Pick this 1984 Schwinn super sport up from a local antique store really great condition was surprised to see that it had 700C rims. I want to make it comfortable for something around town I already have a good road bike. Any ideas different group sets possibly.
by Transamman350
12 Comments
Did it come with new gatorskins too? This is a steal of a deal.
Just an around town kinda bike? I don’t think I would put any money into it TBH. Maybe not even spend the time to clean it up if it’s just going to get lashed to bike racks outside the store/pub.
If you’re looking for comfort, definitely recommend getting different brake levers. I recommend the Origin8 Classic Sport levers. New tape, chain, clean braking surfaces, new brake pads, and cables+housing for basics. Enjoy!
You actually did REALLY well here. Holy crap. A high-quality Japanese frame with adjustable forged dropouts out of Champion double-butted tubing and decent components, and like you discovered, 700c wheels. You could definitely outfit it in some older Dura-Ace for not too much $$, or even more recent Ultegra.
Cyclone is a great groupset, you don’t need to change anything. If your goal is a comfortable commuter, cram the biggest tires you can fit in there, rebuild the whole thing (repack bearings, clean everything, etc), and consider a different saddle. That’s all you really need.
Supersports are good bikes. Fixed up you could get 10x that price in a strong market.
Schwinn was late to changing over to 700c. Yours might be the first year they did that.
I believe Nishiki sourced frames from Colnago in the 80s. I am guessing Schwinn may have sourced this frame, too. Can anyone confirm?
I’m visiting Los Angeles soon & keep looking, hoping to find something like this to do some fun riding on. That’s a great find for $35. Good dropouts & decent components. You “could ride it, as is”. Depending on what you want to do with the bike…. I’d definitely find some 28 or 32hole rims that you can fit a 7spd freewheel on. Find a nice lighter weight saddle & maybe a 110-120mm stem on it. remove reflectors & extra junk that isn’t needed. Get the bike setup for you & it should start to feel a lot more lively. At the very least, rotate those bars down. the dropouts should be a little bit less than level. That will give you a little sprinting leverage & still be usable as drops. I’m sure someone rotated them up to make the brake hoods easier to reach, instead of just moving the hoods up.
Good score
Update: just gave it a bath and it looks so much better. I do have to still adjust the handlebars I’m going to get new tape tomorrow. I cleaned up the drivetrain and chain and it’s smooth as anything. Tires are brand new. Rims are pretty true I might have them adjusted to make sure. Looking to possibly get new drop bars any suggestions let me know.
Some aero hoods would clean it up a lot. $35 for a comfy steel Schwinn isn’t bad, enjoy.
The cyclone derailleur is said by many to be one of the best derailleurs ever made, it’s also one of the lightest. I’d get it adjusted and at least try it out !
If you really want something indexed instead, sell the parts on and don’t throw them away, they’re brilliant pieces of kit
Judging by the parts I’d guess that the previous owner has already upgraded this one quite a bit with some great retro kit
I would mostly keep the bike as is and just do a good fresh setup. I have a downtube shifter bike that I keep around for joyrides and use in town, nice to have some variety over everything being carbon and disc brakes these days. Otherwise I’d install some budget brakehood shifters and do a neo-vintage style setup. Anything between 7 and 10 speed.