After my department store bike was stolen last year, and my other one crapped out on me, I was given a 1965-1969 Nishiki Olympic 10 by a cool guy named John who had over a hundred old Japanese and Europeon bikes. I rode it to work a couple times and decided to fix it up a little. I cleaned it up and painted it. White primer, white gloss, transparent blue, then clearcoat. If I did it right, it would have looked really cool. But I didn't know how to fully dissasemble the bike and it turned out crappy. I left it in my attic for about 6 months. The derailleur was bent and wouldn't shift into all gears, so I removed it, shortened the chain, making it a single speed. This worked OK for a while. Flash forward to now. My rear tube went flat, so I needed a new tube. I thought "maybe I'll replace the tires too, since they might just be 40 years old" so I got new tires. While I was changing them, I thought "while the wheel's off, why don't I regrease the hubs?" since the grease in there might just be 40 years old. While I'm at that, I should clean the gears, they have tons of grime on them. Oooh, what nice shiny gears! I should fix the derailleur too, so my Nishiki can be an Olympic 10 again, instead of an Olympic 1. After I got those done, I figured I'd change the grease in the crank, too. About 4 hours later I finially got all the crank pieces off. They're drying/being soaked in TriFlow right now. My bike is looking pretty bare, with no pedals and stuff. Since I'm going to clean out the crank housing, I should take off the brakes and handlebars so I don't bang my head on them or some [censored]. Hey, cool, there's some original shiny maroon paint on the fork. Now that the bike is a bare frame, maybe I should paint it. Last time it didn't turn out so well. I started by changing a flat, and I'm going to end up sinking a hundred bucks or so into restoring the bike to almost-like-new condition. Tell me what color(s) I should paint it. Red and black by themselves are out (But I'm thinking about black WITH red). Include if it's metallic, candy, pearl finish, ect. check out [email hidden] on myspace for pictures
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it started with a flat...
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- 22 September 2005
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- BimmsAndBices
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I recently aquired a 10 speed - not twelve - 1980's schwinn traveler. It is my new and improved money pit, and for sure it will se a lot of disasembling, painting, rebuilding action this winter.
I have a perfectly modern and convenient bicycle too, but this is the one I wanted when I was a kid .... in the 80's.
It will probably end up being a fixed gear so to level things when riding with my wife. 24 gears against 1 will even up things for her 😄.
I am planning on painting the rims black while is still ten speed and painting the frame osha orange.
You can dance, you can dance, you can dance the safety dance ... 😄
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I understand your desire to get a bike with historical meaning to you. I have been glancing around for a Schwinn Le Tour IV to restore, as I have some fond memories of my first bike as an adult. Like rolling down a hill in an aero position passing cars, sliding back with my sternum over the horn of the saddle to minimize my wind resistance even more... something I would never do now, but it sure was fun then!
I have seen a few on eBay since I started looking, even a couple in the same blue color that I had... but so far I have not found one the right size...
I am also keeping my eyes open for a good deal on any reasonably good bike from the period, especially Peugeot or Motobecane, as I saw a few of those "in the day" that I would have really liked to have had.
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Greg ... dont get me started with the Pugs .... that was THE bike to have in Argentina!!
I see the restored ones and I drool.
Greg ... you have to get out of the boonies on the weekend and swing by to suburbia - namely New Jersey - where yard sales abund and 10 speed bikes are plentyful.
I am 6f 1' and I got a bike that more or less fits ok for riding 25 miles at a time.
edit: check craigslist philadelphia on the bike section. there is a blue 10 speed schwinn that seems like a good project
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HA! I HAVE A PUG!!! :p 😄
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Ha! I have a Pug!!! :p 😄 It's from 88'-89' and is the most beautifully balanced bike I've ever had the privilage to ride. It's a damn shame they stopped producing them. It's off the road for a few months while I restore it. My dad knackered the bottom bracket shell and needs a new one and a paint job. £160 it's gonna cost.:eek: I can get it done cheaper, but I feel this bike deserves only the best! They just don't make'em like they used to.🙁
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huhenio said:
edit: check craigslist philadelphia on the bike section. there is a blue 10 speed schwinn that seems like a good projectI think I found the one you mention (I did actually look at craigslist for Philly and Allentown yesterday too). I saw a few others that are somewhat interesting, but the blue Schwinn is too small... I am looking for something more your size (I am 6'😉 a 23" or 58cm frame would be ideal.
I put a request on the local freecycle this morning for a men's road bike in that size to see if anything is worth picking up. 🙂
The color is not really important to me, though wouldn't it be a kick to somehow find the bike I used to ride. Of course I could never confirm it because I don't have any of the original information, but if it were a 23" blue Le Tour IV I could pretend 😄
I am not in too big of a hurry, and I am indeed interested in more of a project than an immediate rider, so I can take my time.
I may have to swing over to NJ and check out some of their yard sales etc... All I have seen around here for sale are mountain bikes and kids bikes...
On my way into work today I saw an old Raleigh 10 speed that would have been a good project bike, but it was in use by someone visiting the office... 😉 One of very few road bikes I have seen around here other than in my LBS.
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