Schwinn upgrade, phase 2

That's the issue with upgrading...where do you stop and how much are you willing to spend? At $220 IMO you're not in too deep. And, as you say, you enjoy riding this bike.

As to the crank length: Ride a pair of 175's and 180's if you can. See how it feels, but as a guess I would think you should be on longer cranks. Personal preference when it comes down to it.

Again, presuming your measurements are correct, I can see you wanting and needing bars of a width that matches your body. Bars are not expensive...go for it. 37 CM? Sounds like a track width from the 1970's or something sized for small-framed individual.

My "old" bike is a Schwinn World Sport (blue/silver, yellow lettering) that I bought new in 1988. What year is yours? What color(s)? I'm actually thinking of doing similar upgrades to mine that you are so that I can use it as a backup bike, trainer, rain bike, etc. I had upgraded the handlebars (but put the new bars on the new bike when I got it), so I have a quill stem replacement for a threaded steer tube. As I recall, it didn't cost much for that, a stem and a new set of handlebars.

Fly1296 said:

So now on to the desired upgrades.  The most obvious is the crankset.  It still has the original Sugino cotterless set with 52/40 rings.  It's smooth and the BB has no play but the arms are only 170mm, short for my 36" inseam.  Or are they?  I get mixed messages from researching that topic: the calculators and such all suggest I should be on 180mm arms but the human advice seems to be that it your knees aren't bothering you don't sweat it.  Fortunately it's a 110mm BCD so I can install smaller rings (50/36 is what I'm leaning towards).  I'm in the process of acquiring pedals and shoes, and the thread adapter to allow me to install the pedals.  In the meantime I have toe clips.

There's no proven method for determining appropriate crank length except for trying different length cranks. Your local dealers are more likely to have 172.5's and 175's. I'd suggest getting a test ride on something with 175's to see how they feel. Same for the 172.5's. You're unlikely to find anything longer in stock at an LBS. If one of those lengths feels better, pull the trigger on some new cranks.

Quoted post said:

Handlebars are also high on the list.  The current set is 37mm c-c with pretty shallow drops.  This I can feel, in my shoulders when on the hoods and in my wrists in the drops.  My measurements suggest that 42-44 would be more appropriate.  I have also seen threadless adapters that would allow me to install a modern steerer.  That, however, will wait until I go in to the LBS and have a fitting done to determine optimum reach.

The steerer is actually the tube at the top of the fork that extends through the head tube of the bike. Your stem fastens either with a clamp or with an expansion wedge to the steerer. If you want to spend the money to get an adapter to allow the use of a threadless stem, you can. This will allow you to run either standard (25.4mm) or oversized (31.8mm) handlebars. You can search the web or this forum for discussions ad nauseum about the benefits of one versus the other. If you don't use the adapter, you'll be confined to using a quill stem (the one with the wedge bolt) and 25.4mm handlebars. Certainly I'd suggest going with much wider handlebars.

Quoted post said:

180mm arms are expensive and the bottom bracket shell will require an adapter for a 68mm bracket, so there would need to be a pretty big performance payoff to justify the cost.

A 68mm bottom bracket shell is the ISO standard. You have a standard English threaded BB shell. You can easily find BB's that require no adapter: Phil Wood, TA, and others.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by jpr95 [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

My "old" bike is a Schwinn World Sport (blue/silver, yellow lettering) that I bought new in 1988. What year is yours? What color(s)? I'm actually thinking of doing similar upgrades to mine that you are so that I can use it as a backup bike, trainer, rain bike, etc. I had upgraded the handlebars (but put the new bars on the new bike when I got it), so I have a quill stem replacement for a threaded steer tube. As I recall, it didn't cost much for that, a stem and a new set of handlebars.

Mine is a 1980 in "Regal Maroon" or something like that, somewhere between pink and red, with gold decals. I'm considering painting it this winter, as there will be weeks on end on unrideable weather.

The hardest part of the upgrading was having the patience to wait for good deals on eBay. I got perfect condition 5600-series 105 shifters for $50 because the guy basically had them as a throw-in for the FSA FD. Spreading the rear frame was easier than I expected, as was installing the shifters, RD, etc... I actually ended up with a better setup that originally planned, courtesy of the break with the shifters; I was originally looking at older 8-speed RSX and RX-100 components, possibly Tiagra 9-speed.

No reason not to go for it if you like the frame.