So I'm considering buying or trading for an old road frame (nothing specific yet, but something along the lines of Schwinn or Raleigh) as I'm really vying for a bit of a better frame (mine is hi-ten steel) and I know older road bikes from the around the 80s tend to have better tubing. I'm fully aware that I'd have to deal with conversion dropouts as opposed to track ends for at least some amount of time but there is an experienced framebuilder in my area who could swap the dropouts and braze on track ends for $100. This seems to me like a good idea on paper but I'm nearly certain that there's got to be more than a few problems with my plan, thoughts?

If you find a road frame with horizontal dropouts, than you wouldn't need to worry about much else. I have a mid 80's Shogun frame that I use for winter commuting. The "conversion" process was: 1. Swapping out the rear road wheel for one with a track hub. 2. Nothing. Chain tension is easy to set, and it rides great!

Yeah I'm totally aware of that, it's just due to the fact that I like to have tight clearance between my seattube and rear wheel and the fact that there's a fair chance that it would be more of a "proper" build than the piled on mishmash I'm riding right now aka putting money into nice components over a fair period of time, I think track ends would be a good investment

Which old Schwinns were you considering?

My initial reaction is dependent on which frame you decide to start with.

Some will have possible rear axle length differences with which to deal, too. Some oldies will have horizontal drop outs and 120mm spacing back there, so no prob.

If you're starting $100 in the hole and don't yet have anything in your hand, maybe put that hundo toward a more modern chromo frame already set up. Depends what you want....a newer frame can be just as satisfying to build as a moldy oldy, with fewer hassles.

Like I said in my post, I don't have anything specific yet, I haven't as much as checked to see what's available in my area, but I do remember seeing a mid 80s world sport going around that was in my size...But definitely nothing with too big a wheelbase like say, a traveler
If I had an extra $100, I'd just buy a Kilo but since my boss at the company I was delivering for screwed all the riders over I don't have any cash flow going on. Besides, I might luck out and find of the Columbus Steel Schwinns on some kid who doesn't know anything about it and be able to get it for a steal. I'm also fully aware with the fact that some older bikes have 130mm spacing but what I've read that's nothing some spacers can't fix

If you want tight clearance then find a road racing frame or track frame. Having track ends put on a regular road frame won't improve your bike in any way.

So from what I'm picking up, road racing frames have slightly tighter geometry than your average road frame?

A regular road bike, so to say, will have room for tires larger than 23mm, a longer wheel base, fender and/or rack mounts. A Schwinn World Sport is one of those. Findng something like a Centurion Dave Scott Iron Man would be a high end production 80's bike without any of those accomodations.

The question is what do you really want out of your bike? Nice light and fast are rarely practical everyday bikes. People do it all the time but how much are you willing to deal with a bike that doesn't work for you much beyond being a light set of wheels.

Are you a messenger of some sort?

Seen a few worthy bikes, tell me what you guys think:
RARE VINTAGE SCHWINN SPRINT ROAD BIKE 10 speed w/ contoured downtube

Schwinn Sprint 23" frame/headset/cranks - new black powder coating

22.5" Motobecane Mirage frame - vintage

Vintage made in England Lambert bike

Not a messenger per se, I was doing some food delivery until a bit earlier this month. And I probably should have chosen my words a bit more carefully, it's not clearance tightness (that's mainly for aesthetics) but actual geo tightness. I thought max clearance on racing bikes was generally 28 or 25c. I'm currently riding 28's year round but I wouldn't mind going down to 25's or 23's.

Dude, ride what you have for now. Forget about it. Save some money do your grind and when something breaks replace it. Check the local CL everyday for people who don't know what they have and scoop it up. Hang out at local bike shops/ spots and get to know people and buy from friends. Best way to get good deals. Everything you posted is not worth a 100 bucks. I've gotten several frames or bikes under a 100 by just chance and having the cash on hand at the time.

Why not just buy any of the standard cheap "track bike" frames and go off that? Conversions are rarely worth putting any actual money into and the ones that are, are usually gonna sell for more than a cheap track frame.

Solid advice, thanks
Because all the cheap "track" frames are hi-ten steel or I'm just plain not a fan of them

They liked their skinny tires in the 80s. I have a high end non-racing bike from the 80s and 28s just barely fit.

Each one of those is terribly over priced.

CL: Clearly listed @ 40% over value.

Those Schwinn frames aren't going to be any better than what you have.

Perhaps these frames?
Chrome single speed bike
TORELLI ROAD FRAME 57cm

The chrome frame undoubtedly is a bit cheap, but it may only be a pound or two different from a reasonably high end 80's model frame.

The Torelli frame might be nice. It needs some work to clean it up, but if it was about 2000 miles closer, I might consider it.

I'd encourage you to just use it with the horizontal dropouts, and leave the derailleur hanger and cable stop in place, but it would be a good frame to customize as you see fit.

I'd be reluctant to buy a Lambert or Viscount with an aluminum fork.

Lambert and Viscount Bicycles
Lambert and Viscount Bicycles

There are apparently a few different versions and "improvements" in the forks. I'm not sure which is which. However, I think all of them had some risk of failure.

Seeing the plastic Simplex brand derailleurs on a bike never inspire confidence in me.

That Torelli is definitely a beauty, I'd for sure rid of the cable stops since I wont be running any kind of rear brake or deraileur. my main concern is that getting the frame restored would cost about as much as replacing the dropouts and I don't want to ride around looking like I just pulled my bike out of the trash

There is your problem. Paying for something to be restored and not being willing to ride beat up paint is gonna cost you a lot of money. Either do it yourself or step back and re-evaluate.

Considering I have absolutely no experience in painting or welding and the fact that I don't really have the time/space required, doing myself is definitely not an option. I'll keep a tab on that one for sure. There's a bike shop that's about a 30 minute ride from my school which has a lot of older conversion worthy frames for the low low so I think I'll head there on Wednesday, now that I think about it, I might actually be able to build an entire bike there for not a lot of money.

There are often places that will sand blast and powder coat a frame for not too much.

Around here, this ad has been popping up on Craigslist from time to time.
$50 bicycle powder coating

That Torelli above probably has a replacement fork, which can be good or bad... lots of comments on non-original forks on the web. But the price still isn't too bad for a local pickup.

Also look for a local bike co-op that sells bikes, frames, and components for not too much, as well as providing shop space.

If you want a unique custom job, then there is nothing better to get something and start tinkering on it. Although, I could imagine some limitations if you are living in a college dorm or something similar. Still, you could start acquiring the tools you need, or find a place you could do the work.

I'm a fan of mid/late-80's schwinns. I converted an '87 Schwinn Tempo without issue and it's using Columbus Tenax tubing. Such a sweet, fun ride.

For vintage roadbike conversions I would stick with bikes in the 80's. If you want that modern racing geometry look and feel, I wouldn't recommend converting anything that originally was made for 27" tires, and some touring bikes.

Yeah the shop I was referring to is a bike co-op, $100 or so could probably build me something decent and good looking and since a lot of the older frames there already have the headset/bb installed I could assemble myself, as for painting, I don't think I'll want anything too crazy, just a solid color, but hopefully I can find a frame thats in good enough condition that it won't be a concern of mine
Definitely not touring bikes, I wouldn't be able to deal with the long wheelbase, but I feel like something meant for 27" would fit 700c wheels just fine, no?

Yes! it will still work. It's just you won't get that tight clearance between the seattube and rear wheel (which I thought you were looking for, but maybe not) with a 27">700c conversion.