How do you make rinding an old bike comfortable rinding the hoods? Is there a cover? Where can you buy them? I also recently took off the suicide brake levers, but it leaves the bolt that held them. Are replacement bolts easy to find to get rid of that?

Hi,
hoods have gotten a lot better over the years. Call your local bike shops and ask if any have NOS Durace pre-STI brake levers. They are sweet. These look like what I have; may even be the same.. https://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=5225

Another thing you can do is get ergo bars. I like Ritchey BioMax a lot.

Is it pretty easy to use ergo bars with a quill stem?

Yup!
My 20 year old Fuji has ergos and a quill stem.

I've located replacement hoods, but I'm not sure what to do with what's left over when I removed the center pull brakes. Has anyone else done that?

Hi,
you still need the brakes. You might replace them with newer ones; but I'd try the old ones first. Given your inexperience, and the fact that brake problems can be exceedingly unfortunate; I'd let a bike shop handle it. Something you might consider is replacing the pads. Old pads often don't stop well. You might start a thread asking aobut which pads are best for the rims that are on that bike. They aren't steel, are they?

I still have brakes. I just removed the center pulls from my brakes (pointed at by the red arrow in the picture), along with a few reflectors. Reflectors are obviously not necessary with the type of tires I replaced the dry rotted ones with. I will be buying a new bike in the next month or two, but I want to make this my backup / bad weather bike. I don't necessarily want to put top shelf components on it, but I do want to make it perform at a satisfactory level. I tend to ride on the hoods, especially while climbing. When I took the center pulls off, it left the bolt that holds them on. I don't even think hoods will fit if I buy them without getting rid of that exposed piece. I agree with you on the pads needing replacing. I might consider getting new brakes altogether, but again, I don't want to go too far. Yes, I do believe the wheels are steel. All the better for strength training days, I guess. I just repacked the front and rear hubs, and the headset. I think I can get a good bit more out of these wheels before they croak. I think I may go with barcons, but I haven't made that decision yet.

Steel wheels are bad news. I would replace them, and soon. https://sheldonbrown.com/harris/wheels.html#630
Which Schwinn do you have? I have a real fondness for Schwinns and hope to pick up one of the better ones someday.
I picked up a nice 20 year old Fuji touring bike. I went overboard bringing it up to date, spent way too much money. Bar cons are an early warning sign

Back to your original question: you just need to mark that bolt & cut off the excess with a hack saw. Next call around your local bike shops & find somebody that carries Dia-Compe rubber hoods. Install the new hoods over the levers, add some new bar tape, then replace your cables & enjoy the ride. Replacing steel wheels with alloy will make a big improvement when stopping in wet weather. Don

I concur. There are things from the past that should be cherished and remembered. Steel rims are not one of them.

For your brakes, I would just get rid of your current levers and replace them with some aero brake levers from loosescrews.com. At $17/ pair, you are not going to break the bank with these (https://tinyurl.com/5hjpw).

Get a set of Modolo levers from Renaissance Cycles ( www.renaissance-cycles.com )
and some 919 (or 920) modolo brake hoods. Should cost about $20.
The modolo anatomic hoods ae really nice and comfy, they were thought to be
an upgrade to the Campy hoods back in the day.
If Baron doesn't have them check e-bay, seems there are always modolo brake
levers offered up over there.

Marty

Listen to ollo - cut the bolts with a hack saw and stick on some new hoods. Try this:

https://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cg...Brake&tc=Hoods

5 bucks and you're all set.

What exactly is wrong with steel rims again?

Not in any order....

1) Weight
2) Rust
3) Drastically poorer braking in wet conditions than aluminum


Also, steel rims are more likely to have crappy non-stainless spokes.

Pfft at all 3. 2 & 3 associated with rain which can be mitigated by cleaning your bike after riding in rain. 1) I couldn't care more about

No, braking braking power is reduced when the rims are wet. Unless you never ride in the rain, this is a serious problem with steel rims.

Also, you can never totally clean water off of your rims. Rust will attack the edges of all 36 spoke holes or wherever the plating is comprimised.

Rationale being a new wheel would be worth more than my bike (quasi-beater) x4. Failed to mention that. But yes, if i had steel wheels on my nice road bike i'd get AL.

Well, I have to disagree. It really is a safety issue. NeoBinary is looking to build a beater bike that is expressly for bad weather. Steel rims are really bad when wet.

The low price of a used aluminum-rimmed wheelset is a small price to pay for the increased safety margin you get.