• Branko

    Nice job Scott! I particularly like the front brake cable hanger. Is it home-made? How did you get the bottom bracket to fit the Schwinn shell?

  • laverack

    Awesome rig. One of the nicest rehab/upgrades I have ever seen. Was the ashtabula to european bottom bracket adapter easy to install?

  • scott f

    Thanks for the comment! I put a lot of time and effort in this bike. Lots of modifications and upgrades.
    The front brake, yes. As you know the Varsity never came with a center pull brake. It came originally with the side pull caliper. These are 610 series Dia Compe’s from a older Fuji, polished and rebuilt with NOS springs & bushings form Ebay. The front cable set up consists of a pull plate I hand made from a piece of 3/16 stainless, drilled and tapped to accept a common knurled cable adjuster. The cable is fed through a GT brand MTB cantilever tube to give a smooth transition for the cable. resulting in a smooth feeling brake pull.
    The Dia Compe’s are fitted with BBB’s model BBS-02 Road Stop shoes. These are cartridge type pads and are compatible with SRAM and Shimano if I need to change out on the road.
    Combined with the vintage Weinmann dome style alloy rims this set up produces a very strong and reliable brake set.

    The bottom bracket is another custom item. While I could have used the Truative brand conversion shells I found that BMX style conversion shells are a little more heavy duty. I used a Shimano UN series sealed cartrige BB axle and had to modify the conversion shells by machining off the interior faces a bit so the cartridge would fit right. The result is a very smooth and strong BB that should give me years of service!