# Skinny tire bike build.



## woodtickgreg (Oct 15, 2018)

This is the opposite of the fat tire bike, lol.
I've had this one for awhile now, I was just waiting to finish the other bike first. This is a tall frame lite weight Schwinn.


 Made in Taiwan when the quality was still good on Schwinns before the where sold to the Chinese.


 This bike was considered light weight back in the day, even though it had steel wheels. It's high tensile chromolly steel and thin wall.


 What it was.


 The seat will go, but I'll keep the brake controls.



The teardown has begun! Ok just the front wheel, lol. It'll be stripped and powdercoated.

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## Tony (Oct 15, 2018)



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## Lou Currier (Oct 15, 2018)




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## Wildthings (Oct 15, 2018)




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## woodtickgreg (Oct 16, 2018)

Wildthings said:


>


Now you know how to party! Popcorn and coffee.

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## woodtickgreg (Oct 16, 2018)

Some progress.


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## ripjack13 (Oct 16, 2018)

woodtickgreg said:


> Now you know how to party! Popcorn and coffee.


  

Beer ,popcorn and pie....

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## woodtickgreg (Oct 17, 2018)

More progress.........
Almost stripped, just the bottom bracket and bearings left. Then I need to straighten one of the rear wheel dropouts and off to the powdercoater it will go.

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## woodtickgreg (Oct 18, 2018)

Repair to the frame dropout is done and I dropped the frame off at the powdercoater. Now I can start shopping for some parts and cleaning the parts I'm reusing.


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## woodtickgreg (Oct 20, 2018)

I took the fork to work today and glass beaded it.
Before, black paint and rust chrome.


 paints gone. Chrome is still bad.


 Man the glass bead does a nice job.


 
I think I might nickel plate the fork.

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## woodtickgreg (Oct 21, 2018)

New alloy wheels with stainless spokes and quick release.

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## woodtickgreg (Oct 21, 2018)

I'm doing this build in my excersize room. Kinda cool, I do a set and take a part off, do a set and take a part off, before I knew it my routine was done and my bike was stripped! Now I do a set and rub a part down with a synthetic scotchbrite pad to remove corrosion from the aluminum parts. Then do another set, repeat as necessary, lol.
This is my bicycle tool kit and wheel truing stand. Bottom boxes are for parts, top boxes are for tools and small parts. Nice that it rolls around.


 The top box.


 Top box opened.


 The box of parts from this bike that needs to be cleaned, polished, lubed, and sorted through.



I'm cleaning the gear cluster for the rear wheel now.

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## woodtickgreg (Oct 21, 2018)

Worked on the rear wheel a little today, got the gear freewheel cleaned up and lubed. It shows very little wear.


 I greased the threads on the hub so if I ever need to remove it again it'll come off. Notice the sealed bearings, nice hubs.


 
I got a new lightweight plastic spoke protector and installed that instead of the chrome metal one that it had originally.


 
I spun the gear cluster on and tightened it.


 
I installed the quick release lock and it's now ready for new rubber.

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## woodtickgreg (Oct 26, 2018)

I took the handle bars to work with me today, I was able to rub em down with a scotch brite pad in between cycles running the waterjet robot.

It's kinda hard to see the oxidation in the pic, but being under cloth handlebar tape for 40 years took its toll


 

 A green scotch rite pad did the trick. No need to polish them as they will get new tape or foam grips.


 I'll probably polish the center of the bar as that's all that will show.


 
These are nice aluminum alloy bars, very light weight.

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## woodtickgreg (Oct 26, 2018)

I gave the stem the same treatment. I'll buff this one out though.

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## woodtickgreg (Oct 26, 2018)

I think old school gumwall tires are in order for this one.

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## Kenbo (Oct 30, 2018)

I'm loving this. I love how the forks cleaned up. I'm always amazed at the great job you do on these bicycles Greg. Thanks for sharing this build....keep it coming.

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 1


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## woodtickgreg (Oct 30, 2018)

Kenbo said:


> I love how the forks cleaned up.


Thanks Kenn, the top of the forks cleaned up well, but the chrome on the bottom is in bad shape. Glass bead media blasting does an amazing job and leaves a very smooth surface. I'm going to take it by the plater and see what they say. I dont know if the old chrome needs to be stripped or if it even can be stripped. Just need to find the time to get by the plater to see what they say, been driving around with it in my car since I stripped it. Lol.


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## Kenbo (Oct 30, 2018)

woodtickgreg said:


> Thanks Kenn, the top of the forks cleaned up well, but the chrome on the bottom is in bad shape. Glass bead media blasting does an amazing job and leaves a very smooth surface. I'm going to take it by the plater and see what they say. I dont know if the old chrome needs to be stripped or if it even can be stripped. Just need to find the time to get by the plater to see what they say, been driving around with it in my car since I stripped it. Lol.




That's the problem isn't it? Time. We never seem to have enough of it. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with this one. I envy your bike mechanic skills and wish I had them. If you lived closer, believe you me, I would be your shadow just to get a small percentage of your bike repair knowledge.


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## woodtickgreg (Oct 30, 2018)

Kenn, I'm sure that if we lived closer we would be doing a lot of things together and learning from each other.

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## woodtickgreg (Oct 31, 2018)

This morning I did a couple of tricks so I could get all treats.
I did a little modification to the wheels, they where made for presta valve stems, which I hate. So I had to drill out the valve stem holes for a standard Schrader valve.
Valve stems measure 21/64



The holes in the rims where 1/4"



These are double wall alloy rims.



I drilled one bit at a time from 1/4 up to the 21/64 so I was only taking a little material at a time. I didn't want to get a catch and take the chance of distorting the hole or the rim. Here you can see the double wall and the bur around the freshly drilled hole.


 But I happen to have a brand new set of chamfering bits.


 I just turned the chamfer tool with my fingers to remove the bur. Soft alloy and a new cutter was easy and quick.



I installed a new rim strip.


 And a new gumwall tire and tube. The wheels are now ready.

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## woodtickgreg (Nov 5, 2018)

I took the fork to the chrome plater the other day for an estimate to get it nickel plated, price was the same for nickel or chrome, $200  I said I could buy a new part all ready chrome plated for $50. So off to plan B.
I used a flap sander and sanded off all the flaking and pitted chrome and smoothed out the transition. I was able to save about 2 or 3 inches of chrome on the tips of the fork. I then masked it and shot 4 coats of what else, rustoleum gloss black, there wasn't anything wrong with the fork other than the chrome. Pics later when the paint is dry.


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## woodtickgreg (Nov 5, 2018)

So while the paint is drying and I'm at work I decided to work on the pedal crank arms and sprockets, again nothing wrong with them, they just need a good cleaning.
Some before picks.


 

 

 

 And after a trip into the sand blast cabinet for some glass bead treatment. It leaves such a nice satiny finish, very smooth.


 

 

 
I left the old pedals in the arms while glass bead blasting to protect the threads, really didn't need to though as the process is pretty gentle on the aluminum. Gotta clean the sprockets next with a scotch brite pad, they are chrome so no glass bead for them.

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## woodtickgreg (Nov 5, 2018)

I stopped at 3 coats, the paint flowed out well and it looks nice.

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## woodtickgreg (Nov 5, 2018)

I've been rubbing on the sprockets with a scotch brite pad, they are not chrome, plated with something but a dull rough finish. So of to the glass bead treatment they will go.

Before.


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## woodtickgreg (Nov 6, 2018)

Chainrings are good to go.

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## woodtickgreg (Nov 6, 2018)

I think I saved the fork, paint came out nice and it still has some satin chrome on the tips. I'll do something with some decals or pinstriping or both.



 still has some chrome on the tips.


 this is where the bearing race goes, I kept the paint off of this press fit area.


 I also kept the paint off of the threads, they will get greased upon re assembly.

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## woodtickgreg (Nov 6, 2018)

I get absolutely zero shop time right now because of work and trying to get things done on my home. Tinkering on bikes like this let's me work with my hands which is a very important basic need for me. I stripped it while I was exercising in between sets, I clean parts at work in between part cycles, so at least I am getting something. And I'll assemble it the same way. Still waiting on the frame to come back from powdercoat, but that has given me time to clean parts.


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## Eric Rorabaugh (Nov 6, 2018)

Must be nice to be able to do that while at work


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## woodtickgreg (Nov 6, 2018)

Eric Rorabaugh said:


> Must be nice to be able to do that while at work


I can do some of it, the parts I run take 4 minutes for each cycle. And I'm usually the only one in the building, the boss doesn't care as long as I'm getting my numbers.

Reflector brackets before and after glass bead blasting.

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## ripjack13 (Nov 6, 2018)

Looking great Greg!!

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## woodtickgreg (Nov 6, 2018)

And I cleaned the chainring screws.
A little rust but not to bad.


 a scotch rite pad did the trick, I dont think I'm going to worry about the socket rust, you'll never see it when it's on the bike because they are so small.


 as far as I'm concerned these are done.


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## ripjack13 (Nov 7, 2018)

Could you soak em to get rid of the rust?


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## woodtickgreg (Nov 7, 2018)

ripjack13 said:


> Could you soak em to get rid of the rust?


Probably, but it's not that big a deal. I already bolted everything back together and you dont even notice the rust in the sockets. Maybe I'll give em a wipe with a q tip and some wd40.

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## ripjack13 (Nov 7, 2018)




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## woodtickgreg (Nov 9, 2018)

Still cleaning parts, the dirty box is getting empty and the clean box is getting full.
This is the rear brake cable stop and seat post clamp bolt. Before.


 
After rubbing out with a scotch brite.


 
Brake cable clamps. Original dia compe components. Clean on the left, dirty on the right.


 
Before and after.

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## Herb G. (Nov 9, 2018)

Looking good, my friend.

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## woodtickgreg (Nov 15, 2018)

Worked on cleaning up the brakes today. These are old school dia-compe center pulls, very good brakes back in the day.
What I started with, a dirty brake assembly, I took it apart and cleaned everything and rubbed it down with a maroon scotch rite pad.


 And it came out like this.


 1 clean and 1 dirty.


 both clean and ready to go back on the bike. They'll get new brake pads of course.

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## woodtickgreg (Nov 17, 2018)

Todays work was cleaning up the shifters and front brake cable stop.

This is the fork lock nut and front brake hanger before cleaning. Pretty rusty


 And after cleaning.


 The shifter mount was real rusty, especially on the bottom, just needed a good cleaning in general.


 These are old school friction shifters, the wing nut adjust the tension on them.


 All disassembled for ckeaning.



I prepped the shifter levers for glass bead blasting.


 After blasting they have a nice satin finish and the inner friction surface is still smooth and intact.


 All done.


 It came out nice.


 
A little trick I do on the rusty chrome is to spray the parts down with wd40 and let it soak for 20 minutes or so, then I spray a piece of scotch brite down with wd40 and have at it, works well and saves the chrome...........sometimes.
Worked this time.

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## woodtickgreg (Nov 20, 2018)

I picked up the frame today from the powdercoater. I have some work to do on it before I can start putting parts back on. They got powdercoat in the threads for the bottom brackets, i have to get that out, and I have some black painting details I want to do.

It looks awesome in the sun.


 Back on the work stand.

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## woodtickgreg (Nov 27, 2018)

Last weekend I got a good deal on 3 schwinn rat trap bike racks. 1 is a turned up model made for large frame bikes like this one, and the other 2 are for normal sized frames. 
The one on the left is for the large frame bikes. These all have reflectors on the rear of the rack. Cast aluminum and schwinn approved. 


 This one got a trip to the glass bead media blaster for a cleanup.


 After the clean up. It didn't take much to give it a nice satiny clean finish.

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## woodtickgreg (Nov 27, 2018)

I started prepping the frame for reassembly today. When you get the frames back from powdercoat g they almost always have to have all the holes cleaned out, now is the time to do it. The guys at the PC shop do a pretty good job of keeping the PC out of the holes but when you put it in the oven and it melts and flows out all bets are off. The bottom bracket for the crank on this bike is threaded and needed to be cleaned out of pc a wire brush is the tool for that, chucked in a cordless drill and run at high speed to create some heat from friction and it cleaned right up.
Here you can see the PC in the threads.


 a 1" wire brush.


 All cleaned out and the bearing cups thread right in with finger tips.


 Next the flange needs to be filed flat of the pc so the bearing cups can thread in and have a flat to register against.


 And the bottom bracket is now ready to have the crank installed.

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## woodtickgreg (Dec 2, 2018)

Today I started doing a little accent painting on the frame lugs. Dresses it up nice I think and it will help to mat h the black fork up as well. I'll also be doing a little red detailing on both the fork and frame to tie it all together. After the painting is done I can start to reassemble it.

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## woodtickgreg (Dec 11, 2018)

I've been waiting for a special set of taps to come in, they are for cleaning up the threads for the bottom bracket/crank. They came on a very slow boat from Japan, lol.
This is a huge tap. It since I'm only cleaning out powdercoat ot burs I just turn it with an adjustable wrench. I start it by hand with light finger pressure so as not to cross thread it.


 Now the left side.


 It does a great job of cleaning up the threads. I'll grease the threads before I assemble everything. 


 
I'm very close to assembly st this point. Just a little detail painting to be done.

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## woodtickgreg (Dec 13, 2018)

I got the red detail painting done last night after a 12 hour day. Hands where pretty shakey so it didnt come out as nice as I had hoped, but I'll live with it. Looks good from a distance, lol.The decals I got for it are red and they should tie in nice. Besides you wont notice my shakey paint as I go flying past ya!!


 


Finding time to work on this after 12 hour days and the holidays has been a challenge. I really want to get this one done so I can work on a couple other builds. Plus I have a crapload of bikes to service to get ready to sell at a couple of bicycle swapmeets that are coming up.

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## woodtickgreg (Dec 14, 2018)

Fork got some detail red too, I am now ready for assembly.
I dont have the bearing cups installed for the headset yet but this shows how it kinda all ties together.


 
Next pics should be decals and parts going back on.

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## woodtickgreg (Dec 15, 2018)

Well I finally took a Saturday of to get some things done and I found some time to work on the bike.
The first piece to go on is the Schwinn head badge. Double sided tape is applied here.


 Then the tape is trimmed back with a new razorblade.



And the first part is on the bike!


 Next I installed the headset bearing cups, packed the bearings in fresh grease, and installed the fork, brake cable hanger, and shifters.


 Front view.


 Then I greased the threads in the frame and installed the crank and new crank bearings freshly packed in grease.


 Then the crank arms and sprockets went on.


 Perspective.

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## woodtickgreg (Dec 15, 2018)

Then I bolted the kickstand on.


 Next the new front derailer eas bolted on.


 The little hanger bracket on the left allows me to install a better quality rear derailer than was originally on the bike. The original was badly bent and damaged beyond repair.


 New rear derailer is on.


 Then the new quick release alloy wheel assemblies went on.


 the derailer will sit approximately in this position depending on what gear it's in after the new chain is installed.


 Rear brake with the reflector bracket went on.


 And then the front brake with the reflector bracket.

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## woodtickgreg (Dec 15, 2018)

It's starting to look like a bike now.


 This sticker was a little hard to find, but I found one.


 the alloy handlebars and seat post are on. I need to get a longer seat post clamp bolt so I can install the rear rack.



So that was todays progress on the bike. This is my favorite part of a bike build, after all the parts ckeaning, searching for parts, waiting on the frame to come back from the powdercoater, etc. The assembly goes pretty quick actually and is the most fun.


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## woodtickgreg (Dec 18, 2018)

The rear rack, rear brake cable stop, and seat are now on. I got a new seat post clamp bolt and used new stainless steel hardware for the rack. Managed to keep the rear reflector but it is tight. Now it has 2 rear reflectors, one is built into the rack.

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## woodtickgreg (Dec 30, 2018)

Worked on the bike a little today.
I found this really cool black chrome chain stay protector on ebay.


 Without the camera flash it looks better against the green.


 Next I sized, cut, and installed a new chain.


 Then I soaped up the new foam grips and installed them and the brake levers.


 I used the foam grips instead of tape because my hands go numb when I lean on them and these will help with that somewhat.


 I found these new lightweight plastic pedals with toe clips at my local bike shop cheap.


 And they went on next.


 Next the shifter cables where cut to size and installed for both the new rear and front derailers.


 All adjusted up and shifts like new!


 
I wanted to get the brakes done today but I dont have the right cables, grrr, I thought I did. I'll have to pick some up this week.


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## woodtickgreg (Dec 30, 2018)

Decals are on!
They are actually red not pink, lol. I'll have to wait till they are dry and see how they look in the sun. Might be some green color bleed through right now.

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