Timothy J. of “Alward” fame, has offered us another from his stable. This time around it’s a 1962 Schwinn Superior. If you like this bike, than you’ll love this bike.
I aquired this lovely violet Superior from a thrift store for the princely sum of $15, an urban barn find if ever there was one. It is technically a 15 speed with the triple plateau chainrings but it’s age and beauty call to the cognocenti in the congregation to forgive for it was born that way.
Astute OTSB observers will note the trauma around the head and top tube joint. Sadly this evanescent machine has suffered from mistreatment from the hoi polloi who owned it prior. Fear not it will never be altered from its original state except as funds accrue to allow proper frame repair and paint.
Thanks Timothy
We went Schwinnless for so long that Paul H.’s 1973 Varsity got an Extreme Makeover. Paul originally sent me his Varsity back in April. It sat so long waiting to be posted that Paul turned it into some sort of grocery-getting-jalopy that he calls a “Tourist”! I figured if I didn’t get this thing posted soon in his next set of pictures he would have tassels streaming off the handlebars and a big orange safety flag swinging from the rear pillars of a newly installed banana seat.
I picked up this bike at the city dump last week for free. It is all original as far as I can tell. The gumwall tires were melted so I had to replace them with tires I had laying around. Note the Schwinn orange plastic handlebar tape.
This is easily the worst bicycle I own. It is exhilarating to ride. I love it.
On April 18 I rescued this 1973 Schwinn Varsity Sport from the city dump.
With some new tires it became rideable.
But I wasn’t done yet: I decided it would make a good tourist-style bike.
I got upright handlebars from an old Huffy, a sprung seat for free on the
internet from a fellow Schwinn aficionado, and added some Wald baskets on
the back to make it into a good commuter bike and now I have a 1973 Schwinn
Varsity Tourist!
You can see the evolution in the pictures.
Thanks again Paul
Digging into my pile-o-schwinns once again, I found this practically NOS Schwinn Sprint sent in by Robert B.
This is an 80s era Schwinn Sprint (Taiwanese?) My father had bought it about 20 years ago for $50 and never rode it. It was then stored until spring of 2008 when I decided to start riding it.
It needed new tires and tubes, as well as cables and a tune up. Oh, and lots of cleaning. I still haven’t gotten around to polishing up the shiny parts, but it rides good and thats what counts.
Thanks Robert
More from the depths of my inbox. This is a 1983 Schwinn Traveler sent in by Mark M. Mark was even kind enough to add to our collection of backsidagarägdorotypes.
I picked this up on a trade for a CCM 12-speed that was too small for me. It was pretty rough before my TLC.
Thanks Mark
For the past two months or so, the Gallery has been on a vacation of sorts. Our Theme Weeks took us on a wild ride from continent to continent, but like most overdone vacations, we’ve come home to find a refrigerator full of rotting cabbage. The refrigerator in this case is my inbox, and the rotting cabbage is the pile of Schwinns that have collecting since late March. I’m going to spend the next week or so “cleaning out some cabbage”. Please enjoy.
Warning: The following post is “Not What God Intended”
Greg T. sent in this, his 1971 Schwinn Varsity, way back in mid March. For one reason or another, I continually put off posting it. The OTSG does not, in any way, endorse this kind of brutal maiming of a perfectly fine OTS, but please enjoy the “Before” shot.
I picked this up in a bike shop in Troy, OH. It was in pretty rough shape. Most all of the components were shot as well as the wheels. So I decided to give it new life as a single speed.
I added some blacked out wheels with bigger tires, switched out the crank and sprocket, and added a new seat and set of bars. The orange paint really pops after a good clean and wax. I understand if you don’t want to include this in you gallery, since technically it is only a single speed now, but it is what it is…
Thanks Greg
