Doohickie

If you tighten the lock nut against the hex nut on the left side, the torque of the bolt into the hex nut (and thus friction of the lever) has no effect. It can totally slack and the lock nut will lock. That's it's purpose.

Chris Chicago

thanks Doohickie, that was helpful for me to sort it out in my head. It would seem that my rd has a strong spring that requires a lot of tightening in the barcon..due to 1)when barcon is a nice loosey goosey rd pulls itself onto smaller cogs. 2)when barcon is tight enough to hold rd still, it takes more pressure than I'd like to move barcon.

rd is a suntour vxgt

good idea, but just called and 20 bucks at the shop. I'd pay it if they hadnt bungled stuff for me in the past. Probably just buy that toolio on ebay you linked. appreciate the help.

Sixty Fiver

I have found that the Cyclone usually works really well with Barcons if all the respective parts are in good condition... the Cyclone does not have the same return tension as an NOS Suntour Vx and found these can challenge a less then perfect Barcon to hold their position. With that being said, the Vx is about as bombproof a derailleur that was ever made and it is also beautiful and lightweight.

The slickest set up I am running is a Suntour Barcon with a SRAM X5... the action is freakishly light and the X5 is there to handle what are some extreme gearing ranges on my touring bikes. It is a nice mix of vintage and modern.

Sixty Fiver

This is the problem I alluded to in my last post... have only had issues with the Vx when the derailleur was NOS and the Barcons had seen some mileage and when I switched the NOS Vx to an older Vx the problem went away.

Bikedued

I think that is in my top 5 of most gorgeous bikes I've ever seen. Fantastic looking bike, thanks for posting it!! The ONLY possible way it could be better, is with some dark skinwall Specialized street tires(not made anymore) and maybe a Honey Pro..,,,,BD

pcdmiele

I know they need to go low but it was a bit excessive on the moto. I think the long forward sweep of the fork (compared to newer bikes) rotates the fender back and down a bit more than it should be. I considered removing flipping and reriviting the mounting bracket at the fork crown but I liked the location of the top/front of the fender. I only removed 2.5 inches from the bottom and remounted the rubber flap so that in drops vertically instead of recurving along the tire. it looks better and still offers excellent protection.
I know, I know I need a pic but the bike is at work waiting for the weather to warm up so I can commute again. and I keep forgetting to take a pic.

royal

Creme Brulee

I wish schwalbe still made those tires

neo_pop_71

My buddy has a very similar Rivendell to that beauty on page 33... it gets so much attention from other riders (and people in general) that he's taken to calling the attention "Rivendrool". Also, let's not forget the old line from elementary school "Look with your eyes and not with your hands" 'cuz people are always leaving finger prints and laying their hands all over the bike

calstar 

The next thing you know some audacious road grime, dirt, dust,water, etc., will think it can attach itself to the bike. How dare they, don't these particles know this is a C&V bike never to be sullied by such commoners as themselves?

Smokinapankake

I never thought bicycles were meant to be heirlooms. Although if I had a bona fide WTB Phoenix you can bet your backside it'd become one.....

Bikedued

Did Motobecane make any mountain bikes, before the big DT logo'd name revival? I bet if they had, they'd be something to behold. If I ever get into frame building ( a dream for much of my adult life) I would LOVE to build a mtb/atb frame in the style of my mid 70's Grand Record. Gold striped Nervex lugs, red/black paint, and a TA triple. It would have bullmoose bars of course, and cantilever brakes wide enough to act as air brakes, hehe.,,,,BD

Bone Machine

Just did this Bianchi Grizzly conversion this weekend:

Before:



After:

rodar y rodar

Mmm... Grizzly.
My favorite flavor mtb
How about some close ups?

calstar 

Any issues for you when riding on the hoods, looks like quite a bit of added reach/stretch to an already long tt? Very slick looking Grizzly.

DVC45

Is that a Feinwerkbau or Pardini?

I like!

cobrabyte

Took my Rockhopper out for a ride today before I set it up for my tour next month. Here's some pics of the current setup:



And since pictures are fun, here's some pics of the new stuff going on. Starting up the new build this afternoon. Swapping out the WTB dirtdrops for Nitto Noodle bars, adding a rear rack and panniers, a second bottle cage, toe clips & straps, and fenders. I may not install the fenders until the rainy season starts here in the summer. We barely gat a few drops during this time of year. I decided on these Gilles Berthoud stainless steel fenders since both the seatstay and chainstay bridge are threaded for this type of fender intallation:

Nitto Noodles: (I also couldn't resist the cool blue NOS Nitto stem, but I won't be using that for this build.)

Touring gear:

YoKev

^^sweet!

wrk101

Cut over 2 pounds off my Cimmaron by swapping out wheels and tires. As pictured, it weighed in at 28.8 pounds. Wheels and 7 speed came from Deseret Industries (Mormon version of Goodwill) for $4.

Took it out for a shake out ride, up the big freakin hill by city hall. I really like that bike.

My Univega Alpina Pro weighed in at 27.4 pounds. I believe the tires, saddle and pedals on the Univega are lighter weight. And the Univega has 1.25 inch tires, vs 1.5 inch. Components are almost identical.

Of course, the Univega has an 18 1/2 inch frame, and the Schwinn has a 21 inch frame (I need to double check that).




I need to clean that back porch at the workshop.





bill

frantik

what wheels did you have before? your old tires are the same ones i've got on my drop bar bike and also want to swap them out cause they are so heavy... though they can handle almost anything without flatting

wrk101

The wheels are Weinmann rims with Shimano STX/Parallax hubs. They have 6/7 speed freehub, came with a cassette, that is working just fine. The former wheels were the original anodized rims with Suntour XC hubs (freewheel rear).

mainstreetexile 

Are they 130mm like the original? Looks like your Cimarron is an 85, same year as mine. The original wheelset on them was Deore XT deerhead hubs laced to silver araya (7x?) rims.



I've been thinking about getting a lighter weight wheelset for mine. Nashbar had a good deal on a 26" Vuelta Zerolite 24-spoke wheelset a little bit ago. The rear is spaced to 135 and I'm not sure how much weight they would cut though, someone just posted a build with them in the Vintage MTB thread recently.

Edit: Ah, my bad, with those Biopace chainrings, XC hubs, hard anodized rims, it sounds like yours is probably an 86 with the 85 forest green frame color?

https://mombat.org/Schwinn_Specs.htm

frantik

did you notice a big difference in the wheel weight? what tires did you use, and how do you like them? I need to find myself some lightweight slicks but can't decide what to get

I recently weighed my drop bar conversion on bathroom scale.. with lights it was 30-31lbs. Losing 2lbs would put it right around where yours is. I need a different cassette with more closely spaced gears because right now there is really only one gear I use regularly. I'm tempted to convert it to single speed for maximum weight savings, though a 1x7 with a more suitably geared cassette is also pretty appealing.

Today I was hanging out with some pedicab drivers after the event we worked and the guys were really interested in Univega drop bar conversion... they liked the under chainstay brake and dark chrome finish the most. People who know bikes are often asking me "what kind of bike is that"

wrk101

On the year of my bike, it is a Cimmaron LE, not the Cimmaron model, hence the painted fork. I'll double check the headbadge, its either a 1987 or a 1988.

On slicks, I usually go with 1.25 inch wide tires. Its as narrow as it gets. I have a set of 1.25 Nashbar slicks (346grams) on my wife's bike, and I have a set of Forte Metro K 1.25 street tires (340grams and they are not slicks) on my Univega.

Here are the tires (607 grams). I used these as they were the only ones I had. They are not slicks, rather they are road tires. I tend to load up on tires when there is a good sale. I like the Panaracer brand (heck, I like Panasonic bikes too). These were a deal on Nashbar a while back. I see Nashbar has them again for $9.99.

If I go to the Nashbar slicks, I would shave almost 1 1/2 pounds off the bike, pretty substantial.

On the wheels, they were just a thrift store find. They were cheap ($4), had STX hubs, 7 speed cassette, and were drilled for presta valves (my preference). The original wheelset on my Cimmaron were drilled for Shraeder valves.

Based on the tire weights above, I'll probably swap out the Panaracers for the Fortes on the Univega, and get the weight of the Cimmaron down to about 27 to 27.5 pounds. Might do something on pedals later, and that saddle belongs on my Trek 620 touring bike, so I will lighten it up a tad more. 27 pounds is probably it.



As you can see, I am using all of my gears. Its a combination of motor (lack of) and a serious kickass hill I just climbed getting to this picture location.


Forte Metro K, on sale, but not a terrific price:
https://www.performancebike.com/bikes...400904__400904


I use a bicycle scale to weigh bikes, much more accurate than the bathroom scale. I suspend it in a doorway in my workshop. I used to use one of those $5 ebay hanging scales, they work great as well:




Here's a close up of the weight on the Univega. It has the lighter weight tires, modern wheels (another garage sale find), seven speed cassette, lighter racing saddle, but it does have a rear rack. I think you could shoot for a similar weight out of yours. In 500+ bikes rehabbed and owned, I have never bought a new wheel. And with about 100 extra wheels in inventory right now, I don't see a need for buying new anytime soon!




Epilogue:

I got it down to 25.94 pounds, by swapping wheels from the Univega Alpina Pro, and putting on a light weight saddle. I could save another half pound or so by installing light weight pedals. Bike still has much of its original parts: seat post, stem, derailleurs, crankset. A stock Cimmaron starts at 29 pounds (many of those catalog weights are without saddle or pedals).

Getting it under 25 would take replacement of a lot of parts. There's only so much you can shave off when you start with a relatively heavy frame.

cooperryder

I really like the look of your Rockhopper and look forward to pics with the new bars , etc.

cobrabyte

Thanks! It's coming along nicely.