1964 Schwinn Traveler 3-Speed

[SirMike1983]

Yeah, I bought not long after it listed. I take a few minutes each day to browse the various vintage bike and auction sites just to see what is popping up. The tall frame, condition, and the fact that it had some of the old-style features sold it for me. I paid what I would think of as "retail" for the project. It wasn't a steal, but it was in such nice shape that I just bit the bullet and went ahead. The three speeds turn up with a lot of wear or replaced stuff on them usually because they were a utilitarian thing in those days. The stainless fenders in particular tend to turn up scratched and dented all to hell. This one is really, really nice, and pretty complete. It was missing the rear reflector and housing, but I had one of each in my stash to use.

 

[SirMike1983]

 

[atilly]

John Deere Ultraguard

... and provides protection for damage caused by severe weather, vandalism, overturn, collision or theft.

 

[SirMike1983]

I did a test on some petrified 1940s Schwinn grips awhile back. I had one control (no treatment), one left in a bag soaking in Armorall for 2 weeks and one left in a bag soaking in Ultraguard for two weeks.

The control was as petrified 2 weeks later as when it started.

The Armorall grip seemed like it might (?) be a slightly softer, but mainly it was just kind of shiny and greasy feeling. I guess it looked a little better, but functionally I saw no real improvement.

The Ultraguard grip was noticeably softer, though Ultraguard did not restore any real resilience to the grip. The grip also seemed to puff up a little bit, but mainly it was softer and had more give to it. As I said, it did not restore much resilience because the grip was too far gone. But it does show that Ultraguard can help soften and perhaps save grips that are borderline. It will not save grips that are already petrified or badly cracked. The downside was that the Ultraguard actually made the surface rubber a little gummy/gooey. Two weeks is evidently too long of a soak, even for an old petrified grip. But it does show some chemical interaction beyond what the Armorall was doing.

There is no substitute for fresh grips if you want something that is both pliable and resilient. But Ultraguard at least offers some chance to help old grips that might still be usable.

 

[SirMike1983]

I'm still working on this bike, a little each night. I'm going to go with a new SRAM PC-1 nickel plated chain. I was not too happy with the wheel spacing in the dropouts using the old Union chain. The Union cleaned up pretty well, but the SRAM centered the wheel in the dropout slots much, much better than the Union. The Union only gave the choices of max forward or max back, which then brings into play fender gap issues. With the SRAM, I set the length using the chain breaker and it just locks right in at the center of the dropout. So SRAM chain it will be...

 

[GTs58]

I've seen lots of lightweights were the rear fender gaps are horrendous and some are so far off I don't think having the correct sized chain would even help. Was there a manufacturing issue that may be causing that?

 

[rennfaron]

Seen it too. Also, the rear fenders have a mounting tab that connects between the seat stays. The rear fender mounting tab placement was located differently per each frame size (19", 21", 23"). The overall fender size is the same, just the tab moves slightly in either direction to accommodate the different geometry in frame sizes. Sometimes these get swapped out over time with a size that didn't match the original size. That can add to weird gaps as the fender will still mount in most cases. The hardest fender sizing to find are for the 23" frame as those frame sizes don't turn up as often in the 40s, 50s and early 60s lightweights.

 

[GTs58]

This is the most common situation that I come across. To fix this issue the stays, seat stay fender bracket and kickstand tube all have to be modified and or relocated. Axle appears to be placed pretty much center of the drop out slot. The top fender mounting is locked in for height and the fender is not a perfect radius so what can be done at this point?

 

[SirMike1983]

This one was a case of the Union either causing the wheel to go all the way to the back of the dropout, or if you shortened the chain a link, left it all the way at the mouth. The SRAM chain placed the wheel right in the center of the drop and everything was great. I've never had a whole lot of luck getting old chains to set up correctly with a new, larger rear cog. I've had a great deal of luck with new SRAM chains, which seem to set up the wheel in a good position. I thought, maybe chain wear on the old ones, but this Union didn't have a lot of wear. And yet, it would not set the wheel in the dropout very well.

 

[Schwinny]

This one was a case of the Union either causing the wheel to go all the way to the back of the dropout, or if you shortened the chain a link, left it all the way at the mouth. The SRAM chain placed the wheel right in the center of the drop and everything was great. I've never had a whole lot of luck getting old chains to set up correctly with a new, larger rear cog. I've had a great deal of luck with new SRAM chains, which seem to set up the wheel in a good position. I thought, maybe chain wear on the old ones, but this Union didn't have a lot of wear. And yet, it would not set the wheel in the dropout very well.

Is it sacrilege, or would a half link not work?
The fender thing has always un-nerved me but Im used to it now.
Im sitting here spinning a chain around in my head and Im wondering how a 1/2" -1/8th Union is a different length than the SRAM. 1/2" and 1/8" are specific measurements, I would imagine them to be the same in length per link.
I guess just a few thousandths per link might not make a big difference at 100 links but which companies chain is the thousandths off?
Probably stretch huh? Although by the looks of the pedals, this bike hasn't been ridden much.
Interesting.