Schwinn Super Sport

Having just gotten my road bike on the road I have a few questions.
My LBS, actually both of them, said that I may have a hard time
find a Cassette,freewheel,or whatever to replace the 5 speed gear
on the back. They said that 'maybe' a six speed or 'maybe but not
likely' a 7 speed. My stock gear is a 14-22 which is neither low
enough for the mountain roads going up, nor high enough for the
descents. I can pull the 52/14 I have now on the flats enough to
draft cars and trucks up to a little over 25 MPH but RPM is the
problem. The desired gear would be either an 11-34 megarange or
at the very least a 12-28 to give me a chance in the hills.
I got rid of the biopace and changed the small ring from a very
oval 42 teeth to a round 40 teeth, still 52 on the large. Due to
Schwinns odd 5 bolt pattern I had to change the entire crankset,
but at least they have a square taper bracket. The bracket is
odd though in that it does not use a shoulder nut like my other
bikes but has a bolt that threads in. That made it a little harder
to use my crank pulling tool since I was afraid of killing the
threads that accept the bolt. It all worked out though, and I am
wondering how many people can help me with suggestions on my semi
vintage racer. The tires are 700 x 25 if that helps, since I am
still not sure of the exact vintage, and the guy at the ex-Schwinn
shop was of little help. Both of my LBS places, within 2 blocks of
each other are selling those silly looking long cruisers and tandems,
both with Chinese one peice cranks. Most of their bikes had one
piece cranks, at both LBS. What's up with that? Are they caving to
the cheap Chinese syndrome?
I would go to pricepoint.com or chainreaction.com but I like to
hold the actual product in my hand and check out the quality,
and to look for "not made in China".
Opinions, help?, anyone,
Bill Baka

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On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 10:59:51 -0400, Bill Baka wrote:

Having just gotten my road bike on the road I have a few questions. My
LBS, actually both of them, said that I may have a hard time find a
Cassette,freewheel,or whatever to replace the 5 speed gear on the back.

That would be a freewheel, not a cassette. They are, of course, quite
wrong about your having a hard time finding a 5-speed freewheel. Sheldon
Brown has a good selection:
http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/freewheels.html#5

And, of course, there's always ebay. You'll find plenty of 5-speed
freewheels there.

My stock gear is a 14-22 which is neither low enough for the mountain
roads going up, nor high enough for the descents. I can pull the 52/14 I
have now on the flats enough to draft cars and trucks up to a little
over 25 MPH but RPM is the problem. The desired gear would be either an
11-34 megarange or at the very least a 12-28 to give me a chance in the

How about a 14-28? Sheldon has a Shimano with that pattern. You can
always coast on descents, you know; and back in the day the Tour de
France was won on bikes with a 52x14 top gear -- because that was the
largest gear available then. So if Eddy Merckx didn't need higher than
that, why would you?

Back in the day, there were some 5-speed freewheels available with large
sprockets as big as 32, possibly higher, but they aren't as readily
available today. However, if you wanted to use a full-width 6 speed
freewheel (126 mm spacing between the dropouts) Shimano has both 13-34
and 14-34 "megarange" 6-speeds that Harris Cycles carries. Odds are you
would have to replace your rear derailleur to handle a 34 as well as
having your frame spread enough to fit, and having your wheel rebuilt.
That's a lot of effort to go through for an old Schwinn Super Sport -
especially if it was one of the electrowelded models with the Ashtabula
crankset.

I would go to pricepoint.com or chainreaction.com but I like to hold the
actual product in my hand and check out the quality, and to look for
"not made in China".
Opinions, help?, anyone,

You've got no business drafting cars and trucks.

Bill Baka wrote in message ...
Having just gotten my road bike on the road I have a few questions.
My LBS, actually both of them, said that I may have a hard time
find a Cassette,freewheel,or whatever to replace the 5 speed gear
on the back.

I think Shimano 14-28 freewheels (a freewheel is most likely what you
already have) are still sold, cheap, and perfectly functional. Look
he
http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/parts.html


They said that 'maybe' a six speed or 'maybe but not
likely' a 7 speed. My stock gear is a 14-22 which is neither low
enough for the mountain roads going up, nor high enough for the
descents. I can pull the 52/14 I have now on the flats enough to
draft cars and trucks up to a little over 25 MPH but RPM is the
problem. The desired gear would be either an 11-34 megarange or
at the very least a 12-28 to give me a chance in the hills.
I got rid of the biopace and changed the small ring from a very
oval 42 teeth to a round 40 teeth, still 52 on the large.

If 52/14 is still too low for you, I don't know what to say. The
megarange freewheels are available with a 11t high. But they're seven
speed, so you'll have to respace your frame. And you'll probably have
to change the rear derailer to accomodate, especially for that 34
granny gear.


Both of my LBS places, within 2 blocks of
each other are selling those silly looking long cruisers and tandems,
both with Chinese one peice cranks. Most of their bikes had one
piece cranks, at both LBS. What's up with that? Are they caving to
the cheap Chinese syndrome?

Where've you been? That's been the trend for a while. To be fair,
three piece aluminum cranks are alive and well, and can be found in a
wide price range. Your LBS may make more money selling cruisers. If
so, I applaud them, since much of that market is dominated by discount
*mart stores.

Once again,
http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/parts.html

On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 12:01:29 -0400, Steve Palincsar
wrote:

On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 10:59:51 -0400, Bill Baka wrote:

Having just gotten my road bike on the road I have a few questions. My
LBS, actually both of them, said that I may have a hard time find a
Cassette,freewheel,or whatever to replace the 5 speed gear on the back.

That would be a freewheel, not a cassette. They are, of course, quite
wrong about your having a hard time finding a 5-speed freewheel. Sheldon
Brown has a good selection:
http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/freewheels.html#5

And, of course, there's always ebay. You'll find plenty of 5-speed
freewheels there.

My stock gear is a 14-22 which is neither low enough for the mountain
roads going up, nor high enough for the descents. I can pull the 52/14 I
have now on the flats enough to draft cars and trucks up to a little
over 25 MPH but RPM is the problem. The desired gear would be either an
11-34 megarange or at the very least a 12-28 to give me a chance in the

How about a 14-28? Sheldon has a Shimano with that pattern. You can
always coast on descents, you know; and back in the day the Tour de
France was won on bikes with a 52x14 top gear -- because that was the
largest gear available then. So if Eddy Merckx didn't need higher than
that, why would you?

Back in the day, there were some 5-speed freewheels available with large
sprockets as big as 32, possibly higher, but they aren't as readily
available today. However, if you wanted to use a full-width 6 speed
freewheel (126 mm spacing between the dropouts) Shimano has both 13-34
and 14-34 "megarange" 6-speeds that Harris Cycles carries. Odds are you
would have to replace your rear derailleur to handle a 34 as well as
having your frame spread enough to fit, and having your wheel rebuilt.
That's a lot of effort to go through for an old Schwinn Super Sport -
especially if it was one of the electrowelded models with the Ashtabula
crankset.

I would go to pricepoint.com or chainreaction.com but I like to hold the
actual product in my hand and check out the quality, and to look for
"not made in China".
Opinions, help?, anyone,

You've got no business drafting cars and trucks.

Maybe not but it sure as hell is fun to see how fast I can keep up with
them.
I used to draft my school bus in 1963 with an old Peugot 10 speed, gears
unknown, but I could keep up to about 40, maybe 42, since that was as fast
as he would drive when I was in the bus. I rode the side away from the
nasty
diesel exhaust. My school mates would see me out the rear window and tell
me
how crazy I was, but then that was high school and you need to be a little
insane to be accepted.
Bill Baka



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On 21 Aug 2004 13:08:08 -0700, papercut wrote:

Bill Baka wrote in message
...
Having just gotten my road bike on the road I have a few questions.
My LBS, actually both of them, said that I may have a hard time
find a Cassette,freewheel,or whatever to replace the 5 speed gear
on the back.

I think Shimano 14-28 freewheels (a freewheel is most likely what you
already have) are still sold, cheap, and perfectly functional. Look
he
http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/parts.html


They said that 'maybe' a six speed or 'maybe but not
likely' a 7 speed. My stock gear is a 14-22 which is neither low
enough for the mountain roads going up, nor high enough for the
descents. I can pull the 52/14 I have now on the flats enough to
draft cars and trucks up to a little over 25 MPH but RPM is the
problem. The desired gear would be either an 11-34 megarange or
at the very least a 12-28 to give me a chance in the hills.
I got rid of the biopace and changed the small ring from a very
oval 42 teeth to a round 40 teeth, still 52 on the large.

If 52/14 is still too low for you, I don't know what to say. The
megarange freewheels are available with a 11t high. But they're seven
speed, so you'll have to respace your frame. And you'll probably have
to change the rear derailer to accomodate, especially for that 34
granny gear.

The 52/14 is a bit low, given that I could easily ride a 48/14 on me
HUFFY MTB. The Scwinn is lighter, I have to ride more aero tuck, and
the whole bike seems like it wants to go faster. the 11 tooth cog
would probably be for tailwinds or blasting downhill but it would be
nice to pedal at 45-50 MPH. My only other alternative is to put a
larger chainring up front and I can only go to a 55 tooth before it
gets kind of silly looking. Besides, the bolt pattern does not
match up with any of the gears I have. Nice bike but it still needs
some final tweaks, like new front tire and tube, held up for about 2
hours of test riding, including passing car on the left in a 25 MPH
zone, so I want to get it fully functional.
Bill Baka
Bill Baka

Both of my LBS places, within 2 blocks of
each other are selling those silly looking long cruisers and tandems,
both with Chinese one peice cranks. Most of their bikes had one
piece cranks, at both LBS. What's up with that? Are they caving to
the cheap Chinese syndrome?

Where've you been? That's been the trend for a while. To be fair,
three piece aluminum cranks are alive and well, and can be found in a
wide price range. Your LBS may make more money selling cruisers. If
so, I applaud them, since much of that market is dominated by discount
*mart stores.

Once again,
http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/parts.html



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