Hi.
My father-in-law was cleaning out his garage and gave me his old bike.
It's a 1962 Schwinn Superior 24" (too big for me) 15 speed with some
surface rust, dried out saddle and cracked brake hoods. Still, it's
all-original. About what you'd expect for a lo-mileage 45 year old bike
kept in a covered but unheated garage,
They only made this version of the Superior in 62 and 63. Frame is not
bad: fillet-brazed straight tube chrome-molly, chromed dropouts and full
chromed tubular fork. Alloy bars, chromed steel stem, aged Brooks B15
saddle, Alloy rims on hi-flange QR Normandie hubs. Weinmann centerpull
brakes.
The weakest aspect is the drivetrain: Heavy Ashtabula one-piece triple
crank 50-47-40, 14-28 cluster, Huret Allvit front and rear derailleurs
with downtube-mounted shifters.
I found a page from the dealer catalog online here. Here's the link:
http://www.geocities.com/sldbdealer/1962/62dlct03.html
In the product line it was positioned between the Super-Continental and
the Paramount. Actually, not a bad bike except for the drivetrain.
So my question is: Is this thing worth much? As a collectable, it
would take some doing to restore it...Like I said, there's some surface
rust on the chrome and the rubber's pretty much over and done with
(where CAN I find those brake hoods?). As a rider, the drivetrain is
pretty lame (40 tooth granny? More like an "Auntie" gear.), and it
would still take some bucks to get it working....new crank and
derailleurs at the least.
I'm not trying to offload it online, but I'm looking for advice:
(keeping in mind that the frame's too big for me to use)
1) Restore it to its 1962 full splendor. Note: it's NOT a Paramount!
2) Rebuild it with a more desireable 15 speed drivetrain (derailleurs
and crank at least).
3) Get it working "well enough" as-is and give it to some worthy
college student
or
4) donate it to the local used-bike coop and let THEM restore it. :-)
I'm inclined to option 3 or maybe 4, but if this has any real collector
value, maybe a full restoration would be in order.
Thanks, all.
--Mike
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Mike Schway | [Picture your favorite quote here]
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