I just picked this up quite reasonably from a guy who switched to an e-bike, and is cleaning out before a move. It's a '99 Schwinn Peloton, from what I can tell from how it's spec'd. I had the itch to do a project, couldn't decide which direction (80's, resto-mod, or.. gasp.. "obsolete" carbon with rim brakes) and then this came up.

It's got Ultegra 6500, Flight-deck, brakes, 53x39 crank, FD, and a DuraAce RD-7700. Cassette was changed to 12-27, with a Sora shifter.
Mostly it just needed some cleaning, new brake shoes, a little wheel truing, a different saddle, pedals, and it still needs fresh tape.
I put over 25 miles on it today, very smooth and great handling, but not plush.
I already have an '84 Peloton, so I guess this makes me a collector!

Nice pickup; those were Reynolds 853, yes? Now for some unsolicited input...a carbon fork will help the ride quality for sure.
John

Blue Steel!

That's great riding bike........Pelotons are sometimes overlooked, often playing second fiddle to the other "P" in Schwinns line-up. The blue is a winner in my book, the later forkIMHO means business.
Best, Ben

Great quality bike made of Reynolds 853 and very durablecongrats on the purchase

Nice, I had a Circuit of that year. Sweet riding 853 steel frame. My understanding on these is that Scott owned and was using the Schwinn name the years these were built. I found the fork on mine to be a bit harsh when riding it at home on chip seal roads. But I took it with me on a trip to Mississippi where all the roads were smooth asphalt. It was a totally different feel on those roads and the fork was perfectly fine. Enjoy that beauty!

If you want to keep everything original that's fine, but since you are already planning to redo the tape on the bars, I would take the opportunity to replace the stem. The rest of the bike has thin tubing and that stem just looks out of place.

Congrats on the 853. I am tempted to look for one and have often given it some consideration. The last purchase put me in the doghouse so.......

Nice bike and I second the change of the stem. I have one and put it on my single speed. Kind of unattractive in my book.

The components on the bike are stock, except for the Sora shifter and wider cassette. I was surprised how smooth shifting it was- as good or better than my 10 speed Ultegra bike. At least, until something went wrong with the indexing and I had to re-adjust it from skipping.

Cockpit comfort is my priority with this bike- the fork seemed fine at first, but between that and the skinny handlebars an 23mm tires my hands hurt after 25 miles. As a stopgap I put an extra layer of wrap under the existing on the top of the bars. Probably not worth going to a carbon fork and threadless, but a prettier stem would be nice.
Lately I'm enjoying a Selle San Marco riveted saddle and a Concor on my other bikes, so a similar vintage replacement would be nice.

I remember seeing the Peloton new at the Performance store in town and thinking, "Wow, they may have gone bankrupt, but somebody's still making nice bikes!" Tapered down tube is a little different for a 853 bike.
And then they got bought by Pacific/Dorel and Walmartized.
Got this late last year, and upgraded the wheels - didn't know the fork had been upgraded.


I have an '88 Greenville Tempo, too. Last gasp from original Schwinn.
Sub note is that GT was bought and Walmartized by Pacific/Dorel at the same time, and there are some interesting last gasp bikes there in the late '90's, too.