I have a one owner (me) 1987 schwinn sierra mountain bike that I lovingly refer to as the "tractor" . I have ridden the bike off and on since LOML bought it for me on my 33rd birthday (man I'm old), but never put any real miles on it. all original except tires, 6 speed, 3 chainrings. old, but a blast to ride. Now that I've begun riding my touring bike regularly, I'm thinking of upgrading the "tractor" into a heavy duty commuter / beat around town bike . Worth the trouble? If so, what would you do first?

Ken

I would not do much other than perhaps putting some road-type tires on. A pair of 1.5" "slicks" will greatly decrease your rolling resistance, and give you better traction on pavement as well.
If I'm not mistaken, that Sierra is a rather stout steel-framed model, and probably not worth much more in the way of upgrades.

yes, stout is a good word for it.... hence the nickname "tractor". already looking at the slicks, maybe a new set of bars too.

Thanks Bikewer.

Ken

Rear rack then tires. Then bags or panniers of some kind. I lived in the area for a while so get some fenders and great rain gear. Followed by lights and studded tires for winter. Lights if needed. Warning: cold weather is very hard on little batteries.

Thanks Ken,
Have had the rack on for about 12 years. looking at panniers to share with my touring bike. Will probably not commute too often (28 miles one way - and interstate) but I will ride it off and on all winter.

Ken

You can find killer deals on painniers on e-bay, mate. Folk's buy a bike
and all the goodies only to find out that cycling is "work" so they sell
off stuff cheap.

Also the Serria is a good enough bike to make an excellent daily driver.
Just keep the maintaince up and replace components as they wear out
with good DURABLE components to make and excellent work bike.
If the bike pays it's own way then pamper it with good care.

Funny that you call it "the tractor".

My first bike was a comfort bike, now have gone to a touring as well. I now refer to my old comfort bike as "the John Deere".

Go with Conti Town & Country Tires... I gained 3-4 mph what a blast to ride my old Trek.

I have fenders, lights, rack, "Bug" pannier, all the bells and whistles....

Even a home made rack at work lol

Nothing wrong with the mid 80's Schwinn mountain bikes that a diet wouldn't cure.

My current commuter is a Schwinn High Sierra (vintage 1985 or so). I bought it off a guy back in school for $100 and it still rides as good now as it did then. Of course, I've replaced some of the parts but mostly it's stock. I've put slicks on it, headlight/rear blinkies, clipless pedals, a set of fenders and a bike computer. My commute is just over 10 miles one way, and the only time I regret the bike is on two climbs I have on the way home.

I'm not sure what all differences there are between the Sierra and the High Seirra. Does your bike have the heavy welded up front bars? On the High Sierra, the front bars are one piece, all welded steel.

the Sierra has flat bars, seperate stem. not as heavy as the high sierra. It does have a "substantial" fork though. I compared it to my '06 Fuji Touring, and I woudl say the bike stripped is about 6 or 7 pounds heavier - but I could be wrong. Either way, I'm going to put new slicks, fenders, lights and bags on it. Heck, I may just strap a milk crate on the rack short term

Ken

Nothing wrong with that bike. I still have my 1987 Schwinn High Sierra. Won my one and only mountain bike race on that bike.

Yeah, my first mountain bike was a green mid 80's schwinn sierra. I got a lot of miles out of that bike. I remember placing a different stem and handlebar on it for a little more aggressive riding position. The suntour components were bulletproof. Keep that bike!

I owned an 86 Schwinn Mirada which was
the cross bike of that line. I loved that
bike. It was slow but the tires were
practically bullet proof.

I eventually put a shock absorber in the
seat and banana handlebars on it to resemble the ride of a recumbent.

I got BENT about 3 months later
but got a lot of admiring looks from
folks when I rode that Mirada around
with the Banana Bars on it.

I kept the seat and shock when I
junked the bike and just gave it
to a friend to inherited a refurbished
bike about a week ago.

Fond memories of that bike tho...

Well, here's the tractor with new fenders, 26x1.5 street tires and a new computer. LOML and I went out for a 10 mile today, rides pretty nice for a 19 year old bike and a 52 year old pilot.

It'll be a great ride for you, I bet. Even with the slicks and fenders you can go off-pavement if you don't get too extreme. I do all the time with my old Hardrock commuter. V-pull brakes would be nice, if you find some cheaply.

Another alternative would be to strip it down to the bare essentials. No bar ends, aluminum bars, no fenders or rack, no kickstand, etc. That makes a fun bike too. That's how I have my hardrock now, I just put one bottle cage on in the hot weather.