I posted this in the fresh finds when I first got it home:
It was my Father's first ride, and had been hanging in the garage of the house he grew up in for the last 40 years or so, as far as I know. My aunt saw my bikes on my myspace (yeah my family is on myspace, the only reason I still have an account) and sent me a message saying that my Dad's first bike was still hanging in the garage. I went up there with my brother to retrieve it a few weeks ago. I got the bike all apart last weekend and spent parts of last week and a lot of this weekend getting it cleaned up and re-greased. I discovered upon closer inspection that the bike had been re-painted, that the chainring, front wheel, fenders, saddle, and possibly handlebars, had all been replaced at some point. The only clue was the mismatched bottom bracket bearing cartridges, one marked "Schwinn 64" and the other "Wald 66". I don't know what happened to the bike, but it must have gotten pretty beat up. I called my Dad up and asked him and he claims to not remember. Anyway, got it back together last night and took it for a cruise this morning. Rides great, aside from the rear wheel needing a truing badly. Here are the pics:
I removed the reflective tape, but I wasn't going to mess with the paintjob. Rear fender is from a different bike because it doesn't quite fit.
I love these bars, can't tell if they are original. Grips are Sears. Stem bolt was missing but there are other forces at work, those bars wouldn't budge with all my weight on them:
A glittery Hawthorne saddle, not sure where my Dad got this:
What looks like a Columbia chainring:
Dad's custom headbadge, a work of art in my opinion:
The front wheel is marked "Made in Germany", front fender is a rear fender chopped in half.
So, I am stoked to have this thing fixed up, as original as when my Dad last rode it (unless one of my uncles messed with it after my dad was done with it), because it means I can move on to the next bike in the pile! :wink:
It was my Father's first ride, and had been hanging in the garage of the house he grew up in for the last 40 years or so, as far as I know. My aunt saw my bikes on my myspace (yeah my family is on myspace, the only reason I still have an account) and sent me a message saying that my Dad's first bike was still hanging in the garage. I went up there with my brother to retrieve it a few weeks ago. I got the bike all apart last weekend and spent parts of last week and a lot of this weekend getting it cleaned up and re-greased. I discovered upon closer inspection that the bike had been re-painted, that the chainring, front wheel, fenders, saddle, and possibly handlebars, had all been replaced at some point. The only clue was the mismatched bottom bracket bearing cartridges, one marked "Schwinn 64" and the other "Wald 66". I don't know what happened to the bike, but it must have gotten pretty beat up. I called my Dad up and asked him and he claims to not remember. Anyway, got it back together last night and took it for a cruise this morning. Rides great, aside from the rear wheel needing a truing badly. Here are the pics:
I removed the reflective tape, but I wasn't going to mess with the paintjob. Rear fender is from a different bike because it doesn't quite fit.
I love these bars, can't tell if they are original. Grips are Sears. Stem bolt was missing but there are other forces at work, those bars wouldn't budge with all my weight on them:
A glittery Hawthorne saddle, not sure where my Dad got this:
What looks like a Columbia chainring:
Dad's custom headbadge, a work of art in my opinion:
The front wheel is marked "Made in Germany", front fender is a rear fender chopped in half.
So, I am stoked to have this thing fixed up, as original as when my Dad last rode it (unless one of my uncles messed with it after my dad was done with it), because it means I can move on to the next bike in the pile! :wink:
