1973 World Voyageur
 

Picked this bike up today, 1973 World Voyageur, will need new tires, and general clean up. Bike is in great shape for age, a little bit of paint flaking with very little rust. The bike is 22.5 inches with Shimano componets and a Brooks B-17 saddle. I love the chrome lug work, shined right up nicely. I plan on putting it on CL, it's a tade to big for me.

Speaking of Worlds here are some pictures of my three. The two leaning on the building are 23" World Voyagers and the one in front of them is a 23" World Traveler. The size of these bikes was measured to the top of the seat tube. Roger

I measures form middle of crank to middle of top triangle. i guess mine is a 23" also. Such a great bike, just jumped on and it rode great. Even with badly rotted tires and gummed up chain,

Love the color! Where did you find it?

I decided to keep the bike and ride it. the more I cleaned and polished it the more I really liked the look and feel of it. It is a tad to big for me, the reach is ok, but I just graze the toptube, I guess I will get used to it. I plan on getting some new tire and tubes tomorrow, and finish up with a wax job....

I think you did the right thing. I don't know if you noticed the one on Ebay
recently listed with BiN or Best Offer starting at 1288. Don't think it sold, but
they get a good price in good condition. Nice bike, use mine as a regular commuter.

You can always go for a 650B wheelset and change the brakes, while hanging on to the old wheelset and brakes if you ever want to change it back.

Depending on the tires you go with, it will drop the standover a bit. That's what I did with my 23" '73 World Voyageur. See http://www.flickr.com/photos/cpb282/

Whatever you do, good luck with it.

what kind of brakes would I need for a 650 conversion. Would any long armed brakes work...

I used Dia-Compe 750s like on the rivendell and harris cyclery websites. I don't know what the actual reach is, but they worked (one website says 63-75mm -- but I remember someone telling me that they measured the reach to be closer to 83mm).

I did change out the bolts to the brakes with a longer set, because they come with one as a recessed nut. If you want to use the recessed nut, you have to drill out the bolt hole. As I was adverse to drilling the frame, I just exchanged the bolt with a longer one and used a traditional nut.

If you need a measurement of the standover, I can try to measure this weekend.

By the way -- I use 165mm cranks, but I know someone else around here did a conversion with 170mm cranks, and said that the BB was sufficiently hight to avoid pedal strike.

The bike's paint looks to be in good condition. Good find.
I am working on a World Voyageur fix up too and was wondering what size wheels came with the bike? Are they 27" or 700cc?

what's the deal with the head tube badge? Can you post us a closer view?

I ended up switching to 700x23. Had to move the brake pads down only a little. The new rear has a 7 speed cassette, having a some problem with getting the chain to go to the outside, keeps jumping around. Posted problem on BM and they suggested a new 7 speed chain, will go that route and see if it works. I adjusted the limit screws and chain tension to no avail.

I will take closer view of Headtube badge., The previous owner had taped a bracket for holding pepper sprayon the sideof the HT, so there is still some tape resin remaining on, got most of it off...

I really like those handlebars - very pronounced randonneur style. I've always found them very comfortable. Nice find!

I'm glad you decided to keep it. Please post some new pics with the 700c wheels. She's a very pretty bike.

Luker the deal with the head badge was in 1973 Schwinn couldn't produce as many bikes as their dealers could sell. They decided to import bikes made in Japan. Many Schwinn dealers didn't want to sell bikes with the Schwinn name that were not made in Chicago. So for that year only the had a second line of bikes called Worlds. When the dealers found out people really liked these new bikes the profit motive came into the picture and for the 1974 model year the dealers started accepting imported bikes with the Schwinn name. The Worlds changed into Le Tours for 1974. Here are two of my 1973 head badges. One is a World Voyager and the other is a World Traveler. Roger

ah, I thought that was a bird or something in the original. I'd never heard that - it is a one-year dealie, huh? That should get the schwinn collectors up a little. I've read that the World was a line marketed during the first bike boom by Schwinn...they replayed that scenario during the '70's bike boom, looks like.

Another reason for the World name was just in case the imported line turned out to be junk (it wasn't).

Schwinn didn't want to mess around with imported bikes at all, but Panasonic's quoted a price cheaper than what Schwinn was paying for the raw materials on their own domestically made product.

I've got to learn how to make a thumbnail
Here's my World Voyager
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...7/IMG_0725.jpg

nice clean bike K of K

does anyone have a source for touch-up paint in Kool Orange to match bike

Just switch url to img on both ends of your link.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...7/IMG_0725.jpg