85 Schwinn Traveler
 

You've got the utility thing going on- it'll do what you need it to do.

If you're happy with it- awesome! 1985 was the apex of "touring" bikes, and the Traveler definitely benefitted from everything that was going on with all the Touring bikes.

If I were to suggest anything, I would suggest not doing your handlebars like that. If you're going to run drop handlebars, run them correctly, if you want more upright bars, use upright bars. This is only my opinion- and since you asked- the upside down drops carry a very negative connotation to me.

Yeah, you'll likely get little love here for the flipped bars... commonly referred to as "DUI bars". With that said, it's YOUR bike. If that configuration works for you, "sticks & stones", right? I accomplished a similar riding position on a similar bike ('84 LeTour Luxe) with a set of 3" low-risers. The upright position worked very well for me when I was dealing with some lower back issues. What's interesting is that since I was able to ride with no more discomfort I rode much more, and that helped my back. Now two of my current projects have drop bars.
My next hurdle will be the funny little shoes with the clips on the bottom... :50:

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=363882

dmott,

Bonus points freely given. It is your bike and as such do what you want. Utility set up is right ! What are you going to be hauling?

I have love for the mid to late Schwinn bikes. Have a few and really enjoy them.

Enjoy yours !

Nope.

I don't mean to be rude or insensitive or in any way hurt your feelings or make you feel unwelcome.

Still looks like you lost your drivers license. Sorry.

The only issue I can see with those bars is their width. You might find that with the front basket loaded down you need a wider bar for more leverage. Wald makes some cool cruiser bars if you find the need to change them.

Maybe Golden Boy is speaking from experience:). I like the bars that way. But then i'm a bit of a fred. Next thing you know you'll be taking care to line up the tire label with the valve. It's a slippery slope.

Yes, chrome plated. You may use WD-40 and #0000 steel wool to lightly shine those QR levers up.

Have you sufficiently lubed the chain and greased the bearings ?

I personally don't think I would set my bike up that way, but I love improvisation. I think as long as it's safe to ride go for it. It looks fun -- I love the huge baskets. I do agree with likebike that you may end up wanting wider bars to help with wrestling the front end when you have an assload of beer in there.

I definitely understand wanting to keep it cheap and budget. but a set of wald bars should cost you twenty bucks at your lbs...

If I drank 24 beers while working on installing the front basket, two certainties would result:

(1) the basket would remain un- or only partially-installed, and

(2) I would be found unconscious beside the bike

Hopefully, I wouldn't be dead...

Also, I like the bike. It makes me happy.

Don't be too hard on yourself for having to learn by your mistakes... those are the lessons you'll remember most. As far as leverage/width concerns, you'll find that wrist angle & position are just as imortant as width. You'll have ALOT more leverage/stability with those Wald cruiser bars than you do with your current setup.

I wouldn't recommend polishing the rims; the sides are the braking surface, and polishing just the spoke surface might look incomplete. You'll likely be surprised how well a bit of mineral spirits on a paper towel will work on the hubs and rims, however. Makes a huge difference in appearance. Works great for the brake calipers, too.

I suggest using dropouts but other than that, great bike! I have an '88 Schwinn Sprint that has done me well since! You did not go wrong buying it!

Lookin' good!

Looks good. I would dramatically shorten stem shifter housings, that would eliminate a lot of the clutter. Invest in a good set of cable cutters. Heck, even the Nashbar/Spin Doctor cutters are pretty decent, and often go on sale.

Check out the Schwinn catalogs or pictures on the web for guidance.

$14.99 with free shipping:

http://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product...59_-1___202376

Sound advice from the master.

That really does look LEAGUES better.

I don't mean to be picky, and I'm honestly not trying to be disrespectful or anything to you or your bike, I understand that you want to protect your housing from contact with other metal things- hence the electrical tape. If you feel you really need that, perhaps some black electrical tape would be less obtrusive?

I think you may be able to trim your housing so that you don't need any reinforcement of your housing.



I would like you to have a bike that is not only utilitarian, but also something you can be proud of. You have ALL the makings for it.

Best wishes.

You have a good thing going on now. Schwinn Travelers were decent bikes and I think it will serve you well. Just buy some good cable cutters (like others have said) and clean up the cable mess. Good work!

Can you see if a LBS would cut your housing for free? That way you have managable housing lengths, you may not need to have much of any basket contact.

Where do your cables run down your downtube?

I just did the "cross cable" thing on my bike- so the shifter for the FD crosses to the right hand cable stop, and then crosses over the other cable on the way down to the BB and on to the FD. The right shifter crosses to the left cable stop and crosses on the way to the BB then on to the RD.

That may make a gentle enough bend that you can not hit the basket.

Highly doubt it. While they may well be what was on there when you bought the bike, my guess is the former owner screwed them up. I've owned a lot of Schwinns from that era, including some with stem shifters. Cable housings were about 1/3 the length you have now.

As you can see from this link, the shift cables continued up towards the handlebars at approximately the same angle as the down tube, then they did about a 140 degree turn up to the shift levers. Yours dip down a lot towards the fork, creating a downward turn first, then they eventually loop up to the levers. No immediate rush job, its just one of those small details to keep in mind as you acquire some tools (or head to a co-op).

http://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1...985Ltwt19.html

Well I for one am sad to see this. It's never a good feeling to see someone cave to peer pressure. One more sheep in the wall. If I wasn't such a drop bar fanatic, I'd put them upright on mine just to be recalcitrant.:cry:

It becomes a lot easier once you develop an overall foul taste for your native culture ^^

There's also a culture native to the bicycles commonly parked by liquor stores.

I'm all for making your ride comfortable and work to the best abilities for what you need. There's just far more reasons to not ride with drop bars flipped upside down than to ride with them that way.

Both, some people around here do their own lug pinstriping.. I'd suggest practice and a very fine brush.

Lots of bikes that I've seen here in Sweden have handlebars that are very similar to the Wald ones you used. I suppose the popularity is why Wald has made them for so long, even with such high manufacturing labor costs as you find in the USA.

I suppose the last modification barely took one bottle each of vodka and Jägermeister?

I know I should just let you be-

I see bars set up like that, and I think "hobo." I don't care if they're configured minutely differently. I wouldn't give them a second look. Hobo. Bum. DWI. You, yourself referred to them as "bum bars." I live down the street from a liquor store. I see these bikes laying on the sidewalk in front of the liquor store. I do not see these bikes out and about on recreational rides.

As to who cares... I do. I work hard for my stuff- I deserve to have stuff that I'm proud of because I've earned it. It seems that you're proud of your bike. Cool. It's a cool bike to be proud of, and it's in great shape and it's an immensely practical machine with the baskets you have set up. You were proud enough of it to post pictures on the internet and ask strangers what they thought. That's awesome. I think you have a really cool machine that's worthy to be proud of. I would like it to look nice for you. You've gotten more than 4 people in this thread that have made mention of the DWI-ness of the bike. It would be really nice if no-one made any comments about "bum bars" or "hobo" or "DWI" or "assload of beers" or 'less than a bottle of vodka and Jaegermeister.' I would be most happy if people saw your machine and ONLY thought that it was a cool bike with a variety of purpose.

I wish you the best, and I sincerely hope you enjoy your bike and riding your bike.

The bum-bars thing made me laugh, just yesterday a guy from the local labor-pool stopped by for me to true up his S/A hub wheel, and was telling me he wanted some old "racing bars" so he could flip them around the other way, I gave him an old set, and he was stoked. First thing he does when he gets off work is to grab a 4-pack and I see him come by most days, with only 2 left in his handle-bar basket by the time he gets by my place 2 miles from the store...

I had an '86 Traveler in pristine shape I sold in 2 hours on C/L a couple months ago. They're good bikes.

A few guys here have posted good results using those paint pens they sell at craft & hobby stores.

I've had a few with the detailed lugs, and on yours I would continue with the yellow/white graphic scheme. Like on the headtube, I'd put white around the top lug and yellow around the bottom. Same with the seat tube and down tube, etc, you get the picture. It would be unique, since no one ever does it that way.