Good Candidate?
09-19-08 | 12:55 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 78
Likes: 0
From: MI
Bikes: 1970s Schwinn Suburban 5spd
Good Candidate?
Hello SS and Fixie Riders:
I ride a Schwinn Suburban 5spd and may be at the perfect junction to convert it to either SS or fixed.
#1, is it a good candidate? With the following in mind: I would need to fix the rear wheel: 1 broken spoke, wheel bent rather badly.
#2 And: Talking to my wife about this she said, quite logically it seems: "If you want a single speed bike just don't shift and save yourself the work and the opportunity to break more things on your bike." (I am at the perfect junction since my rear wheel is off to replace tube/tire.)
Your thoughts on a Schwinn Suburban SS/Fixie and what benefit there is to doing all the necessary work vs. just not shifting?
Thanks for your patience with this ridiculous question.
I ride a Schwinn Suburban 5spd and may be at the perfect junction to convert it to either SS or fixed.
#1, is it a good candidate? With the following in mind: I would need to fix the rear wheel: 1 broken spoke, wheel bent rather badly.
#2 And: Talking to my wife about this she said, quite logically it seems: "If you want a single speed bike just don't shift and save yourself the work and the opportunity to break more things on your bike." (I am at the perfect junction since my rear wheel is off to replace tube/tire.)
Your thoughts on a Schwinn Suburban SS/Fixie and what benefit there is to doing all the necessary work vs. just not shifting?
Thanks for your patience with this ridiculous question.
09-19-08 | 01:09 PM
#2
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 201
Likes: 0
From: Isla Vista (Santa Barbara) and Berkeley
Bikes: 1979 Motobecane Nomade Sprint, homegrown fixie
taking all the extra stuff cleans up the lines of the bike if you are worried about looks, it reduces the number of failure and friction points and cuts the weight down.
if you are going to go with a fixed bike, you might want to get a new wheel anyways (so that you can run cog and lock ring) otherwise, it would depend on the severity of the bend in the wheel.
as for the bike being a good candidate, what year is it?
the suburban had (for a while at least ) a very unusual shifting system that allowed the rider to shift while coasting
from https://bikecc.wordpress.com/2008/01/...winn-suburban/
if you are going to go with a fixed bike, you might want to get a new wheel anyways (so that you can run cog and lock ring) otherwise, it would depend on the severity of the bend in the wheel.
as for the bike being a good candidate, what year is it?
the suburban had (for a while at least ) a very unusual shifting system that allowed the rider to shift while coasting
I was able to trace the bike to a May 1978 production date. Second, the rear derailleur is a Positron ll, Shimano’s first foray into indexed shifting. Because my home mechanic skills are limited to geared bikes built after 1983 I had not encountered Shimano’s Positron system. The five rear cogs are all in a fixed position ( the large cog being skipped tooth ) and the freewheel is located in the cranks. In place of a spring, the Positron uses a solid cable to accomplish the shifting, and the detents are built into the derailleur, not the levers. What this drive-train allows a rider to do is to shift while coasting. Any ideas on why this wouldn’t be a good system for current mountain bike applications?
05-05-09 | 05:47 AM
#4
.
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 12,769
Likes: 38
From: Rocket City, No'ala
Bikes: 2014 Trek Domane 5.2, 1985 Pinarello Treviso, 1990 Gardin Shred, 2006 Bianchi San Jose
I fixed up a Schwinn Varsity for a friend and it had the FFS on it. The bottom bracket has the freewheel, not the rear hub so simply changing the rear wheel won't make it fixed. You can get a new bottom bracket and crankset but you'll need to convert that Ashtabula shell with an insert to make it English bb compatible.
Insert link $22
Insert link $22
05-05-09 | 05:58 AM
#5
diablo71
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
From: Denver, CO
Bikes: 1977 Schwinn Suburban FG, 1991 Diamondback, 2002 LeMond Buenos Aires
Excellent! Thanks for the info. I can get the adapter and then recycle some older parts I have laying around. From what I have searched, it seems Harris Cyclery is a decent place for getting conversion parts.
