I could not agreee more: do not upgrade, but do serious maintenance, and you will have a nice bike for years to come. New Koolstop brakepads, cables (and probably also cable housing), and repack and adjust all bearings. Chain, cogs etc, all depending on the state they are in. As for tires, there still are a couple of good choices in 27 inch. The Pasela TG is a very nice touring tire (I love it). For the rough stuff, there is Club Roost Cross Terra. For commuting, you may also want to consider the robust but still pretty fast Schwalbe Marathon, with reflective sidewalls and a track for a sidewall generator (in my experience a sidewall generator quickly kills a Pasela). For commuting lights, I think nothing beats a generator for reliability. Apart from a Schmidt hub that would be a bit out of place in a project like this, the B&M Dymotec 6 is the best sidewall generator currently on the market, and not at all expensive (the Nordlicht would be the best esthetic match). Use it with a B&M round Lumotec with a 3 watt bulb, and you will be clearly visible, and that for a small outlay. Alternatively, and for more money but a lot more light, get the new B&M Cyo light (take the front reflector model, and get the hub generator model so you can move it to another bike if necessary). If you will only use lights rarely, or do not want to waste any of your energy, the B&M IXON IQ is an excellent battery light. B&M do a couple of excellent battery taillights with a big reflector - they fit on a rack like the Tubus Fly. Spanninga do a good battery light for on a fender (get the real thing, and not the Chinese imitation I recently bought by mistake). See Peter's site. Parktools have an excellent bike maintenance manual (with many pictures of their tools, of course). Their website also has films, and so does another site the name of which I have unfortunately forgotten. Enjoy the ride, Willem
On 12 nov, 20:19, Steve Palincsar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Wed, 2008-11-12 at 13:47 -0500, Dietrich, Daniel L 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 ??? > > If you're going to use it as a commuter, doing what's needed to get it > back on the road and reliable would be worthwhile. As far as > "upgrading," though, that could be a whole other story. > > > > > 2. What components are worth upgrading, what ones are OK ??? The > > bike has 27" wheels > > As long as the wheels are OK, no need to upgrade them at all. The > Panaracer Pasela is available in 27 x 1 1/4" size, and it's a perfectly > fine tire, especially for a commuter. And that's probably true for just > about everything else currently on the bike, with the likely exception > of the chain and freewheel, brake shoes, tires, tubes and handlebar tape > - in other words, the components that wear. > > > , a Sachs drivetrain with 5 speed freewheel, > > triple up front, downtube shifters, cantilever brakes. I want to > > make sure any money is well-spent. > > Any reason to think any of those parts won't work? > > You almost certainly want to put new brake pads and cables and housings > on the bike for best braking. The choice is obvious: Kool Stop Salmon > pads are the best going. $11.95 a pair > herehttp://sheldonbrown.com/harris/brakeshoes.html#smooth (I assume they're > smooth stud shoes) You'll probably want to change the shift cables and > housings as well. > > Is the saddle comfortable? All too many bikes came originally with > notional saddles that had no redeeming qualities at all other than being > cheap and looking like a saddle. If you have something like that, it > would be worth replacing it with something that was comfortable to sit > on. > > Commuters should also have fenders and lights, and a way to carry stuff > with you. Those things are worth investing in, and it's a safe bet the > bike is currently lacking them. > > > 3. Any recommendations on where to get good components besides my LBS > > (which can get expensive real fast)??? > > Get as little as you can, and only what you NEED. Otherwise this can > turn into a money pit. > > Your objective should be to provide yourself with reliable comfortable > transportation you will want to use, and that doesn't require changing > perfectly satisfactory parts just because they're not new or "modern". > > One of the commuters where I worked used to get his commuter bikes from > dumpsters. They were so nasty you wouldn't want to get too close to > them for fear you'd catch a communicable disease. His idea of a back > fender was folded up newspapers that had gotten wet and dirt sprayed > until they turned into papier-mache. I thought of his bike as "the > leper". He used that one every day for at least 2 years. > > > 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. > > You might want to start with the cable and brake pad replacements, and > overhaul the headset, hubs and bottom bracket, and install the new > tubes, tires and chain and if required, a new freewheel. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
