mart specials still have the single-pivot brakes, steel hubs, and steel rims you so properly detest.
As for "death trap" brakes, I would have to put my single-pivot Campy sidepull calipers in that category, which is why I plan to offend the purists and replace them with anachronistic dual-pivot units.