I have a early- mid 70's shcwinn frame that I wanted to convert, and was wondering if anyone knew of a good one piece crank thats a bit lighter and better looking than the stock?

I don't know of any. You might be able to get a bmx BB adaptor that will allow you to use Euro style bottom brackets and 3 piece bmx cranksets, but the frame isn't worth the investment IMO.

Chris

One piece ranks are sign #1 that the frame's gonna be more trouble than its worth.

DOn't start down that road. Sell the bike if possible, get something else.

I haven't posted in here for a long time, but since I'm back I'll give my 2¢.

Many older Schwinns make excellent conversions, especially if you are looking to keep it cheap. I reccommend going with a Euro BB adapter and a cheap set of Bulletproof cranks with a sealed BB. For the cost of cranks, adapter, BB and a chainring and bolts you should be able to get all this for about $100, give or take. Which is roughly 1/3 the cost of a Mercier Kilo TT. Now if you want to go with a proper fixed hub laced to a 27" rim, these can be had for about $90 + shipping, so now you're 2/3 of the way to could-have-bought a Kilo TT...

See where I'm going with this?

The part you would need is this https://www.universalcycles.com/shopp...&category=2634

Its not a hard conversion (1-3 piece crank) but there may be better candidates for conversion (not so heavy). What modal schwinn is it?

After a bit of research, I found its a 1980 continental, I have seen a bunch of frames like mine done in a vintage style that looked great, so since I have time and the desire, I think it would be cool to work with. Actually, any other tips besides "don't do it", heh, would be great!

Don't sell the bike. I'm a big fan of making things work. Just do the conversion and ride it. A 1980 Continental will probably outlast you.

All one piece cranks are steel and heavy. Well, relatively heavy. However, they're perfectly functional. My fixie is a 60s Huffy, former three speed. With a one piece crank. It just works.

Some caveats when using a one piece crank for a fixie. There may be some slop around the pin that keeps the chainring from spinning. It may be bad or not. In the past, I used a home made shim. My current chainring doesn't have the problem. Another is that one piece cranks almost universally use 1/2" spindles. Pedal selection gets pretty thin.

On the plus side, forged one piece cranks are extremely reliable and easy to work on.

If you must switch to three piece, you can use one of the converters edw points to, or one of these. Harris Cyclery has a page dedicated to parts for those American bikes.