This beautiful Schwinn Super Sport frame came to the Bike Exchange from our friends at the Cupertino Bike Shop when they moved earlier this year.
Previously, we had sold it to Greg Davis at Cupertino as a parts bike for a Schwinn Continental he was restoring for a client. I hated to see it go as I was anxious to restore it myself but the deal was done and I said goodbye. I got a second chance when they moved and I found the frame back in the workshop.
This is not your dad's old Schwinn Varsity. It's a high-quality fillet-brazed frame from straight-gauge 4130 CrMo tubing as the late Sheldon Brown documented, and feels about ten pounds lighter than a Schwinn Varsity.
An old Schwinn Varsity supplied the stem, crank, pedals, and kickstand. I found nice Nitto bars and foam grips in the shop to detail the cockpit. I dug into my stash for a 6-speed freewheel, Suntour derailleurs, and stem shifters to round out the drivetrain. A practically new set of Stay True wheels and Kenda 27 x 1-⅜” (ETRTO 630, to be specific) gumwall tires are rolling this beauty into its new life.
Putting everything back together presented a few difficulties as the tubing used in the bike is larger than the old Varsity. I found a mountain bike seat post collar but had to modify the Suntour front derailleur slightly to make it work. The cable hanger for the rear center-pull brake didn’t have enough clearance for the cable pull and needed to be customized to work properly.
I originally fitted a tan ladies springer seat and custom grips but after seeing those on the bike decided that black looked better with the yellow paint.
Hope you all like the way it turned out.