Jae L’s 1985 Schwinn World

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OTSG first-timer Jae L, sent in his nicely updated ’85 Schwinn World. Jae, we’ve all faced the  “20yr old fixer-upper” vs.”$1k+ new” conundrum, and hopefully, this very website has helped a fair number chose the former over the later.

My wife laughed at my request to buy a $1000+ road/touring bicycle so I picked up this ’85 Schwinn World from CL instead. I wish I could say I’d gotten a deal but I spent far too much money and time on this bike than I want to admit. I’m guessing that part of her regrets not letting me buy that $1000+ bike. The bike was completely disassembled and put back together with some new parts and lot of elbow grease. It was worth every penny and minute that I spent. This is my first ten speed and my first road bike. I really enjoyed working on it and enjoy riding it even more.

The sticker on the drop out suggests that the bike was manufactured by Giant in Taiwan for Schwinn.

I replaced/added cables, tires, tubes, handle bar tape, chain, seatpost, saddle, stem, brake levers, and bottle cage. The seatpost(25.7mm dia.) and stem were too short. Both were replaced with longer inexpensive Kalloy parts. One of the saddle rail bracket was cracked so I am currently using my old MTB saddle until I can pickup a better one.

I’m starting to look around for my next OTS.

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Including one picture of the bike the day I brought it home and few pics taken today after my test ride a month later.

Thank you. OTS website is fantastic.

Thanks Jae

Related posts:

  1. PatWoz’s 1972 Schwinn Super Sport
  2. Jason V’s Fuji Espree
  3. Bob H’s 1977 Schwinn Sierra
  4. Scott V’s Tunturi 500R
  5. Jay W’s 1971 Schwinn Varsity
  • http://hughsbicycle.blogspot.com Hugh

    I think you made an excellent choice. The “Giant built” lugged frames make a great platform for a classic road bike build. The aerodynamic levers look real good. And while I am not a huge fan of white-walls, They do compliment the white tape nicely.

  • Jae

    It was bit risky going with white-walls but at the time my daughters were obsesses with watching Cars and this quote sort of nudged me in that direction.

    “No, no, no! You don’t know what you want! Luigi know what you want. Black-wall tires, they blend into the pavement, but these white-wall tires, they say look at me, here I am, love me.”

    More I think about it, it’s not really my style to be flashy so I may go with more classic look once I get few miles on this thing Just got a Brooks saddle which I will be throwing on there. I’m hoping to use it for a century ride once weather clears up here in Chicago.

  • Mark

    I have the exact same bike that i purchased new in 1985 for about $250. It needs a ton of work, and I don’t really have the facilities to do it myself. I am trying to decide whether to pay somebody to fix it up, or buy a new bike. Any advice?