Singlespeed!

I've had this old Schwinn World Sport frame sitting around for a long time. I repainted it from its original red to a two-tone silver/midnight blue fade about two years ago. It's been collecting dust ever since.

When my wife told me to clean out the storage space, I figured it was better to store spare parts on a frame than in a box!

It still needs some work, but it is my favorite ride right now. The first of my list of wants is a moustache bar and some proper road levers. Then I would like a set of new long-reach brakes. The ones on it now are a bit cludgy, but they get the job done. I will probably go clipless at some point. Maybe a dedicated flip-flop rear hub. Perhaps a different chainring and a bash guard instead of the second larger chainring. I love having a new project bike!

One final note. I've found commuting on this thing to be as fast or sometimes faster than on my normal commuting rig. I can't gear down for the hills, so I have to work harder to maintain the momentum. This silly bike is changing my approach to cycling once again!

The Replacement

No, not the singing group! The replacement for the broken bicycle. I found the frame on e-bay and won it with a bank-breaking bid of $5.50. It is a decent chro-mo frame with eyelets and braze-ons everywhere. The only thing I would add is a disc brake mount. The only thing I would take off is some weight. It's not my favorite color, but it is a nice flashy gold! I feel like I've brought some "bling" into my life....

The rest of the parts were scavenged from the what I now call the dog magnet (red Sterling found below) or my Cannondale Super-V. I hated to disassemble the Super-V, but it wasn't being used much and it was my only source for a fork with a 1 1/8" steering tube.

The frame is 19" which fits so much better than the old bike. I still need to order replacement fenders and will likely return to a rigid fork. I'm also looking at some different handlebars. Mountain bars just don't work well for me.

The new Schwinn is great fun bombing over railroad tracks. It isn't very fast, but it gets me there and back. Hard to ask for more!