Yeah, it's heavy as hell, but I kind of like it, biking on the roads is new to me and I kind of like heavy sturdiness. I'm not really going for speed, ha. I didn't realize that about the chrome rims though, that's good to know, I probably will be riding in the rain at times. I've been intrigued by fixed gear riding, could I use it to convert as a fixed gear kind of beater bike? Thanks for your help!

This is a Catch Of The Day for my Dad. He fount this one on the side of the road. Chicago Schwinn Super LeTour II. Needs a BB rebuild, and a headset adjustment and chain. Still a nice bike.



EDIT: Super Le Tour II

I have the bike home, and as I put it on my rack I rubbed the grime off of the hub, and it was dated July 1973. Why was I not surprised at the date?

The Sport is in about the condition I expected, a few areas look nicer than ewxpected, a few look worse, but it is definitely something that could be ridden easily.

I picked this sucker up and it's a cheap bike. The dropouts are crimped and spot welded, the lugs are big and ugly, the paint job is pretty poor, and the hub is some no-brand american 3 speed. I'll have to see if it says anything I can't see, but it just sez made in usa with a pat. pending # on it.

But it's got a lot of charm, the lousy paint job is pristine, and after a clean up will make a fine bike. Also is has a completely worthless kickstand that has crimped the chainstays. I'll see if I can put pics up sometime.

I also got a 63 schwinn world traveler (women's) and it is in pristine condition. There's a little surface rust on all the chrome of course, but the paint and decals are really nice. $42.25. I'm trying to buy nice, not-too-shabby bikes whenever I can because I'm seriously thinking of opening a used bike shop within a year, if not a bit sooner. So there's my excuse foor my 11 bikes.

Hi guys, I'm new to the forum. I didn't know there were others like me.

On my commute home one day last week, I found an old Nishiki thrown out for the trash. It was too heavy to bring with me so I hurried home and went back with my truck, hoping it would still be there. I guess if it was a better quality bike, I would have had to wear it home or call the wife.

It doesn't look as if it has any value except to me. In it's day I think it was a "wal-mart" bike. It's missing a chain ring bolt, and tubes won't hold air, but the price was right.

I like the chainring,make a great fixed gear ring

man, all I ever find is freespirit junk, your lucky

Im pretty sure nishiki is a above walmart crap, though I dont know much about road bikes! But hey, at least it has an actual headbadge and not a crummy sticker!

Does that thing have 26 X 1 3/8 wheels? They dont look like the usual 27".. weird, and cool.

Also, if you come across bikes in the trash or whatever while on a bike you can always "ghost" ride it beside you by holding the handlebar stem.. I do it all the time, a skill Ive mastered! Just watch out going over bumps and what not, put a lot of weight down on the stem over bumps, otherwise the bike might take off and have a mind of its own.. if that starts to happen just lift the whole front end off the ground to get it under control, ive had a lot of close calls!

Also watch you dont get your handlebars tangled with the ghost bike!

Not a Wally World bike at all. It is an "Olympic", their entry level bike. I would guess somewhere between '72 and about '75. These were sold in bike shops, not discount stores. Price new in '73 would have been about $120.00. Model above that one was the "International", which came with aluminum rims, cotterless crank, center pull brakes and a CroMo frame. I used to have one of those back in the day.

Nice find!

That's a very cool bike. It's got downtube shifters, it's got cool looking brakes, it's lugged... it's got a lot of charm, was free, and was surely well built, that equals cool bike.

What's the rake on the fork? It looks huge.

I'm not sure, but it does handle a bit heavy.

I put new tubes in it and I want to replace the chain ring bolt with something and try a commute with it. I was surprised by the lack of rust inside the rims. Very clean.

Picking up a 3-speed today I believe...it's a girls bike, purple, and hasn't been ridden in about 30 years. The person I spoke to said that she thought it was a Schwinn, and that it wouldn't take much to clean it up.

Price? Free.

Should be perfect for groceries and small errands

Well, my forecasted catch of the day turned out to be the letdown of the day. It was an el cheapo department store 3-speed. There was a Schwinn there, but it was a mans road bike (letour I believe) and that was not for the taking!

Oh well, at least I had the strength to turn down a free bike

I like your Nishiki. Those are some long reach side-pulls and the "power cam" or whatever that is is very interesting. The Kogswellians would love those things -- they just scream fender clearance. I'm more motivated now to clean my Pro up (ashamed to say that I haven't touched it since late May when I found it). I did notice that the same fork as on mine went for 50 bones with a Buy-It-Now on the 'Bay this week.

https://home.mchsi.com/~shufford/nishiki.html

Congrats!

Bob

I forgot about this old hunter I traded for. I think it's junk too, but I liked the lugged frame better than thewalmart junk I traded for it. It's rusted more than I thought at first.

There have been a few catches today.....

First up, a 70's Falcon. I paid £16 for this, and it wasn't worth it - in the pics, it looked like a better model (the half chrome forks fooled me), plus, knowing it was a 6 speed, the single ring crankset should've got me double that to someone building a fixie. Alas, the crankset has a built-in, non removable chainguard, AND the cranks don't match. The wheels are crap, the gears are low end Shimano, but being that old, I suppose I might get something for them. The only thing I'm really left with is hoping some fixed gear fanatic wants a sherbert orange Falcon frame......

It gets progressively better though. Here is a 1980 Elswick Sovereign, Anniversary Special Edition. It's not 531, but being an anniversary model from a decent maker, it's got interest value, and it's in decent nick. I paid £10 for it, which was worth it just for the flip flop rear hub, the Wrights seat, and the shiny chrome fenders. Part of me wants to do this up for a friend who wants a tourer, but the other half knows I can pick up a Raleigh Royal or the like for only about £20 which will do him better. He's not a vintage fan, so he wouldn't appreciate this.

This one I picked up unexpectedly along with my Bates (see below and other post). It's a fairly low end (I think) 60's Raleigh, a Scirocco. However, it's in lovely condition, the paint has a luster that would make you think it was straight out of the paintshop, and the bars, stem, and dynamo light set are all shining as though they've been restored. No wheels, a more recent Suntour mech, and no cranks are downsides, and it's a shame the rear fender is broken, as they offset the frame nicely, but for £20, I think it was a good deal. It'll make someone a great base for a rebuild, and even the Wrights saddle is reasonably good. Does anyone know anything about this model? Whoever had it clearly used it, despite the shiny paint, since it apparently had old skool BMX cranks on it!

And finally, my Bates. See the "Now I can share my big score with you" thread.....

So my wife comes back from a run a couple of months ago and told me there were two bikes out with the trash. Like I need more bikes! So I jump in the van and go collect them if for nothing else but nuts and bolts. At first, they were unremarkable. Ok, they still are. I looked them over, added air to tires and road them around the neighborhood. Worked fine. CRAZY I think. There are a matching his/her MountainTour line with the Man's called a Yukon and the Woman's a Grandmesa under the RaleighUSA label. They seem to have been stored inside because there is no surface rust. Cool factor for me? Two water bottle braze-ons! Turn off? Darn seat post is a 25.6mm! So I broke down and ordered a seatpost from Harris and decided for $20 I can see if it will work as my daily commuter.

Got my seat post and rode it around for the first time with some proper leg power. Not bad. Got ready to put on some 26" MTB slicks and just as I was about the to peel the tire off.....I saw 650B on the nice Araya ALU rims. Hummm. Tires says 26" but rims say 650B? Keep in mind I knew NOTHING about 650B except that what I was looking at did not make sense. Off to Sheldon's web site as I recalled an article all about the 'big lie' of tire sizing and obviously I had some learning ahead. VIOLA! Welcome to the obscure world of 650B or 584mm which is smaller than 700mm (622mm) but larger than 26" (559mm). Later I find people pay $1,300 to buy a Rivendell 650B designed frame!

Well, I ride it all over now and love it! I even rode with some recreational roadies for 60 miles on this 32lb beast. It's cool. But I do not look forward to buying new rubber at $40 a tyre!

For more info see this 650B

That's got to be a real early Raleigh mountain bike. Like, '84 maybe? Their entry level mountain bike from when they first started making them?

Heh. I just got my Riv Reader and it sounds like Grant P. isn't satisfied with resurrecting an obscure wheel size, he's got to invent an entirely new one to fit between 700c and 650b.

Oh? As if he hasn't heard of EA3 (590mm) or EA1 (597mm)?

-Kurt

So...
Our community's annual holiday fund had its garage sale today. Bikes were ten bucks.

I saw (but didn't buy) a Schwinn Super Sport (fillet brazed) complete with Brooks... Original paint, very good condition. Probably should have snagged it, but I had no need for it... and someone else (who occasionally posts here) was interested in it, so.

I also passed on a Nishiki of indeterminate pedigree (stem shifters), as well as an early '70's Fuji. But did pick up a late '70's Fuji. Nothing really special "Special Road Racer" or some such name, chrome forks & dropouts, double eyelets in back, suntour shifty bits, Dia compe centerpulls...

It's gorgeous. Could almost pass for new old stock. A little wear on the h-bar (cloth) tape, and the nibs are gone from the tires, which don't appear cracked. I aired them up and rode it around a little. Just fine. It will be a gift for a friend of the family who's looking for a servicable bike. The SS was probably a better bike, but I wasn't happy with the thought of it maybe getting abused.

I ought to point out that this was the first time I'd ridden a drop bar bike since 2002, something like 13000 miles ago. After a trip around the block I got off and said to my wife "Did I really used to do centuries on these things!?" I'm much happier on North Roads bars (or better yet, a 'bent).