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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Finished |
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| 1980's Schwinn Traveler - Before Restoration & Conversion |
I have been working on this girls 1980's Schwinn Traveler between other work. I do not like girls bikes with drop bars and a step through frame. It just doesn't look right. Girls bikes should have always had a horizontal cross bar and just properly fitted, with that being said I will be converting this bicycle to a upright city bicycle. Going over the bike, I have found this to be a very descent quality bike, it has very nice components for the time and shows now wear at all, the frame is in great condition. I think the bike shows little wear because of the drop bar setup and the fact that the rear wheel was badly damaged.
The plane for the Traveler is to replace the drop bars with new city bars, witch will require new brake levers and handle bar grips. The new brake levers are very nice Velo Orange city levers and I am going to go with cork bar grips with a shellac finish. The cables and cable housings will be replaced along with the tires and brake pads.. The cable housings will be white and a new white saddle will be installed. I am going to try to save the rear wheel, if I can't I will replace the wheel with a new wheel.
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Before Side View |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Before Crank View |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Derailleur View |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Before Rear Hub |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Before Front View |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Before Headset View |
Like always I stripped the frame of all components. The frame has very little chips or scratches and the paint is just a little dull. The frame is dirty however, after a good cleaning and some elbow grease and polish the frame looks great.
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Components Stripped- Bad Photo |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Dirty Frame |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Frame Polished |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Frame Polished |
With the frame polished I moved on to the bottom bracket and headset. The bottom bracket and headset showed little wear just hard dried grease. A day in the crock pot on low cleaned the grease easily. I quick polish on the buffer and everything looks great.
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Headset & BB Dirty |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Headset & BB Polished |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Bottom Bracket Tools |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Headset Installed |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Headset Tools |
Next I polished the stem and installed the new city handlebars. The headset is a very nice quality one and polished better then it came new. The handlebars are new Wald handlebars with a slight rise and a less aggressive sweep.
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Stem Before Polishing |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Stem & Handlebars Installed |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Stem & Handlebars Installed |
With the handle bars and stem installed I moved on to the crank set. The crank set is very nice quality, I have always like the way they made cranks in the 80's. A very classic look. I had to disassemble the crank to polish it correctly. It takes a little patience but it is all worth it, the polished crank really jumps out against the frame.
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Crank Set Before |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Crank Disassembled |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Crank Set Polished & Installed |
Next I started work on the wheels. The front wheel is in good shape. The rear wheel I was worried about, it was badly damaged. The front wheel cleaned nice, not much wear except for some dirty grease. I polished the hub and rim and installed new Kenda tires.
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Front Hub Old Grease |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Front Hub Polished |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - New Kenda Tires |
At this point in the restoration I got the new Cannon Camera. I have lost a few photos in this area of the restoration in the process of learning the new camera.
The rear wheel was not savable. There was a bad flat spot on the rim and the axle was badly bent. Someone really bashed it hard on something. This is why it probably shows little wear. I replaced the rear wheel with a Whiemen wheel, same that was on the rear, the new wheel has a different trim line on the rim, it is a better wheel then rim then what was on there.
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - New Rear Wheel |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - New Rear Wheel & Tire Installed |
Next I worked on the derailleurs, the derailleurs are in really good condition. They just need some cleaning, polishing and lubricating. This is where I lost some of the photos. I will take a photo of the front derailleur later. At the same time I overhauled the front and rear brake calipers. The calipers are in good shape, and overhaul makes them look better then new. I also installed the new brake pads. Again I will have to take more photos for this section.
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Rear Derailleur Polished & Installed |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Overhauled Left -Before Right |
I order new Velo Orange city brake levers and cork handlebar grips. I installed the levers and grips, but will not shellac the grips until the bicycle is completely done and tuned.
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - New Brake Levers & Handlebar Grips |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Brake Levers & Cork Grips Installed |
The last for today is I cleaned, polished, lubricated and installed the shift levers. I also polished the seat post and components. The shift levers work perfectly and have polished very nicely.
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Seat Post Polished |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Shift Levers Polished |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Shift Levers Installed |
Tomorrow I will take more photos of the bike to this point and run the cable housing and cables. Then I am just waiting on a new seat to arrive.
Good Day for now,
John Z.
I am posting three photos of the bike to this point that I was missing with the camera switch. Below are two photos of the bicycle at 90% complete, one side view and one front view.
I am waiting on a few parts to arrive to finish the bike. I will update when it is complete.
Merry Christmas to all.
John Z.
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Front Derailleur Installed |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Bicycle 90% Complete |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Bicycle 90% Complete |
The new saddle came today. I really like these Avenier saddles, they look great, are comfortable, well made and the price is a good value. I installed the saddle, ran new cable housing and cables and installed the chain. The bicycle shifts and brakes very well on the stand, I am waiting on new peddles to arrive before I can test ride it. While cleaning and polishing the peddles I noticed the peddle bearing cap was cracked and in polishing it broke, so new peddles are on the way.
When the peddles arrive I will give the bicycle a test ride, final tuning and final photos. I am excited about this bicycle, I really like the results of the conversion to a city bike.
In the photos below you will see the newest project under way as I wait for parts.
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Waiting on Peddles |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - New Saddle Installed |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - New Cables & Housing |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Chain Installed |
The new peddles showed up on Friday. It was quick work to finish the bicycle from here. I choose platform peddles for this bicycle, platform peddles are convenient for city riding. I personally use platform peddles 100% of the time, I broke my foot many years ago and clipless peddles are uncomfortable and painful for me to use, the platform peddles allows my foot to move as it needs to to stay comfortable.
I shellacked the cork handlebar grips. I have always liked the classic look of shellacked cork grips and shellacked twine handlebar tape. I am currently looking for a Classic English Raleigh 3 speed to finish out in classic leather.
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Cork Handlebar Grips |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Cork Grips Shellacked |
Below are the final photos of the bicycle. I am thrilled with the results, I can city many more city bicycle conversions in my future. The bicycle rides very nice, shifts very well and stops on a dime.
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Side View Finished |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Angle View Finished |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Handlebar View Finished |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Final Drive Train |
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| 1980's Women's Schwinn Traveler - Final Rear View |
Bicycle Highlights:
12 Speeds
27 Inch Alloy Wheels
City Handlebars
City Brake Levers
New Parts:
New Rear Wheel
New Brake Cables
New Shift Cables
New Cable Housings
New City Wald Handle Bars
New Velo Orange Brake Levers
New Cork Handlebar Grips
New Saddle
New Tires
New Brake Pads
New Platform Peddles
Price for the Schwinn Traveler City Bicycle is $275.00
Thanks for looking, Happy New Year
John Z.
I just bought this bike in blue for $20 and plan on restoring. I love the white seat and new handle bars. Looks great
ReplyDeleteWow, this restored and converted 1980's Schwinn Traveler is an absolute gem! The attention to detail and the craftsmanship that went into bringing this classic bicycle back to life is truly remarkable. Kudos to the person or team behind this Schwinn Traveler restoration, as well as to the Cash for Cars in Gold Coast (old unwanted scrap car). They exemplify the spirit of rejuvenation and remind us that sometimes the greatest treasures can be found in the things we least expect.
ReplyDeleteThe vibrant color scheme and vintage aesthetic evoke a sense of nostalgia and remind us of the golden days of cycling. Both the restoration of this bicycle and the idea of selling unwanted cars for cash Sydney demonstrate the power of giving old items a second chance. Not only does it contribute to the preservation of history and the reduction of waste, but it also allows individuals to find beauty and value in the forgotten and discarded.
ReplyDelete