Pimp My Shwinn

There were two people riding modded scwinns at Moab. One fellow had only
switched out the tire and pedals, and did fine, for the most part.

The Scwinn frame isnt too small, as far as clearance goes, so you could
probably throw a 2.5ish mountain bike tire in there and be good for now.
However, eventually you might want to upgrade the ENTIRE thing to
something a bit stronger.

--
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You can put a Gazz or Kenda Kolassal 2.6" on there without any trouble.
Get new Pedals, and probably a new seat if you want. If the unicycle is
really vintage, you should look into replacing the rim, you can buy an
alloy rim of the same size and lace that in, and it'll reduce weight,
and probably add strength. I put platform pedals on mine and the Kenda
tire for Muni, but I still have the original saddle. The Schwinn frame
is one of the strongest, because the 3 piece design allows for some
movement of the parts so there isn't a build-up of stress on the
crown.

Schwinns rock, have fun.

--
TheoELind - Beaten up, but not out

Dave Lowell is my main man.
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The newer version Schwinn has 36 spokes and thereby stronger than the
older models that had 28 spokes. I have owned them, and still have a
newer version that I ride on occasion.
The Schwinn is very strong, but heavy, and so not the ideal ride for
MUni - but it will work. The stock tire, and pedals need to be replaced,
and you may want to check-out a new seat for comfort.

Schwinn's have been around for years, and will probably outlast many
other models in the same price category.

So, Congrats on your new piece of steel...

--
roadkill - Crash Test Dummy

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'My vintage POS' (http://gallery.unicyclist.com/digitaldave/c100_0350)

I dissagree with others on this one.

1. The frame bends very easily.
2. The steel rim dents easily.
3. The cotttered cranks break easily.

If you have a newer one than mine, the cranks may not be cottered.

Anyway, IMO, a vintage Uni should be cared for, not abused.

Mine is over 30 years old... and look how nice it looks.
Mine can be set back to original state by removing the seat extension I
made.
(Although, no more whitewall tires anymore)

The photo reflects how nice it looked with an original Schwinn whitewall
'Unicycle' tire.

--
DigitalDave - Ðîgï†å||¥ ËñhÂÑ€èÐ

'nf7-s ~ xp2400mobile'
(http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=21988)
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that which does not kill me, makes me stronger. - friedrich nietzsche
1899
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If your Schwinn is old enough to have cottered cranks, you don't want to
beat on it too much. Those cranks will probably come loose
chronically.

A later Schwinn with cotterless cranks will be better, but still has the
weaknesses below.

If your Schwinn is new (prox. 1997 or later), I don't think it has the
same level of indestructability in its frame than the older ones.

The old frames could take quite a bit of punishment, but suffer from two
major flaws:
1. One bolt holds the whole thing together. Seat adjustments are limited
to 1" increments, which would be considered ludicrious to any
bicyclist.
2. The stamped steel frame is not only heavy, it is also flexy. Do not
put in a tire with less than 1/4" clearance on each side. Even with that
much, the tire will rub the frame when you pedal hard. Pedaling hard is
what happens when you ride either uphill or downhill. Believe me, I know
this from experience with my own Schwinns.

My recommendation is to keep the Schwinn for easier types of riding, and
get a MUni for the trails.

--
johnfoss - More Moab Fun

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com

"Read the rules!" -- 'IUF Rulebook'
(http://www.unicycling.org/iuf/rulebook/) -- 'USA Rulebook'
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