Well, since I've actually managed to create a couple of new posts this year, let's see if I can keep it rolling. The best way I think of to do that right now is to try to catch up on some of the bikes I have in my collection that I haven't written about. Buckle up, because that's a surprisingly long list. I don't know if I'll get to them all, but here's a start. Some of you might have seen my posts about my 1973 chrome Schwinn Paramount. The bike I'm writing about now was the next model down in the Schwinn product line, the Sports Tourer.
Like many of my bikes, this is one I looked at longingly as a teenager. We didn't really have a lot of Schwinn dealers near where I grew up, but they showed up in magazines and I got my hands on a catalog at some point, and got to know the various models. Of course, like just about any cyclist in the 70s, I drooled over the top of the line, hand-built Paramount. But another model in those catalogs that caught my eye was the Sports Tourer. Made in the USA, and more affordable than a Paramount, it seemed like a great bike. I didn't actually lay eyes on one until college, when a guy I shared an apartment with one summer had one, and that just made me want one even more, because in some ways it was like nothing I'd ever seen before.
1973 Schwinn Catalog Sports Tourer Page
Now, when most people think about 70s Schwinns, the bike they are most likely to think of is the Varsity. One of the first things that comes to mind about that bike is the sheer heft of the thing. While a lot of entry level 10 speed bikes weighed around 30 pounds, the Varsity tipped the scales at somewhere around 40! Why is that? And why was it so popular and sold in such huge numbers? From what I've read over the years, Schwinn set out to build a 10 speed bike that could take the abuse dished out by a typical American adolescent, and I have to say, they succeeded. While not light, they were definitely sturdy and durable, and you'll still see a fair number of them rolling along today.
The average person taking a quick glance at a Sports Tourer most likely wouldn't see a big difference between it and a Varsity. While the Paramount used "lugged" frame construction, where the tubes are joined with the use of external sleeves, the Sports Tourer was built using "fillet brazing." At first glance, the joints look a lot like the "electroforged" (welded) ones on the Varsity and other lower end Schwinns, but it's a totally different process, involving lower temperatures and higher grade steel tubing, to yield a lighter yet strong frame. I won't get into the details, because it's better covered here:
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/schwinn-braze.html
And here:
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/varsity.html
For many years, the idea of having one of the fillet brazed Schwinns was on my "one of these days, if one happens along" list. It didn't quite make the "gotta have it" category like a Paramount, or some of the other high end bikes like Mercian or Proteus or Masi, but it was always there in the back of my mind. Well, a few years back, I don't recall exactly how I stumbled across it, but I found a Craigs List ad for what looked to be a very nice 1973 Sports Tourer. The only challenge was that it was about 300 miles from me, but it turns out only about 30 minutes from my older brother, who understands my bicycle collecting, since he has a rather large number of guitars in his house. A few emails and phone calls later, and the bike was in my brother's hands. It took a few months to work it out, but on a trip to the DC area, my brother brought the bike to our mom's house, where I picked it up shortly after. Based on the photos in the ad, I figured it was in good shape, but it looked even better in person.
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| 1973 Schwinn Sports Tourer, as it was when I first got it. |
Once I got it back to the shop, I started looking it over and thinking about things I liked and things I wanted to change. For the most part, the bike seemed to have all of the original equipment, with a few exceptions. I decided I wanted to get it closer to original while at the same time making it more enjoyable to ride. The parts that were definitely not original were the freewheel cluster, which was a very narrow range "corncob" style, more suited to a racing bike, and the tires, which were a narrow, high pressure black wall from Continental. The white Dia Compe brake lever hoods were also most likely not original, as the levers themselves were made by Weinmann, which I believe was standard for Schwinn back then, and the catalog shows bare levers. (Correction, the hoods were Weinmann, not Dia Compe.) Also, the bike had Huret shift levers mounted on the down tube, while the catalog shows it with the rather imposing Schwinn Twin-Stik stem mounted levers. Finally, the original pedals would probably have been made by Lyotard of France, not the slightly more modern SR pedals from Japan.
Now that I'd assessed the bike and given it some thought, I made the following changes:
- Installed a period correct Shimano freewheel with 14 - 32 teeth, with "skipped teeth" on the largest sprockets. This gave me both a more practical gearing range and the same or similar to what would have originally been on the bike.
- Swapped the tires for some new 27 x 1-1/4" Panaracer Paselas, which not only look right for the era, but ride great, both swift and comfortable. Some of you have probably noticed a lot of my bikes have the Paselas on them, so I clearly like them.
- Replaced the brake lever hoods with black ones, because while originally there would have been no hoods at all, I prefer the feel of rubber hoods. Also, the bike would have originally had "safety levers" on the brakes as well, but I don't care for those either, so I left those off.
- While I like down tube shifter levers, I like bar end shifters even more, and I happened to have a set of Schwinn-Approved bar end shifters (made by SunTour), which the catalog refers to as optional "fingertip controls", so I installed those.
- Finally, while I could have probably found a pair of the correct Lyotard pedals (I might actually have had a pair in a bin somewhere), I really prefer the very similar looking, but better made MKS Sylvan Touring pedals, so I put a set of those and some extra large toe clips on the bike, to accommodate my size 13-14 feet.
While I was at it, I gave the bike a thorough overhaul and cleaning, and even polished up some of the parts, like the funky Nervar triple crankset. (Correction, as a reader pointed out, it's a DOUBLE crankset, not a triple.). The Brooks saddle that came with the bike was in excellent shape, but the bar tape wasn't that great, so I replaced it with a similar blue padded tape. Finally, the spiffy little blue saddlebag was too cool to not keep, so it stayed on the bike, as did the classic Zefal HP pump.
One of the nice features about the 1973 and later Sports Tourers is that they came with a Scwhinn-Approved Le Tour rear derailleur, which was essentially a re-badged Shimano Crane, one of the nicest shifting wide range derailleurs of the day. Paired with the SunTour shift levers (a personal favorite), it changes gears just great. The 1971-72 models had the Campagnolo Gran Turismo, which despite being made by the famous Italian company, didn't shift that great and was really, really heavy.
I've thought about putting fenders on the bike, but haven't gotten around to it. To be truly Schwinn-accurate, I'd probably have to find some chrome steel ones, but I'm not sure I want to add any more weight to what isn't a really light bike to begin with. Of course, SKS (formerly ESGE) plastic fenders were popular back then, and even current models would look right. Or maybe something shiny from Velo Orange, that's lighter but still shiny. For now, I'll keep it as it is, and just watch the weather.
All in all, I'm really happy with how the bike turned out, and it's a lot of fun to ride. Not the lightest or fastest bike out there for sure, but super comfortable and smooth.
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| 1973 Schwinn Sports Tourer, after overhaul and changes. |
You can see more photos of the bike, both "before" and "after" shots, here:
A few links to other, similar bikes, and information on the line in general:
http://www.ironweedbp.com/ironweed-blog/chicago-fillet-the-1974-sports-tourer
https://16incheswestofpeoria.wordpress.com/2012/04/29/40-years-later-the-schwinn-sports-tourer/
http://bikeretrogrouch.blogspot.com/2014/09/handbuilt-schwinns.html
3 comments:
Loved your post. And, yes, I used to drool over guitar catalogs the way you drooled over bike catalogs. Glad you love the bike and thanks for the shout out!
Big Bro
Nice. I think you may have made an error in calling that a triple crankset, though. The bike was spec'd with a double and that what yours looks like in the photos. My '72 has an added guard, which is like a dummy chainring, bolted to the large ring. In the early 1970s, Weinmann hoods were white. I don't remember when they started being available in gum rubber, but the white ones were difficult to keep clean. The reason the levers are bare in the catalog pics was because the bikes came stock with "safety levers," and these interfered with the hoods, though many later models did combine the two. My Sports Tourer came with Weinmann-made "Schwinn Approved" centerpull calipers, but Dia Compe levers, and I'm pretty sure that was the original setup. However, that was the Bike Boom and Schwinn often sourced parts from multiple manufacturers during the same model year. Likewise, the Sports Tourer could have come with a Nervar or TA crank, though they would have the same specs.
Once I got my first job in 1971, I started looking for a replacement for my '69 Varsity and narrowed it down to the Sports Tourer or a Motobecane Grand Touring. I was attracted to the Campy derailleur on the Schwinn, but decided it was too heavy and went with the Motobecane. That one was a decent bike and my brother still has it, but if I could have afforded to jump up to the Grand Record, I bet I would still have it today.
Steve -
Wow, you are absolutely right about the crankset. Thanks for catching that! I don't know how I got it in my head it was a triple, especially after working on it! And yes, mine has the "dummy" ring like yours. And now I look at the original photos, the hoods WERE Weinmann, not DiaCompe. I ditched them partly because they were filthy, but also because they were really hard and stiff after so many years. Honestly, all the white hoods I've seen from that era end up hard, so it must be the material they used.
You're right about manufacturers, including Schwinn, scrambling for parts during the bike boom and bikes not always being to spec. I have a '73 Raleigh Competition Mk II that is "supposed" to have Capella lugs but has Nervex Pro lugs like an International instead.
Sounds like I might be a few years younger than you, but I remember shopping for the first bike I bought with my own money, and narrowing it down to a Fuji S-10S or the same Motobecane Grand Touring that you had. I ended up with the Fuji, in part because of the dealer being more convenient to me, location-wise, but both were great bikes. You might notice in my other blog posts I recently came into a very battered Grand Record. I haven't had a chance to work on that one yet, but I'm looking forward to finally trying one out. I've always kind of had a "thing" for the Grand Record and Grand Jubile. I'd love to find the latter with the long cage Huret derailleur, but those are pretty rare, as I think they only made them one year.
Now I need to edit/correct the post!
Tim
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