2012 10 Schwinn Voyageur

Whats that in the undergrowth at the other end of the garden?
Couple of council green bags of bramble prunings later and this emerges:

Lets have a look at that nameplate:

So thats '0198'
and
according to;

http://www.re-cycle.com/History/Schwinn/SwnB_Serial.aspx

means it was made on the 19th day of 1988.

Lets check that from:

http://sandro.knot.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/voyageur-comparison.pdf

Emerald Green frame colour: check
Columbus Tenax tubing: check

So, Tenax, gas pipe or 4130+?

Lets ignore this Google-sourced red herring:

http://shop.elitemeasurement.com/dustandairsampling/Samplingaccessories/Gas-Vapour-Sampling-Accessories-and-media/Sorbent-tubes/Tenax-Tubes

I'll happily believe this:

http://mauisvintage.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/columbus-tenax-secret-revealed.html

Shimano BioPace: check

Rear derailleur, Shimano MT-60: negative

Dia-Compe Brakes: check

(anyone know how to check if these are the supposed 983Ds?)

Rims: Wolber Super Champion Modele 58 27x1.25: check

This sturdy bike was given to me by a neighbour, about 20 minutes before he moved out. He had left it in his garage, (I didn't even know the house he was renting had a garage), so I'm not responsible for all the neglect.

He brought it over to the UK from the US when his firm relocated him.
I never saw him ride the Schwinn, so I guess his cycling days declined as parenthood reduced his sparetime.

So,
a good clean, check/regrease bearings,
new chain, new cables then?
Change the wheels for 700c's or can someone recommend a (set of), good hard wearing 27 inch tyre?

Or,
am I better off working on this partial wreck?

The Schwinn Traveler i found at a bike jumble is a little older and in a little worse state. I think its worth salvaging though, as is yours.

@ChadTI

Yes,

   it was your thread that encouraged me to want to start, and document this one.

As this Voyageur is already some of the way there,
the town/commute/cyclocross option looks do-able.

Are there (affordable) 27 inch CX tyres?

Well, I've answered one question myself.
Took of one of the brakes, gave it a bit of a rub, removing the patina(?), and a name emerged from beneath the weathering:

So the brakes are Dia-Compe 5583, Japan.

I've always thought derailleurs, despite being an elegant engineering solution to gearing, look very exposed, prone to getting covered in (oil-enriched) crap, and on a triple have some duplication, and of course some gears that should not be used to prolong chain lifespan.

When I was younger Sturmey Archer were a kind of joke, just three gears, a racer 'needs' 10.
Later I read about German hub gears, but in the '80's (when I was last cycling a lot), they were about as affordable as aluminium frames & diisc brakes.

So imagine my delight, when, back in the Summer, a chap in Shepherds Bush advertised this

on Gumtree.

(He was intending to convert his bike to FGSS so there is some happiness in this already).

Admittedly not a Rohlhoff,
and 'only' 8-speed, but compared to my first ever Raleigh, thats +2 and only -2 from my first 'racer'.

Heard of these years ago,
but,
never realised how far out from circular they really are:

Pedals barely turn,
and
theres a bottom bracket to extract and check.

I feel a visit to my local bearing place tomorrow is on the cards.

Nice work, and nice documentation.

Thanks for dropping by.
Any commendations gratefully received.

More to come.

Rummaging in the parts bin found some old Shimano 600 brakes,
but,

and

shows they are not long enough.

These Avids

are long enough

don't have the adjustment to reach the braking surface.

Oh, well back to the original brakes,
and a bit of adjusting later,

we have contact.

explains the reluctance to rotate.
The drive side is rusted and free from lubrication.

(Admission time;
LiDL Bike Tool set bottom bracket spanner could not exert enough force to loosen the oval sided,
so I tapped away at the lock nut.
Not being an engineer I did tap the wrong way first,
but,
doesn't this break the 'lock' of the long undisturbed threads
and
potentially factory applied thread lock?)

With my local bike shops exhibiting a Maserati metality:

Scene 1 most local bike shop, a Specialized Concept Store, (was Action Bikes);
'Do you have a puncture proof tyre?'
'Yes, these Crossroad Armadillo Elite are just £40 each'
'Xxxxx, (next most local bike shop), have Schwalbe Marathons in stock for £30',
'Sorry, ours are £40'

Scene 2 next most local bike shop.
Mate has a standard 700c wheel with 2 broken spokes.
'Do you have any spokes for a standard 700c wheel?'
'We don't really keep any stock of spokes, for resale'
'So you don't have any?'
'Well I could check in the workshop'
'Could you?'

Shop assistant troops off the all of 10 metres to the workshop, returning with 3 spokes, (mate willing to take a 'spare'),
'They are double butted stainless steel thats why they are £2.50 each'
(No brand name given, mate reasonably happy as he does not know where else to find spokes).

Scene 3;
same lbs as above,
'Do you sell mudguard stays?'
'We sell mudguards'
'I'm really only after a set of stays for some old repurposed SKS's.
How much are your full length mud guards?
'The Tortecs are £35'

(I had entered expecting to pay just a couple of quid for replacement stays).

Scene 4 next most lbs
'Hi, this pedal was making a grinding sound. I've opened it up and it needs some new ball bearings'
'Not worth it. Our cheapest plastic pedals are £10'.

I made a trip to the Uxbridge branch of:

http://www.bearingtraders.com/

with the pedal mentioned above,
these

from the Schwinn, (which appear to only have outboard bearings,
and a hole, (for regular greasing?), through the screw-fit end cap,
and the bottom bracket.

They have a Trade Counter, but the guy who has grudgingly served me before does not have the Trade Counter mentality.

I had cleaned one of each of the required replacement ball bearings,
and the TCG measured each with his digital micrometer.
'If I've got any 5/32 in stock you better buy a lottery ticket tonight' he mithered as he went to check his stock.

He returned only partly triumphant.
Another branch has stock and he can get them all in by Monday afternoon.

I left my number.
I hope to receive a call.

Returning from Uxbridge, I can pass by a Halfords,
which someone had told me was better than average.

No ball bearings on display,
but the assistant suggests the guys on the mezzanine may be able to help, as they do 'the ordering'.

Guy upstairs is assembling a young childs (first?) bike and seems glad of the distraction.
They do indeed have ball bearings but only in races, with a squeeze tube of grease, and look more like service items than retail.

As the race of the driveside bearing of the bottom bracket has at least three corroded 'fingers', I succumb and buy one, although the halfords race retains only 9 ball bearings. The non-driveside original will require 11 replacement ball bearings.

It being Halfrauds, instead of a reasonable price, there was the inevitable '3 for 2' on bike accessories,
so I also bought a headset star nut, (over zealous Dad over tightened sons' Trek 7100 headset star nut),
and
plastic ferrules for the end of gear/brake cable sheaths.

Strange world where Halfords has a larger selection of service items than my 3 lbs'.

Bearing Traders did phone,
so I cycled over there in yesterdays notional lunchtime,
and this evening hope to pop these

into the required places.