$5 Schwinn Continental?
 

Hello ladies and gentlemen! It's been a while since I've posted here but rest assured I'm still riding and still loving vintage bikes. Unfortunately in my area it seems like people only buy and ride walmart bikes because that's all that ever shows up on the side of the road or on Craigslist. Not to mention that I've been simultaneously blessed and cursed with long legs, and at 6'3" I'm relegated to the largest frames most manufacturers built. My choices are limited to say the least.

So imagine my surprise when I'm out yesterday and I see this:
http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/9...0020xy9.th.jpg
On the side of the road with a $5 price tag attached. (You'll have to excuse me, I got a new camera and I haven't had many chances to play around with it so you guys get to see a couple silly shots)

It took me forever to figure out what kind of Schwinn it was since the top tube decals are completely non-existant and this is what the rest of the decals look like:
http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/8...6101qo6.th.jpg
http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/9...4149ga7.th.jpg

I'm relatively sure it's a Continental (II possibly?). Based on the date stamps the frame was built in 1980 and the head tube badge shows it to have been put together in 1981. It's in fairly good shape and needs a good cleaning and relube since everything that moves is gummy as hell. I was very happy to realize that fitting the 700c wheels from another bike fit fine with plenty of adjustment room in the brakes. That is going to be the first thing changed on the bike because holy crap is this thing heavy with those chromed steel wheels. I'd really like to keep those high flange hubs though so as long as the bearing races are in good shape I'm going to try my hand at wheel building for the first time.

The next thing to go is going to be the ashtabula crank because once again it's just way too heavy. I weighed the bike on the bathroom scale and it came out to be about 37 or 38 pounds. Is the adapter that Sheldon sells on his site so that I can fit a modern 3 piece crankset about the best thing going for this application?

The next stuff to go is easy enough- I don't need a kickstand so a bit of weight savings there as well. I'd like a little more stopping power and suicide levers just look ridiculous to me so some newer aero levers seem like a great idea.

Enough of my yammering for a minute. Here's some more pictures:
http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/7...8181vb9.th.jpg
http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/2...4699df7.th.jpg
It took me a second or two to figure out what was going on with those tabs connected to the hub and the fork.
http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/2...2953ts3.th.jpg
http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/9...0702uu4.th.jpg
http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/324...3378pp6.th.jpg
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/904...6389oa8.th.jpg

This cheap find was exactly what I needed to get excited about bikes again. Commuting every day tends to make a person take bikes for granted and I've shelved a pain in the ass Univega frame that I was working on for that simple fact. It's about time that thing was finished so it's going to be next on the repair stand.

A couple questions;
Is it a Continental or a Continental II?

Can anyone suggest a simple way to figure out what length spokes I'll need with those hubs and 700c rims?

Is the adapter that Sheldon sells on his site so that I can fit a modern 3 piece crankset about the best thing going for this application? http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/opc.html

I checked memorylane-classics.com for decals and they don't seem to have sets for the Continental. I've gotten a set from Mswantak before but I'd rather not spend that much on decals for this bike- are there any other sources? (ebay came up with nothing too)

This is purely aesthetic but I'm looking for opinions- should I go with black cranks or polished aluminum? I'm toying around with putting black bar tape on as well and going for an all black scheme as much as possible, excluding the either gold or white decals. A new saddle would be black too, I'm thinking a Brooks.

So all in all I expect to slightly lighten what is essentially a boat anchor and hopefully have a mildly interesting alternate bike for days when the wind wouldn't be kicking my butt. Luckily it's really flat here and I don't need to worry about fighting this thing up any hills. I'd really appreciate any suggestions or answers to my questions so I'll just give my thanks in advance (and thanks for making it through this beastly long post).

Well, you got a bargain for $5.00 no matter what it is.

To figure out what it is, we'll need the serial number (found on the left rear dropout, the headtube below the headbadge, or on the bottom of the bottom bracket shell). Also, look closely at the headbadge for four lightly stamped digits. If they're there, they indicate the assembly date. The first three digits are the day of the year (001-365), and the fourth digit is the last digit of the year (the decade is determined by the components and frame decals).

The tabs on the front forks are called "lawyer lips" and are there to prevent the front wheel from departing the fork if the rider doesn't know how to secure the quick release skewers.

If you want to look at Schwinn catalog scans to compare components on your bike with different Schwinn models, CLICK HERE.

I briefly had a 1980 Continental and it looked exactly like yours. Yup, those electro forged framed bikes are heavy. As I recall, there was a thread about a year ago, maybe a year and a few months, about someone who took a Varsity and did what you're doing, replaced the wheels, cranks and some other changes to lighten/upgrade the bike. My best recollection is that he got it down to around 28 lbs. PastorBob might recall that thread.

I believe it is a 1977 Sierra which was a 1 year replacement for the Continental. Same bike as the Continental but with a chromed fork with the black star shaped decal on it. It also had a bit more chrome than earlier Continentals. Here is a picture of my blue one. Roger

Frame serial: MR697242 (December 1980)
Head badge: 1381 (138th day of '81)
According to this page http://www.bunchobikes.com/serialnumber5.htm

Converting to a three piece Campagnolo crankset, adding Campy RD & FD, losing the kickstand, and swapping the steel rims for alloy ones, brought my '62 Continental to just under 30 pounds.

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...ke04112007.jpg

HERE's the 1981 Continental catalog page. The catalog says 36 pounds, and Pastor Bob managed to get his below 30 pounds by replacing the Ashtabula crank with a three-piece Campy crankset, ditching the kickstand, replacing the steel rims with alloy rims, and replacing the original F&R derailleurs with Campy.

This 72 continental has the adapter from Sheldon its made by tru-vativ worked very nicely. this bike weighs in at 31 Lbs with alloy rims and the alloy 3 piece crankset. Its got a Brooks also heavy and the Carradice bag. I wasn't after a featherweight so the weight doesn't really bother me. Its a nice crusier but you can get the weight down if you try but I don't think it will go much below 25 lbs http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/b...3/100_1098.jpg

"...just under 30 pounds"? What an accomplishment!

No offense, but adding Campy parts to a Varsinental frame is like putting lipstick on a pig.

Really, no offense. :rolleyes:

Déjà vu :rolleyes: We already had that conversation.

haha

Maybe if you treat the pig like a spouse it becomes overly odd - but say it's just another domesticated pet (the decadent pet commodity industry brings in a lot of money and is considered semi-normal by convention) - in which case, if you got both the campy and the time, WHY NOT?

I see high school kids driving hondas with wheel sets that cost as much as the car - if we're looking for function over form, more power to...

"lip stick on a pig" - makes me wanna throw campy on my suburban!

No "offense" taken. It was a fun project that I enjoyed. :D

Congrats on getting such a good deal. I have a '79 that I picked up a month ago for $40. It's mechanically perfect, with the only problems being the peeling decals and the factory paintjob. It's about a foot thick in places, and so thin in other places that you can see the primer underneath. I'm giving thought to stripping it down and powdercoating it. Or maybe I'll just leave it like it is.

I find the bike to be really comfortable. And I don't mind the weight, as I'm in it for the exercise. If I want to take 15 lbs off my total weight (my bike, my gear, and me), it'll be cheaper to lose my gut.

Yep instead of spending all that dough on a lighter than air bike I lost 33 lbs myself and the bike draws more compliments than Angelina Jolie in a tight leather suit ( well maybe not that many) but a lot :) Mine too was a fun project it started out in as bad as shape as you can imaginge which is why it was so cheap. Oh yeah no Campy parts on it either. Not that there's anything wrong with that :)

Thanks for everyones responses so far. I've already started the ebay search for parts- I've got a set of older shimano 105 aero levers on the way. Since I'm a ****** about stuff like this I'm looking to get a set of black 105 cranks to keep things in the same family more or less. Would this crankset http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...0Road%20Cranks with its Octalink BB work with the TruVative conversion adaptor that Sheldon sells?

I'm guessing that since no one has responded with an answer about the decals I'm just going to have to keep my eyes open. I know that on an old run-of-the-mill Schwinn like this it doesn't really matter much but it's details like that I really like. Hell I spent $50 at Velographics on a set for my gaspipe Univega which will never be worth anything.

And on the question I had about spoke lengths, I found an online calculator so at least that's been solved. Now I just need to learn how to build a wheel :D

Give memorylane classics a call they might have them. I did and they had them in stock when the website didn't list them. Nice folks too.

I can make a set of decals for you no problem. I've had two of those old continentals. I just love that decal on the forks.

Excellent. I'll contact you via PM to get more information.