1974 Schwinn Sports Tourer help needed!
 

Hi, I am thinking about picking up a used 10 sp Sports Tourer. The asking price is $240, does anyone have any advice as to what size offer I should make for the bike? Description I got is pasted below, but I haven't yet seen it in person.

61cm or 24" frame with 33" standover. Back in the day this bike was 2nd only to the Paramount. This one has been completely reconditioned with new grease, re-cabled with NOS Schwinn brake cable/housing, re-cabled with Dura Ace shifter housing, NOS HuntWilde/Schwinn handlebar tape, Specailized Armidillo 125psi tires, new chain and NOS Shimano freewheel. Bike is 100% original except newly added parts.

Thanks!
Kris

I'd say it was a reasonable price. I'd like to have a Sports Tourer one of these days.

I spent more than that putting mine together.
But then I couldn't get anywhere near that on Ebay.

That is a beautiful ST, from what I can see. I feel the price is reasonable. I've never seen one in this shade of blue. Stunning!

http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...6&d=1282011087

Very nice, looks bone stock down to the pedals (maybe that not a Brooks saddle). What's your inseam measurement (crotch to floor, not pants inseam)? That frame is similar in size to Euro/Asian 23" frames.

That one looks to be in very good condition. That said, I owned one new ('72), and my thoughts on it were
worst...
purchase...
ever...

Those things weigh 34 lbs or so and are nothing more than a glorified Varsity IMHO. I know there is a lot of EF Schwinn love here on the forum, but not me. Pretty color though :) Would be nice on a Paramount.

Not exactly a glorified Varsity, the tubing is chromoly and it is fillet brazed as opposed to electro-forged. They look similar, and Schwinn did not do a very good job explaining why they were not similar, much to Schwinn's detriment.

Okay, so it only looks like an electro-forged frame, it's really fillet brazed chrome molybdenum; and it has a nice cotterless crank; and doubtless it has a lot more aluminum parts here and there. More expensive, more desirable... but what about Pars' complaint that it still weighted 34 lbs?

A Varsity weighs 40+ pounds so by Schwinn standards the Sports Tourer is a light weight bike.

I own a Sports Tourer & a Paramount. My Sports Tourer is by far the most comfortable bike I own. It is much more Touring than Sports (esp. if you swap out those ridiculous sized chainrings to something more reasonable). The Sports Tourer is like driving a big ole Caprice Classic. You won't win any races on it, but it is a very comfortable bike.

Ooof. Well, then, I will stop pining about the '65 Super Sports that got away last month.

Yeah, for all the good materials and workmanship that went into the fillet brazed Schwinns, I would have hoped that they'd be light enough to ride pleasantly. I agree with wrk101. They were well made, but that doesn't mean they're the best ride for your money.

Schwinn bikes from the '80s will give him a much better ride for his money.

My inseam measurement is 33-34 inches, and I am currently riding a hybrid Rockhopper with a 20" frame, so I am mainly looking to upgrade to a smoother ride on a lighter bike with a larger frame without spending much more than this one is listed at.

I'm not a collector, I'd be riding it almost every day on streets and bike paths around me, nowhere near off-road or anything. Am I looking in the wrong place here?

Thanks for all the feedback btw! I am on a steep learning curve!

If you ditch the One Piece Crankset and the Schwinn Approved derailleurs you can shave quite a bit of weight off. I built a '72 for my old man and its a great rider. Its definitely no featherweight but it is fun to ride and its lighter than a varsity (which doesn't say much I know) but still heavier than something like a Super Course.

Oh, I don't know, but I don't really believe it.

With the crank, I don't see how a single Z-shaped piece of steel, like 3/4" thick or less, that seamlessly integrates both crank arms and the spindle, can weigh that much more than two much thicker pieces of aluminum and steel bolts attaching them to a steel spindle. The excessive weight must come from somewhere else, like the massive chromed steel chain rings and bash guard. Can they be replaced with aluminum?

As for the derailleur... In my experience the main problem with a Huret Alvit derailleur is that it's a terrible derailleur; sure it's heavy, but that's beside the point. Almost anything else would shift better.

By the way, Pars said 34 lbs. Coincidentally, that's exactly what my '40 New World weighs, with its fillet brazed frame ("Finest Steel Tubing") and chromed steel everything else. I don't think there's a scrap of aluminum on that bike anywhere. The Sports Tourer just has to weigh less.

Sports Tourer should be ~28lbs, same as a Super Course. Rear deraillieur is a Shimano or Campy.

Not drinking your hater-aid. It's a nice bike, plenty of good tires available. In the large meto areas bikes aren't as cheap as rural areas. A nice Varsity goes for $150 around here.

All I can say is as a poor student back then, forking the money out for one made me feel violated. The dealer would not cancel the order (I managed to figure out I didn't want it before it arrived), and I couldn't afford the extra $150 to upgrade to a Paramount, as that was a lot of money back then. I was never so happy as when I got my Raleigh International < 1 year later. $139 more... 10x the bike. Just trying to make sure that the OP understood that this is not a lightweight bike which was competitive with other similarly priced models at the time, cuz it wasn't. The internet and the ability to do accurate research makes things much different now than they were then. Sure, it rode smooth I guess, but not responsive at all, so it may be what someone is looking for. And it felt like 34 lbs. :)

And here are some Varsities (chicago):

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/bik/1900104337.html
http://chicago.craigslist.org/sox/bik/1896818818.html

Mr IGH, I respect Schwinns for what they are. But $220 in 1973? Wow, that's a lot of money. I can understand Pars's frustration!

I sold that same model frame (size/color/year) and the frame/fork & headset. It weighed just shy of 11lbs! Those frames were internally sleeved, fillet brazed and the forks/stays were Hi-Ten. Only the 3 main tubes were 4130 (and that was thick-walled, straight gauge) tubing. A great frame to survive the coming apocalypse............or years of neglect and abuse!

I'm pretty sure my S/T is less than 34 pounds.
The Ashtabula crank is something like 4 pounds, the 3 piece is more like 2.
The kickstand is at least a pound.