smontanaro 

I have a mid-60s Schwinn Speedster 3-speed (the pig). I bought it several years ago, cleaned it all up and then just rode it. It's my ride-to-the-train bike, and often a toodle-around-town, ride-to-the-beach bike. It gets ridden in all sorts of weather, and rarely gets any attention. It's been a sturdy pig, but it's time for a refresh. The steel rims are heavy, horrible in the wet, and have lots of chrome flaking off. The shifter cable froze, and it wasn't shifting too well before that, so all I have at the moment is high gear. Plus it weighs, I don't know, 40-45 pounds, I'd guess.

For reasons which are not entirely clear (even to me), I thought I would swap in some different parts, stuff which is more readily available, and lighter to boot (the pig will go on a diet). At this point, I have a three-piece bottom bracket adapter, a Sakae CR crank w/ Sugino 46T chainring, a rear wheel consisting of a Sturmey Archer XRD3 drum brake hub laced to a Sun CR18 rim (650A, I believe - guess I should figure that out before I search for tires), and a second CR18 rim I intend to lace up to the existing front hub. I also have enough spare MAFAC Racer caliper bits to make up a caliper to replace the old Schwinn Approved Weinmann brake on the front of the bike.

So, onward. I tossed the bike up on the stand and squirted some Liquid Wrench on screws and nuts (it's pretty rusty), then started to contemplate my rear wheel. The XRD3 hub is spaced at 126mm, and doesn't look like it can go much narrower. The rear end of the bike is spaced at 110mm, typical for those bikes. So, I will have to cold set the rear triangle. I doubt that will be too difficult. The rear cog will move out roughly 8mm, though I can flip it to fiddle with the chainline. This means I will either have to ditch the chain guard or do a little creative bending. I'll try the latter, but resort to the former if necessary.

My first obvious problem will be to figure out a suitable bottom bracket axle. Since I'm tossing the Ashtabula crank, I won't even have that as a reference point. I have a couple cartridge bottom brackets (103mm & 118mm axles). I think the 103 will be the best place to start, but I might have to dredge up a 107 or 110. I think the 118 will be much too long.

Pix

oddjob2

You have too much time on your hands.

USAZorro

I want to hear about your plans for the saddle, stem, bars and grips.

RobbieTunes

I think they make Ashtabula adapters.



for crazy people.

devinfan

Some pigs make the nicest riders and are worth the effort! Pretty frame colour. Go for it.

smontanaro 

Actually, not enough. This has been sitting waiting for quite awhile. I've had the wheel and extra rim for at least six months, the BB adapter and crank even longer.

smontanaro 

I have no specific plans at this point for those bits, as I like them well enough. The bike's a tad small for me, so when I stand up, my knees are about even with the ends of the handlebars. Still, the saddle and bars are part of the look. I also realize those Schwinn-specific sizes can present problems. I actually don't mind the Mesinger saddles (well, my butt doesn't mind them). I even rode the bike to work a couple years ago on a lark, about 12 miles each way, with the POS Kenda tires that never seated properly going lumpeta-lumpeta-lumpeta the entire way. If I do decide to swap out the saddle, I will just flip the seatpost and slide on a double-rail adapter to install a more typical saddle of some sort.

smontanaro 

Well, yeah, I am a bit crazy to bother with this. The bike is to the point though where the other practical alternative is to leave it out for the scrappers.

The one picture in the Flickr album shows the bottom bracket adapter for the Sakae crank. Is that what you were referring to? Perhaps I can squeeze the Ashtabula crank and pedals into the BOC. Then you can adapt it to something in your stable when it comes back around to you.

Wildwood 

At 40 - 45 lbs it is not a pig, it is a tank!
Rather than making it weigh less, armor plate it.

pastorbobnlnh 

Go for it!

I got started on the conversion of a '65 Continental to a tubular wheelset with Campagnolo bits back in the spring but as the weather warmed I lost interest in finishing. Over the coming winter I'm certain I'll finish it. Another Schwinn Pig with pretty lipstick!

RobbieTunes

yep. I knew they had them. I just wasn't sure why.

smontanaro 

I thought of another reason to undertake this project. If I screw anything up, it will be a mistake made on a cheap bike. As I was disassembling things today (lots of liquid wrench, patience, and the occasional whack with a BFH) I figured I might as well also give it an oxalic acid bath to see how that goes.

The Golden Boy 

I think it's a neat project.

I think those old Schwinn bikes are cool, in their own way; definitely cool looking, nice riding. I don't like that they weigh so gdm much. I was going to buy a Coppertone Corvette/Jaguar/Typhoon looking bike- I totally had the money to spend... and then I started to pick it up... No thanks.
@Squid Puppet said he got a Continental down to south of 30 pounds. That's a weight I could deal with. Pastor Bob has his Super Sport in the mid 20s. If you can swap out enough steel with alloy - and still keep it a nice riding bike and have that mid-century flair to it... That would be awesome.

I can see it being a 'charging at windmills' sort of thing, though.

SquidPuppet

She isn't a pig. Treat her right. With the right handbag, shoes, and lipstick, she can be an attractive 26 lb Saturday night date.

RobbieTunes

Or a couple of beers.....

....is that carbon?

smontanaro 

Got it stripped down yesterday. I was somewhat surprised that I only had to drill out one screw (holding on the front of the chain guard, should be an easy replacement from the LHS).

I started to work on spreading the rear triangle. It takes nothing with this soft steel to get it to move. Alas, I had it propped up incorrectly, so it mostly spread the left side chainstay. I'll get it right this weekend.

Tonight I decided to see what weights I'm dealing with. I wish I had a nice cheap hanging scale, but an old garage sale postal scale will have to do for now. I tared it with a stick of wood and started placing stuff on top of it. First the frame:



I won't bore you with all the (three) pix, but you can check them out if that floats your boat.

Here's what I have at this point:

The new front wheel isn't built yet, so no weight for it. (Unless the front hub is toast, I will probably reuse it instead of trying to source a replacement.) The new rear wheel doesn't seem that much lighter than the old, but it includes a drum brake, so it will shave a few more ounces from the total once I weight the brakes.

Not much weight loss yet. I didn't bother weighing the old tires and tubes, but will do that once I have some new ones ready.

Wildwood 

My Pig with Lipstick started with a HiTen frame and fork that weighed 6.0 pounds; yours at 12lbs (+headset) is a real oinker. Pig Out!

Be sure to follow-up when appropriate.

jorglueke

That's what I'm doing right now. Learn were you can't do much harm. I have a 57 Traveler that's 40+ pounds, just lifting the wheels is a work out

thumpism 

I've only collected one and not used it yet, so I guess that makes me only half crazy. I'm okay with that. Fuzzy photo, but it's an O.M.A.S. product that converts to British thread cups. Missing one of the bolts but that should be readily available at Fastenal.

Abe_Froman

I actually am in the middle of a very similar project. I acquired a mid 60's Schwinn Racer 3 speed from my father in laws garage when he moved out. It wasn't rideable when I got it, and have since torn it down to the frame and overhauled everything, put on new tires/tubes/chain. It weighs a million pounds (probably 40-45ish like yours...I think it is the same frame), but rides really well. Your frame looks to be in better condition than mine though. Very little rust on mine, but a pretty significant portion of the bike is chipped and scraped down to the primer.

The only real complaint I have with the bike is the steel rims. I replaced the pads, and still I'm pretty sure the only reason I can stop is because the pads catch on the flaky and rusty bits of the chrome Still a big improvement over when I tested it out around the block with the original pads on it from the 60's; I thought I was going to die.

Anywho, I have thoughts of repainting mine over the winter, and replacing the denty black painted fenders with some nice chrome ones. It's a lot of work to put into a bike given its condition and relative cost, but my father in law will get a kick out of seeing me ride it all shiny next summer, and my wife would kill me if I trashed it.

Edit: Oh, I wouldn't mess around with trying to lighten the bike....what's the point? It's never going to be nimble, and those cranks are fine with fresh grease. I'd focus more on appearance and functionality. Maybe cool cork grips, retro bags on the bike. Fill the bags with bricks....you'll never notice and it will be a heck of a workout.

smontanaro 

Starting to look more like a bike again. Front wheel built, both wheels installed. The next hangups are the chain line and fenders. I think I might be able to get away with flipping the cog to improve the chain line. I have some wood bleach and a swimming pool to try and clean up the rusty fenders.

smontanaro 

The Pig flies... Still needs fenders, but they need an oxalic acid bath.

Normware

Nice,

But what does it weigh now?