# 1974 Collegiate Handbars



## RattyMatt (Jul 17, 2018)

My collegiate is now wearing new handlebar tape. Old was pretty bad. My chainguard is not labeled Sport, but my bike has no fenders and has drop handlebars.

I read that dealers sometimes switched parts? Anybody know?


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## GTs58 (Jul 17, 2018)

Yes dealers would change out parts to a certain degree, with parts they had in their inventory. I highly doubt a dealer changed out your guard though. The shop I hung out at as a kid had a pretty good inventory of parts so robbing Peter's bike to change Paul's bike was left up to the kids in the hood.


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## RattyMatt (Jul 18, 2018)

Maybe the guard is a replacement. The noticed the kickstand is sprayed silver. I think someone has done some tinkering.


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## bulldog1935 (Jul 18, 2018)

any decent bike shop will deliver your new bike how you want it, and should swap bars, downtube-to-stem shifter where wanted, etc, gratis - the service you should expect from a good bike shop.
Catalog-perfect is a collector thing, and when you find one reflects a bike never ridden.  Bikes actually used in the real world should be improved by their owners for lifestyle.


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## Wayne Adam (Jul 18, 2018)

Nice bike RattyMatt,
   I actually have a '75 Collegiate Sport that I converted into a cruiser. I changed the handlebars to upright, and I added chrome fenders. I then finally added a comfort seat, small bag & rear rack, and now use it as my swap meet rider.  Good luck with your bike!
Wayne


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## RattyMatt (Jul 19, 2018)

Thanks Wayne, yours is a real beauty! I bet it gets some looks. Thanks for sharing. Matt


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## Bidnessboy (Jun 15, 2019)

Can you tell me where you got those handlebars?  I have a 1972 collegiate and want to put original (reproduction)upright touring handlebars and grips back on it.


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## juvela (Jun 15, 2019)

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Were the OEM's produced by Wald?

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## GTs58 (Jun 15, 2019)

Bidnessboy said:


> Can you tell me where you got those handlebars?  I have a 1972 collegiate and want to put original (reproduction)upright touring handlebars and grips back on it.




The Collegiate was made in two versions, the Sport with drop bars and the Tourist with upright bars. The pedals and seats were also different plus the fenders. If you have a Sport with drop bars you'll also need the Tourist brake levers and new brake cables when swapping out the bars. Post an ad in the Wanted section of the Classifieds here or check out the for sale ads. I"m sure @mongeese would have what you need.


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## Bidnessboy (Jun 15, 2019)

GTs58 said:


> The Collegiate was made in two versions, the Sport with drop bars and the Tourist with upright bars. The pedals and seats were also different plus the fenders. If you have a Sport with drop bars you'll also need the Tourist brake levers and new brake cables when swapping out the bars. Post an ad in the Wanted section of the Classifieds here or check out the for sale ads. I"m sure @mongeese would have what you need.



Mine is a Tourist that I converted to a sport style with drop bars when I was a kid in the late 70s.  I have the brake levers and cables.  I didn’t keep the original bars and I’m having a hard time finding some.  Thanks for the reply!


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## Bidnessboy (Jun 15, 2019)

juvela said:


> -----
> 
> Were the OEM's produced by Wald?
> 
> -----



I think so.


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## GTs58 (Jun 15, 2019)

I believe Schwinn was producing their own bars during that time. They will have Schwinn engraved on them along with the year stamped. The 50's and early 60's bars were unmarked. 
Here's a Schwinn set made in 75. If the year stamping is no big deal then these bars are really easy to find. But the shipping cost is unreal.  
http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...0001&campid=5335809022&icep_item=223553078378


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## Bidnessboy (Jun 15, 2019)

Thanks.  Are those the original style handlebars that would’ve been on a 1972 Collegiate?  I’ll keep my on those.  I’m hoping to find NOS or reproduction.


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## spitshineschwinn (Jun 16, 2019)

Are you going to put fenders back on?


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## Bidnessboy (Jun 16, 2019)

spitshineschwinn said:


> Are you going to put fenders back on?



Not sure yet.  Probably yes though.  I would like to get it back to the original configuration.  I wish I would’ve saved all of that stuff!


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## spitshineschwinn (Jun 16, 2019)

I'm going to assume that it came with opaque blue grips, which are going to be extremely hard to find in decent shape. The sets I've seen over the past few years were either chewed up pretty bad or they were the smaller (Fair Lady) size.


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## Bidnessboy (Jun 17, 2019)

My recollection is that the original grips were black.  I could be wrong though.  It was a LONG time ago!


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## spitshineschwinn (Jun 17, 2019)

A lot easier to find, and will match the seat!


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