83 voyageur wanting to upgrade the equipment
 

I've got an 83 Schwinn Voyageur and want to find a donor bike, or buy components to upgrade, what should I be looking for?

What is it that you don't like about the bike that you would want to "improve?" Are you using the bike for just general all around bike riding or do you tour on it as well?

Bottom line is that the original parts are pretty good on that bike and I would be in no hurry to swap any of them out unless they are worn out or the bike isn't doing the job. The biggest "upgrade" on any bike, but particularly an old one, tends to be the wheels especially if they've seen some hard use over the years.

As mentioned- need to know what you want to change to know what you should look for.
Wanting to turn it into a modern component bike is a lot different than making it period correct. Both can happen, but they are significantly different endeavors.

I think I want to do a 700c conversion, but am concerned with rear spacing and the cantilever brakes.

You should be concerned about the cantilever brakes reaching. This is a known problem with touring bikes built around 27 inch wheels. The difference in diameter is only 4 mm but many cantilever brakes lack the necessary adjustment.

The rear spacing is not a big deal if going from 120 mm to 126 mm. The frame can be sold set to 126. You can also just push open the rear triangle to get the rear wheel to fit. This will be tough the first time but get easier. There will be posters here who don't like this approach but I've done it few times and as far as I can tell, it works just fine.

It's tough to beat these 27 inch wheels from velomine for $115, Sun CR18 27 5,6,7 Speed Freewheel hubs Road Bike Wheelset [72274726665] - $115.00 Velomine.com : Worldwide Bicycle Shop, fixed gear track bike wheelsets campagnolo super record vintage bike

These wheels will let you run a 6 or 7 speed freewheel. Shimano still sells a pretty good 7 speed freewheels in a touring size (14-28). 27 inch tires are readily available from panaracer, continental, schwalbe, etc.

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...I have a lot of bikes, and I'm not real sure that doing a 700c conversion on an '83 Voyageur is an upgrade. If tyres are your concern, look at the " 27" tyre availability" thread here on BF (use Google). Anyway, it's not something I would do personally. :)

this is some helpful information thank you.

First- figure out what Voyageur you have. The 1983 Voyageur came with sidepull brakes. The 83 Voyageur SP came with cantis. The VSP was a better bike. The wheels on the VSP were really nice, high quality, Class A, wheels.

I have a bunch of old touring bikes, most with 27" wheels. My personal opinion- if you've got really nice 27" wheels- it would be best to try out good 27" tires with 'em. I like the Pasela PT/TG tires as well as the Sand Canyon tires.

If you don't like them- or you just really want to switch to 700c you may have enough reach on the stock sidepulls on the Voyageur- the DiaCompe 960s on the VSP probably won't have the adjustment necessary, so you'd need different brakes.
If you're going to get new wheel regardless, go with 700c and get good wheels. I don't see getting new 27" wheels unless you've got a good reason.

I changed over my Trek 720- and I'm glad I did. But I like to eff with stuff and my intention was to change the wheels, brakes and pretty much everything on the bike. My Trek 620 and Voyageur SP are sporting 27" wheels- and they're great. I'm in the process of getting some really nice 27" wheels rebuilt for the 620...

Any Voyageur is a great, upper level bike and worthy of putting effort and work into.

It was made in Oct. 1983 and has cantilever brakes and Tange Champion#2 tubes, Sorta grey color, not sure if it was an 83 model or 84 model

October, grey, cantis- 1984 model!

DiaCompe 981s! Sweet! Super Champion rims- sweet!

That's a really nicely put together bike!

I might consider upgrading the derailleurs and shifting. Aside
From that- its a nicely equipped bike.

I appreciate the info, this seems like a nice forum with knowledgeable people