I was admiring the heaps at the Goodwill store and they have an old Huffy 15 speed for $22. It's got a triple front 1 piece crank, probably mid-late 70s based on the giant stem shifters, suicide brakes and center pull brakes. What are the odds that the triple 1 piece crank on this bike is the same size as my Schwinn Continental double crank I have now. Even the frame tubes looked similar in diameter, so may be the deraillers would move as well. Is this a cheap opportunity to scarf parts off a Huffy and upgrade my Schwinn to a triple, assuming its still there in the morning?

The chance of the cranks being interchangeable is very good. I have swapped out cranks and it worked. I don't remember exactly switching out a Huffy with a Schwinn, but my money says it would work - worth a try anyway.

You know, the old Schwinn Continentals had BIG gears on the freewheel (I think 37 teeth on the biggest?). If you combined that with a triple in front, you could probably ride straight up the side of a building (at about 0.3 miles per hour).

It would be a nice combo for touring, hauling groceries, or for riding the hills.

The 5 speed freewheel on this Continental when I got it had a 28 for the big ring. I got some donor alloy wheels off a mid-80s World Sport with a 6 speed freewheel but it was also a 28 for the biggest cog. Currently I have a 7 speed free wheel with a 32 large cog. But your right a triple with a small enough chainring and I could climb the hills in my neighborhood comfortably. It will be late afternoon before I can get back down there but if its still there I will invest the $22 and see if it works. How many people could claim to have a 21 speed Continental after all?

I haven't tried it, but have eyeballed doing the same thing. Actually I'd try just swapping the chainring portion after you remove the crankset. See if that fits, then you are at least using the same bearing surfaces in the BB where you need to be the most concerned about compatability. The other challenge might be the FD, so be prepared to swap with the Huffy. The FD on the Conti might not have enough travel, but try it first.

BTW, the original freewheel on my '62 Continental was a 14-25 tooth five speed. I'm currently running a 15-29 with a Nuovo Record RD (which the books say can't be done, but it works). Paired with a 42 & 47 tooth chainring up front, I do OK on the hills, but it certainly is a workout. There are times I wish I had left the Conti at home and ridden my Paramount or Traveler with their granny bailout gears!

As Bob said try swapping just the chainrings. The Schwinn may use different threads for the BB then the Huffy. It will work its just a matter of what you'll need to swap over:

1: rings only
2. rings with crankarm and BB w/o frame cups
3. rings with crankarm, BB and frame cups

All the threads are on the crank, so if he keeps the cones with their respective cranks, the threads shouldn't matter. But I agree about changing the chainring only, better to keep the cups and cones together that are worn in to each other.