1985 Schwinn Sprint Update #1

After putting on a new set of tyres and tubes along with cleaning the frame and replacing the brake cables and sheaths (including fresh white lithium grease), I was able to take this free find out for its (reborn) maiden voyage. My initial impressions are as such:

- This frame while 13.6 kg doesn't feel heavy, but it does feel solid and surefooted.

- The adjustments made on the seat height thanks to lessons learned from Sheldon Brown's site for my commuter bicycle have made for very good pedalling position.

- The handlebars need to be raised a little higher, but they are at a pretty good distance from the seat to match the length of my arms (and my larger 189 cm frame).

- I need to tighten both the front and rear brakes as the first ride proved that they required too much actuation to provide adequate stopping force.

- The wheel adjustments are bang on in terms of mounting.

- The air pressure is nice, though I will add another 150 kPa of air to each tyre.

- The gear ratios of this 10 speed are nicely spaced, though definitely leaning towards higher speeds.

- Stability is very good as this adds to the feeling of light-footedness of the heavier frame.

- The gear levers to which I need to re-acclimate myself, will take some time. They also need to be tightened down as they rotated a little with my short ride.

I chose a simple ride up Hilltown Pike off of Bethlehem Pike. Roughly a 0.7 km stint. This was solely to test brakes, gearing and overall positional settings. The chain doesn't make any noise, though it will be cleaned and oiled before any serious distance is placed upon this bike.

This Schwinn was quite a find, and for the roughly $40 I invested into renewal parts, I'm quite satisfied that I have found a good winter trainer, though I my Voyageur will still be my primary ride for grocery getting, breakfast and long distance (>30 km) rides. I would like to add that eventually I'd like to take >30 km rides on this road bike, however once I get to that point, I may be upgrading to a new road bike, frame and/or components as it will be time.

I will be posting updated photos when I've completed the cabling refresh to show the 'after' pictures to the previously posted "before" pictures.