RRBBO13 ☆El Green Go☆1968 Schwinn Panther☆

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PURDY!
 
I really like the look of this bike.
The green paint, the whitewalls, front rack, honey saddle, handlebars, everything just ‘works’ for me.
I’d add some glitter green or maybe some honey colored bottle grips from Ian, maybe a chrome shorty Wald rear fender and call it done.

Great bike bud.


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Mr Link, do you play your turntable through that old school extension cab below the shelf? Anybody with a turntable in their house is okay by me!:thumbsup: Oh, and the bike is looking good ;)
 
Cool. In the first pic the bike hid the dials and knobs. I have an old admiral in my garage with a phono jack in it. Run my phone through it, the jazz sounds like it did in 1953....tubes....so warm and powerful.
 
I figured I'd get a full pic of my bike and my make shift indoor bike stand, I'm not doing paint work this time around and it's already in the 90s here in San Antonio so I'm doing this in my living room for the most part, thanks, Mrs. Link for that luxury.
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Also my brother in law, who's moving over seas dropped by tonight with a nice new (old) piano for us.
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Looks like a perfect set of pedals, and you're on your way to a completed build. Something about the lines of the frame and those whitewalls just works.

Speaking of works, that piano looks like it was born on that wall.
 
I threw some parts at it to see what fit, so far I think this may be the direction I go. View attachment 75433 View attachment 75434 The front rack is era correct, although aftermarket Wald, it also easily holds a six pack of pints firmly with no wiggle. The stem is off a late 60s Schwinn light weight with alloy low riser bars which will be narrowed to around 16" and fitted w/ the o.g. sparkle grips.View attachment 75435I'm pretty sure I've got a longer seat post somewhere and will likely go with a black version of the Retrospec saddle. I'm still contemplating a repop tank or just waiting till an original slim line one comes around, and I need a bigger chainring, but so far I like the direction this is going.View attachment 75443
Looks real rad. Clean
 
Mrs Link is more forgiving than QueenFish would be about bikes in the house.
Beautiful home and bike!
 
Looks like it's ready for the Link riding rotation for sure! Came together nicely, and quickly. When it works, it works. :thumbsup:
 
For some reason, either the Chinese riser bars being slightly off, or the grips being stretched out, even with Loctite the grips aren't staying put. So I'm rethinking the bar/grip choice, or rather thinking about doing 2 separate setups. Maybe one with the old cruiser bars and green grips with the original razor stem, and the drop stem I was using with some flat mtb bars with some Cult Vans grips. I like the idea of being able to switch around the overall ride/vibe of this bike with the turn of a wrench. It could work.
 
Try 3M Super Adhesive spray for the grips. I spray inside the grip, and then twist as I shove them on. You only have about 10 secs before they start to set up, so work fast.

Let the grips sit there for an hour so they fully 'cure'. And have the nozzle right inside the grip, otherwise you will have more work left to do on this build than you care to admit!
 
Try 3M Super Adhesive spray for the grips. I spray inside the grip, and then twist as I shove them on. You only have about 10 secs before they start to set up, so work fast.

Let the grips sit there for an hour so they fully 'cure'. And have the nozzle right inside the grip, otherwise you will have more work left to do on this build than you care to admit!

Ive had luck dropping them in near boiling water then sliding them on. Worked 2 out of 3 times. The grips will contract a little. Use at your own risk.
3M trim adhesive on some others.
 
Thanks for passing the knowledge folks, but I think that these grips may be just too stretched out for some bars, I guess even though they seem to all have the same outside diameter, some differ very, very, slightly. When I tried them on the Schwinn bars they were originally on they still wouldn't hold. I got them to work on a set of bars I took off a mid 60s Ross a while back, and if the glove fits... I paired those bars with the original Schwinn stem and, along with the grips those will be my cruising bars.
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For those times when I want to go fast I took the drop stem, and some flat bars with some Cult Vans grips in black, and called it a day.
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Two different bikes at a few(dozen?) turns of the wrench.
I'm going to see if I can revitalize the original seat, and seat post, not really removing any rust, just dirt and conditioning the upholstery. Then I can swap the seats/bars out and really have a versitile bike.
 
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