First ride review: Schwinn Sidewinder from Walmart 20.6 mile ride.

Phil, Squid-in-Training wrote:

"Tom Sherman" wrote in message
...

Phil, Squid-in-Training wrote:

A Muzi wrote:

One innovation I brought - mechanics tape the object on the
service ticket (staple, glass, thorn, etc.). I want to
_know_ the object is out of the tire. Customers like it.

Usually our customers wait for it, so we can show them. But our shop
sometimes get so busy (college town) that we can't keep up and we have

to

keep people moving. But I'll keep that idea in mind...

I am sure that Andrew Muzi does not have many university students and
employees as customers. After all, there is only university with more
than 40,000 students located closer than 4 blocks to his shop.


Ah yes, but my shop is right across the street from the main hub of our
40k'er campus

But does it have the state capital also within walking distance (Mr.
Muzi's favorite photographic backdrop for bicycle portraits)?

--
Tom Sherman - Near Rock Island

In article et, "Robert
Haston" writes:


Once upon a time, Schwinn bikes were incredibly durable and low maintenance.
You couldn't break them. We mountain biked the hilly trails east of Kansas
City long before mountain biking was officially invented. My friends Sears
or Huffy bikes were always falling apart.

But like so many products before, labels that meant quality over many
decades can be turned into big profits by slapping them onto junk.

snip

What saddens me is the masses think spending one or two car payments on a
bike is silly, so they buy heavy, poor handling, braking, shifting bikes;
which only reinforce the illusion that bikes are crap in general.

I was having my truck serviced a few weeks ago and wandered into the dealer's
showroom and checked the price list on some items on a vehicle. 178USD for the
chrome doohicky on the end of the tailpipe. 2780USD for the chrome wheels.
4700USD for the sound system and two small flat screens on the back of the
front seats. How can any driver smirk about someone buying a top quality bike?

original post snipped again for brevity

"John Mustarde" wrote in message
...
Just thought some might want to see a nice old Schwinn.
This was the
bike I lusted after in 1964-65 but could not afford. I was
spending
my own paper-route income back then. The Super Sport was
$30-50 more
than the 5-speed Collegiate I bought for about $65, and the
price
difference was insurmountable (and I didn't know how back
then the
superior qualities of the Super Sport over the Collegiate.)

http://www.photolin.com/bike/ss/thumb0001.htm

Nice pictures, nice bike.
The rims look like 27 inch aluminum (and I can't imagine you'd
be able to find an S6 cross tire any more).
What did the bike originally come with?

38 years later I found this Super Sport parked at a
second-hand store.
I know now I should have saved up for the Super Sport many
years
ago... but the Collegiate never let me down, and its fenders
came in
handy a few times, so who's to say...

You might wish you'd made a different decision, but you didn't
make a bad decision, as the Collegiate served you well.
I think I know the feeling, though. A couple of years ago I
bought a 1976 Schwinn Super LeTour, which was practically in
mint condition (well, except I had to replace all the rubber
parts). It's what I would have loved to have had back then --
but couldn't afford. By today's standards, it's primitive --
10 speeds? downtube shifters? -- but I don't see its flaws,
only its graceful lines and its responsiveness.

--
Mike Kruger
Too many people spend money they haven't earned
to buy things they don't want
to impress people they don't like. -Will Rogers
Democracy is buying a big house you can't afford
with money you don't have
to impress people you wish were dead. -Johnny Carson

"John Mustarde" wrote in message
...
-snip-
This was the
bike I lusted after in 1964-65 but could not afford. I was
spending
my own paper-route income back then. The Super Sport was
$30-50 more
than the 5-speed Collegiate I bought for about $65, and the
price
difference was insurmountable (and I didn't know how back
then the
superior qualities of the Super Sport over the Collegiate.)

http://www.photolin.com/bike/ss/thumb0001.htm
-snip-

Mike Kruger wrote:
Nice pictures, nice bike.
The rims look like 27 inch aluminum (and I can't imagine you'd
be able to find an S6 cross tire any more).
What did the bike originally come with?
-snip-

Weinmann aluminum rims, IIRC chromed Berg-Union spokes.
Can't recall the tires - SuperSport owners? Jim Adney? Bill
Putnam?

There are many brands/models of K2 27" cross tires at every
price up to about $20.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

John Mustarde writes:

38 years later I found this Super Sport parked at a second-hand store.
I know now I should have saved up for the Super Sport many years
ago... but the Collegiate never let me down, and its fenders came in
handy a few times, so who's to say...

personally, i think the difference between a collegiate (38 lbs) and a
super sport (probably 34 lbs) was smaller than the difference between
a super sport and a "lightweight" (25 lbs) bicycle 38 years ago ...

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA

On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 20:32:57 -0600 A Muzi wrote:

Mike Kruger wrote:
Nice pictures, nice bike.
The rims look like 27 inch aluminum (and I can't imagine you'd
be able to find an S6 cross tire any more).
What did the bike originally come with?
-snip-

Weinmann aluminum rims, IIRC chromed Berg-Union spokes.
Can't recall the tires - SuperSport owners? Jim Adney? Bill
Putnam?

Weinmann alum rims, 27 x 1-1/4", ordinary (zinc plated Torrington?)
spokes, Schwinn Puff tires.

-
-----------------------------------------------
Jim Adney
Madison, WI 53711 USA
-----------------------------------------------

On 31 Jan 2005 13:00:15 -0800 (Donald Gillies)
wrote:

John Mustarde writes:

38 years later I found this Super Sport parked at a second-hand store.
I know now I should have saved up for the Super Sport many years
ago... but the Collegiate never let me down, and its fenders came in
handy a few times, so who's to say...

personally, i think the difference between a collegiate (38 lbs) and a
super sport (probably 34 lbs) was smaller than the difference between
a super sport and a "lightweight" (25 lbs) bicycle 38 years ago ...

I'm pretty sure the Super Sport comes in at just under 30 lbs. I could
weigh mine; there are quite a few things changed on it, but I doubt if
much weight has been removed.

-
-----------------------------------------------
Jim Adney
Madison, WI 53711 USA
-----------------------------------------------

John Mustarde writes:
38 years later I found this Super Sport parked at a second-hand store.
I know now I should have saved up for the Super Sport many years
ago... but the Collegiate never let me down, and its fenders came in
handy a few times, so who's to say...

Donald Gillies wrote:
personally, i think the difference between a collegiate (38 lbs) and a
super sport (probably 34 lbs) was smaller than the difference between
a super sport and a "lightweight" (25 lbs) bicycle 38 years ago ...

The Super Sport was a premium quality frameset, albeit a bit
heavy. The Super Sport's heft reflectd equipment choices as
much as the frame tubes. A closed top steel seatpost, steel
cranks and Brooks saddle didn't help.

A typical lightweight race bike then was 20~21lb on a 5.5lb
frameset. The SuperSport years of my Schwinn catalogs don't
show bike weight. That starts in 1974 when the Sports Tourer
(SuperSport with aluminum crank) lists at 32lbs. Your
'probably 34lb' seems right. Collegiates were 43lb.

So, yeah, a niggling 11-12 pounds or so either way.
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Thu, 06 Jan 2005 14:15:27 -0500, GPSBlake wrote:

And your 700x28c will be no match for the dirt & rock roads here.

That's a cyclocross bike, when the going gets rough you just dismount and
run. Probably faster than slogging through the mud with an MTB, and a
heck of a lot of fun. :P