Single-Speedster

[Cfick3004]

I'm new to RRB. So I just thought I'd post my most recent rebuild. This bike was given to me by my Grandfather a couple years ago. It sat in his garage for 30+ years and was just dying to be ridden. Because of time restraint and lack of a budget I chose to break it down to a single speed ditching all the extraneous fluff of a 70's Schwinn and opting for the simplicity of a single. It's a lot of fun to ride and handles great.
This project re-ignited my passion for working on bikes.
Hope to have more to show you soon.

'78 Schwinn Speedster by Christopher Fick, on Flickr
'78 Schwinn Speedster by Christopher Fick, on Flickr

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Looks good, nice tall frame too!
Welcome to RatRodBikes!

There is an intro section if you want to post there too..

Luke.

 

[Cfick3004]

Thanks Luke, glad to be here.
Interesting thing about the frame, it has the exact same geometry as my '79 Conti.
I'll post in the into section soon.
Cheers,
Chris

 

[Bicycle808]

Thanks Luke, glad to be here.
Interesting thing about the frame, it has the exact same geometry as my '79 Conti.
I'll post in the into section soon.
Cheers,
Chris

Nice bike! I bet, if you measure it, you'll find that the stays are longer on the Speedster, and the seat-tube angles are more relaxed. I always thought these diamond-framed EF Schwinns were all the same, but we took a Continental and a Collegiate of the same size, and noticed those differences... the ones with 26x1 3/8" wheels are more slack than the ones with 27" wheels...

 

[Cfick3004]

I will admit I did not measure, just the ole eyeball test. Although not the same, surprisingly similar.


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[Bicycle808]

Oh yeah, extremely similar. I was just pulling some parts of a Collegiate to put on this Varsity we were building for this guy we know who only has use of one arm and both bikes were right there, 90% stripped of parts, both with 20" seat tubes and i said "these frames are identical", and my buddy Harry's like "I don't think so", so we put'm right up next to eachother, aligned the headtubes (which were the same length) and found that the seat angle is slacker on the Collegiate (which is basically a derailer-equipped Speedster/Racer) and, surprisingly, the stays were a touch longer, despite being built for smaller wheels.

But the geo and overall ride quality/experience are quite similar. I love Schwinn diamond frames; i was riding my singlespeed supersport (try saying that five times, fast....) the other day, and i love everything about that bike.

 

[BIGDCYCLES]

NICE! SS is the way to go , less chance of failure and less adjustments.

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