On Wed, Nov 12, 2008 at 12:47 PM, Dietrich, Daniel L <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Well, since there has been so much good advice to various people, I > thought I would solicit some advice from the group. I have an old > early 80's Schwinn Passage sitting in my basement collecting dust. I > am debating whether it is worthwhile to invest some money and use > this as a commuting/light touring bicycle. I like the bike and it > seems to have a reasonably good frame, and not a lot of miles. My > questions are: > > 1. Is it worthwhile ??? > > 2. What components are worth upgrading, what ones are OK ??? The > bike has 27" wheels, a Sachs drivetrain with 5 speed freewheel, > triple up front, downtube shifters, cantilever brakes. I want to > make sure any money is well-spent. > > 3. Any recommendations on where to get good components besides my LBS > (which can get expensive real fast)??? > > 4. Any good references (books, websites, etc.) on how to upgrade. I > can do most maintenance myself, but realize that this is probably a > step up. > > I realize this is an open-ended question, but I am just looking to > get some advice before scrapping the bike or investing a lot of time/ > money. I can find almost nothing about the bike on-line except the > excerpt below which seems to describe my bike.
If the frame is in good shape and fits you, it's worth riding. As far as upgrades go, it really depends on what you want it to do and how much you want to spend. It sounds like the perfect bike for commuting/light touring, should be easily fenderable too. I'd start with what works and doesn't work; if it just needs an overhaul, do that and ride on. There are generally good options for 27" tires, but if it has steel rims, then alloy-rimmed 700c wheels might be a good idea. If you aren't a fan of downtube shifters, it would be relatively cheap to change to bar-end shifters if your bars will fit them. It's probably a good candidate as a singlespeed too, assuming horizontal dropouts. In short, lots of options. On the other hand, decent steel touring bikes like that with cantilevers are somewhat in demand for commuting and cyclocross racing, so you might get a decent price for it if you'd rather sell. -- Bill Connell St. Paul, MN --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Bicycle Lifestyle" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/bicyclelifestyle?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
