# A Christmas gift from a bike guy



## Drosentreter (Dec 30, 2022)

Welp, my brother has always been very “bikes are dumb, idk why you collect them, they are a waste of your time when you have cars to work on” but I have made a believer out of him. I fixed up a 1975 Schwinn Conti for my uncle, and took it to the Illinois State Fairgrounds for the ATHS truck show to test it out. I probably put 10 miles on the bike just riding around the grounds looking at the trucks(I was having a blast because I live with a 1/4 mile rock driveway that leads onto a highway, not ideal biking to say the least, so it was nice to ride on pavement free of traffic) It wasn’t until the last day of the show when we had to walk 1/4 mile back to the vehicle that I convinced him to ride it, and it actually took his girlfriend saying, “Why don’t you at least ride it back to the car?” She has much more leverage than I do of course so he agreed. He took off and left us in the dust, and came flying back to tell us he’d never ridden a bike so fast in his life, and that he felt like he could just go faster and faster and never really top out. Around a week later he casually said “yk I wouldn’t mind having a bike like that to ride” Game on. Now I’ve got to find a 10 speed for him, and for my even older brother as to not leave him out(middle brother age 21, older 25) so I found the perfect 2, a tall frame Yellow Conti for the middle brother, and a standard 22” Campus Green Varsity for my older brother. Well then I needed one for my dad so I found him one that needed paint so I could color match it to the truck we did together. Here’s where the story begins(ya, I know. I’m also surprised you made it this far). So my middle brother comes home and sees the 3 bikes, and asks about them. “Two of them are mine and the other 1 is dads” which he bought, but he still felt the need to remind me that he’d like to have one if I find one(perfect, I’ll give it to him for Xmas). So he looks at the green one and says “that’s a pretty color, I’d like one like that” “ya but that one is already spoken for, sorry.” So he says “That yellow one is a nice bike, but it’s kinda ugly, like riding on a banana” so there goes that plan. So he continues to send me 10 speed Schwinns everywhere he sees one for sale, and finally finds one reasonable, and it’s on my way somewhere so I pick it up. Waaaaaay worse condition than it had been advertised. So whatever I’ll paint it the color of his 70 Camaro! Next time he is home he sees one of the 2 frames that I had sandblasted(both already needed paint don’t kill me) and so I told him the plan for my dads bike, and the color match. He says “ya. That will look nice in that color, but I don’t think I would want one the color of my Camaro, it’s too bright of a blue for a bike” ughhhhhh strike 2 for me. So I painted them both the color of my truck, and polished and bought tires, and made them mint perfect brand new. So I wasn’t able to get them all polished and finished for Christmas, but at least enough I could display them all and let them pic. So my middle brother chose naturally a different Campus Green tall frame Varsity, and my oldest brother chose the other one color matched to my truck. They were thrilled, and actually really excited to get one. So here is my dads bike in progress, and I’ll get some finished pics, with pictures of my brothers bikes to follow when I get them done. (handle bar tape is Stressful!)


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## MrMonark13 (Dec 30, 2022)

Man, you did a great job! I agree that handlebar tape is stressful. I’m sure all the bikes will be enjoyed!


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## GTs58 (Dec 30, 2022)

Very nice! What brand bar tape is that? It looks almost like the old Hunt Wilde Flexon/Schwinn tape with maybe a slight difference in texture.


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## Drosentreter (Dec 31, 2022)

GTs58 said:


> Very nice! What brand bar tape is that? It looks almost like the old Hunt Wilde Flexon/Schwinn tape with maybe a slight difference in texture.



It’s NOS Hunte Wilde!


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## stezell (Dec 31, 2022)

Very cool Dane!


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## razinhellcustomz (Jan 2, 2023)

Drosentreter said:


> Welp, my brother has always been very “bikes are dumb, idk why you collect them, they are a waste of your time when you have cars to work on” but I have made a believer out of him. I fixed up a 1975 Schwinn Conti for my uncle, and took it to the Illinois State Fairgrounds for the ATHS truck show to test it out. I probably put 10 miles on the bike just riding around the grounds looking at the trucks(I was having a blast because I live with a 1/4 mile rock driveway that leads onto a highway, not ideal biking to say the least, so it was nice to ride on pavement free of traffic) It wasn’t until the last day of the show when we had to walk 1/4 mile back to the vehicle that I convinced him to ride it, and it actually took his girlfriend saying, “Why don’t you at least ride it back to the car?” She has much more leverage than I do of course so he agreed. He took off and left us in the dust, and came flying back to tell us he’d never ridden a bike so fast in his life, and that he felt like he could just go faster and faster and never really top out. Around a week later he casually said “yk I wouldn’t mind having a bike like that to ride” Game on. Now I’ve got to find a 10 speed for him, and for my even older brother as to not leave him out(middle brother age 21, older 25) so I found the perfect 2, a tall frame Yellow Conti for the middle brother, and a standard 22” Campus Green Varsity for my older brother. Well then I needed one for my dad so I found him one that needed paint so I could color match it to the truck we did together. Here’s where the story begins(ya, I know. I’m also surprised you made it this far). So my middle brother comes home and sees the 3 bikes, and asks about them. “Two of them are mine and the other 1 is dads” which he bought, but he still felt the need to remind me that he’d like to have one if I find one(perfect, I’ll give it to him for Xmas). So he looks at the green one and says “that’s a pretty color, I’d like one like that” “ya but that one is already spoken for, sorry.” So he says “That yellow one is a nice bike, but it’s kinda ugly, like riding on a banana” so there goes that plan. So he continues to send me 10 speed Schwinns everywhere he sees one for sale, and finally finds one reasonable, and it’s on my way somewhere so I pick it up. Waaaaaay worse condition than it had been advertised. So whatever I’ll paint it the color of his 70 Camaro! Next time he is home he sees one of the 2 frames that I had sandblasted(both already needed paint don’t kill me) and so I told him the plan for my dads bike, and the color match. He says “ya. That will look nice in that color, but I don’t think I would want one the color of my Camaro, it’s too bright of a blue for a bike” ughhhhhh strike 2 for me. So I painted them both the color of my truck, and polished and bought tires, and made them mint perfect brand new. So I wasn’t able to get them all polished and finished for Christmas, but at least enough I could display them all and let them pic. So my middle brother chose naturally a different Campus Green tall frame Varsity, and my oldest brother chose the other one color matched to my truck. They were thrilled, and actually really excited to get one. So here is my dads bike in progress, and I’ll get some finished pics, with pictures of my brothers bikes to follow when I get them done. (handle bar tape is Stressful!)
> 
> View attachment 1760140
> 
> ...



Nice job Dane..Did you do the paint work? I really love the blue color on the Varsity. RideOn ....


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## GTs58 (Jan 2, 2023)

Drosentreter said:


> It’s NOS Hunte Wilde!



Nice wrap job for a beginner! It's a real pain sometimes making it work out with only one 5 yard roll. When I did my Varsity I couldn't find a roll of Lime tape to save my asp so I picked up a used set of bars with lime tape and used the tape that was on those for my 64 childhood clone build.


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## Drosentreter (Jan 2, 2023)

razinhellcustomz said:


> Nice job Dane..Did you do the paint work? I really love the blue color on the Varsity. RideOn ....



Yes I did! Thanks!


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## Drosentreter (Jan 2, 2023)

GTs58 said:


> Nice wrap job for a beginner! It's a real pain sometimes making it work out with only one 5 yard roll. When I did my Varsity I couldn't find a roll of Lime tape to save my asp so I picked up a used set of bars with lime tape and used the tape that was on those for my 64 childhood clone build.
> 
> 
> View attachment 1761684



That’s dang good lookin! Here’s the tape I used. It looks much more brown in person.


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## GTs58 (Jan 2, 2023)

After my futile attempt to find some Lime bar tape, I got greedy and started buying all the Lime tape I came across along with a few other popular colors of the 60's. Nothing worse than not having what you need when you need it! Then I sold off quite a few rolls of various colors to friends when they were having a hard time locating what they needed.


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## Tim s (Jan 2, 2023)

Your bikes are looking great! I have given my wife a few bikes and I have also given my sister and brother a bike that I have detailed back to life. Both my children and my best friend from my childhood have also received bikes from me. The most memorable part for me is when I present it to them, all of them were surprised and kind of overwhelmed with joy. Your dad and brothers will remember that gift forever, good going. Tim


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## Grey Ghost (Jan 5, 2023)

If your brother thought a 75 Conti was fast you ought to take him to a dealer who sells mid/high end racing bikes and let him ride one of those!

Old Schwinn 10 speeds were tractors compared to the European lightweights that hit the states in the early 70’s. Schwinn largely failed because they refused to recognize the public’s demand for professional grade equipment and frames. ( I don’t miss sew-ups at all though)

Nice job taping. The more you do the easier it gets.

Glad your brother is getting it. 
Bikes are fun.


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