kostnerave
Finally riding a big boys bike
Hi everyone. Here are some pictures of my latest project, a 1974 Schwinn Sports Tourer finished in Opaque Red. I spotted this bike on ebay, listed for a lot of money. The price convinced me to pass, but I kept coming back to it to see if it had sold. Finally, I contacted the seller to see if he was flexible on his price. A day or two later, he came back with an offer quite a bit lower and I committed to buy it. The bicycle was originally purchased from John's bicycles in Pasadena, Ca. The original owner had the dealership install fenders and replace the Brooks B-15 with a mattress saddle. The bike came with it's original owners manual and a service stub from John's stating that it was a special order. The overall condition of the bike was beautiful, showing little, if any, wear. Of course, all of the grease was dried out and the original LeTour tires were hard as a rock. I completely disassembled the bike and carefully polished, detailed and serviced everything. I installed new tubes, tires, an era correct n.o.s. Schwinn bag and a Park bag holder. This bike, more than any other Schwinn I've worked on, fascinated me with the range of components Schwinn chose for this model. Parts are present from many countries including The United States, France, Germany, Belgium, Japan, Switzerland and Great Britian. The Opaque Red paint definitely dates this bike as a 1974 model, but the frame is date coded 1972. Some research on the Cabe shows that this happened frequently with Schwinn's fillet brazed frames. I have limited space, but I'll clear a spot for this one. I hope everyone enjoys the pictures and thank you for looking.