Show us your bicycles!

[rdenney]

I put a pair of Weinmann center-pull brakes on my wife's "gravel" bike. I use the quotes because a proper gravel bike these days would probably have a 1x11 drivetrain and disk brakes. As I said I built an all-surface bike using a late-80's Cannondale touring frame, and my wife liked the idea so much that she asked me for one, too.

Mine:

Mine is equipped with a high degree of funkiness. 8-speed Campy Racing Triple with Mirage brifters, Shimano 600 (I think) hubs laced to Mavic rims, CLB brakes (which had just enough reach), Compass tires (now Rene Herse), TTT bar and Salsa stem, Speedplay Frog pedals.

Hers:

I used more conventional stuff on hers: Sugino triple crankset, Shimano Clarus 8-speed mechs and brifters, Weinmann center-pull brakes that had just little enough reach. She just won't have pedals that require fastening her foot to them, so street pedals for her.

The two frames are the same size, and the colors should be reversed--she prefers the red and I prefer the blue. But I already owned the red one from years back when I used it as a commuter, and it was already built when I found the blue one for her. Her legs are not really much shorter than mine, but I can tolerate a higher saddle and a much longer (and lower) reach. I had to buy the Nitto stem specially for its height and short reach.

These frames were designed for 27" wheels, and with 700C there is an extra quarter inch of clearance for tires. They were also designed for fenders, which means the stays are wide enough for larger tires. Tires are about 38mm wide.

I think of these as modern and yours as vintage. Sigh.

Rick "whose newest bike is nearly 30 years old" Denney

 

[MoreWatts]

Did I hear someone mention Weinmann center-pulls?

My first serious bicycle (at 16 y/o ) was a 1974 Raleigh Gran Sport. Marketed as a 'randonneur' bicycle, and the bars had that style bend. The Grans Sport was the model above the Gran(d?) Prix, which they sold jillions of in the USA, and competed with the Schwinn Varsity/Continental (I had a Varsity before the Raleigh). The Gran Sport would have competed with Schwinn's Le Tour (iirc), but the Raleigh was cooler. A price of $225US is in my memory....

Stronglight 93 cranks (with a chain-guard. In hindsight, coulda been tripled?); Simplex derailleurs (alotta plastic, which eventually breaks); Brooks saddle; Normandy hubs (?); Lyotard pedals (?).

Weinmann center-pulls felt very solid. Their entire lever and caliper package felt much better and was machined nicer than the Mafac brakes I had on a later bike -- the venerable Peugeot PX10. The Raleigh had Weinmann rims also.

The photos below are not mine, but looks like it is a stock build. The 2nd shows the drive-train and all the plastic in the Simplex gears . The catalog page is for a 1976, but the specs appear identical to mine. It also shows a Silca frame pump like mine.

 

[rdenney]

That was a much nicer bike than the Schwinn Continental, which had Ashtabula cranks, steel rims, a Maillard freewheel, and Huret Allvit derailleurs. The frame was strong but obnoxiously heavy. It’s better even than the LeTour and more on a par with the Super LeTour, which had a frame of brazed, butted tubing. And at least it does not have the suicide lever extensions in the brake levers—the one thing that I think more than any other gave Weismann center pull brakes a bad name. The Schwinns had those.

But the Schwinns were better than the JC Penney water-pipe “ten-speed” that I rode around Houston as a teen.

Rick “used to lust after a Raleigh Professional until discovering how flexible it was” Denney

 

[mischa]

 

[steve59]

Schwinn S-30 1998 to present. This is a pic scooped off the net of my bike I bought nearly 30 years ago. I've been thru many seats, upgraded the rims to 26" shimano's (after they were discontinued at big discount, handlebar extensions and better JUDY forks.

 

[rdenney]

View attachment 487085Schwinn S-30 1998 to present. This is a pic scooped off the net of my bike I bought nearly 30 years ago. I've been thru many seats, upgraded the rims to 26" shimano's (after they were discontinued at big discount, handlebar extensions and better JUDY forks.

My mountain bike is a Schwinn Homegrown from the first year of their partnership with Control Tech. It’s a very nice hardtail, but I still pump the front forks when out of the saddle. The gravel bike is better on our dirt roads. But I’m a roadie. I bought the MTB when I had a girlfriend who was an expert-class rider, but I attracted injuries every time I rode on single-track with her.

Rick “

” Denney

 

[mischa]

 

[rdenney]

View attachment 487117

Let me embarrass myself some more

I’m not seeing lugs, so I’m thinking TiG-welded, which would mean 80’s. But there were internally lugged and brazed frames in the 70’s (ref. Schwinn Super LeTour mentioned upthread). More modern (than Campy NR) slant pantograph rear derailleur, first introduced by Suntour in maybe 1975, but that one isn’t a Cyclone. Look pedals, I’m thinking, which are later. The fork crown looks like a semi-sloping Haden—late 70’s.

But the I see those drop bolts on the standard-reach brakes, and I’m thinking 27” wheels and fenders which points earlier.

And the pista crank and straight bars give it a delightfully minimalist look. I think I have those same cranks on my track bike. Edit:—nevermind—it’s not a pista crank. It just has a non-toothed chain guard in lieu of the outer ring.

Rick “looking forward to details” Denney

 

[mischa]

Let me embarrass myself some more

I’m not seeing lugs, so I’m thinking TiG-welded, which would mean 80’s. But there were internally lugged and brazed frames in the 70’s (ref. Schwinn Super LeTour mentioned upthread). More modern (than Campy NR) slant pantograph rear derailleur, first introduced by Suntour in maybe 1975, but that one isn’t a Cyclone. Look pedals, I’m thinking, which are later. The fork crown looks like a semi-sloping Haden—late 70’s.

But the I see those drop bolts on the standard-reach brakes, and I’m thinking 27” wheels and fenders which points earlier.

And the pista crank and straight bars give it a delightfully minimalist look. I think I have those same cranks on my track bike. Edit:—nevermind—it’s not a pista crank. It just has a non-toothed chain guard in lieu of the outer ring.

Rick “looking forward to details” Denney

IT was a Peugeot HLE from the 80`s.
Fork from 70`s French bike (Flandria i think).
Shimano 600 crank-set (big chain-ring without the teeth)
Shimano Adamas ax pedals
Suntour AR Derailleur

 

[Somafunk]

My mountain bike is a Schwinn Homegrown from the first year of their partnership with Control Tech. It’s a very nice hardtail,

Jesus Christ......... .......that control tech stem/handlebar is in an entirely different time zone from the headset, early 90's for sure.

Not quite as bad but here's my Marin Indian Fire Trail I got for my 21st birthday in 94 with 130mm stem

And turned into a roadie/timetrial mongrel that I used for the 10m/25m/50m time trials

 

[MoreWatts]

I see I wasn't the only one with a Schwinn mountain bike.

1987 Schwinn Paramountain, Ned Overend Signature Edition. This was a supposed copy of the bike on which he won the first MTB World Championship. (not my photos, ~like mine, with different brakes.)

The first Shimano XT groupset (XTR came later), included hubs, seat post , headset, pedals(?), U-brakes (rear under chainstays). Salsa bar and roller stem, Turbo saddle, Hite-Rite post dropper, frame had a pump-peg, like the photo. I installed a Phil Wood bottom bracket & bar ends. Later added the ~2nd generation Rock Shox (gold one) suspension fork, and then re-installed the solid fork.

Gave it to my brother, who beach-cruises it with the bar-ends pointed-up, and a sheepskin cover on the saddle....

 

[MoreWatts]

I am a vegan weirdo, and one day I searched online for vegan bicycle lube. And got a hit that led me to the best drip chain lube I've ever used. The company is a Colorado (USA) company called 'mountainflow' which markets 3 kinds of bicycle lube (wet, dry, etc.), and have recently added bicycle cleaning fluids. I use their 'Plant-Based Bike Lube, Dry' version. Perfect for my dry desert conditions, and it keeps the chain and cogs looking new, with no wax build-up. (Oh no, I don't see it on their website currently. Since it was perfect for me, it's probably discontinued.... )

Their primary products, however, are ski waxes and ski waxing kits. They recently sent me a promotional email for a ski-wax kit, which includes a free bottle of whiskey with purchase! In the USA, I've seen promotions that give away a gun with purchase (I'm not kidding), but never free booze. If nothing else, this company seems like it is a lot of fun. Sorry, the offer expired 31 October. BTW, the 'Black Diamond Wax Kit' has more items than shown in the photo, and costs $500. Mountainflow doesn't appear to have any $500 bicycle-maintenance kits yet, so I'm not gonna expect an equivalent whiskey-promotion next spring. Here's the ad:

THE WHOLE KIT AND CABOODLE ...

In this case, I guess the whiskey would be the caboodle. For just one more day, order out best-selling Double Black Diamond Kit and get a free bottle of whiskey.​

'Mythology Distillery' is a Colorado firm that produces a variety of 'premium hand-crafted spirits.' The front page of their website features a tipsy couple slammin' acoupla shots, with a Yeti mountain bike (also a Colorado company) parked in the picture. Not sure if this a pre- or post-ride ritual for this couple. The dog wonders what happened to his glass.

 

[Chrispy]

I see I wasn't the only one with a Schwinn mountain bike.

1987 Schwinn Paramountain, Ned Overend Signature Edition. This was a supposed copy of the bike on which he won the first MTB World Championship. (not my photos, ~like mine, with different brakes.)

The first Shimano XT groupset (XTR came later), included hubs, seat post , headset, pedals(?), U-brakes (rear under chainstays). Salsa bar and roller stem, Turbo saddle, Hite-Rite post dropper, frame had a pump-peg, like the photo. I installed a Phil Wood bottom bracket & bar ends. Later added the ~2nd generation Rock Shox (gold one) suspension fork, and then re-installed the solid fork.

Gave it to my brother, who beach-cruises it with the bar-ends pointed-up, and a sheepskin cover on the saddle....

View attachment 487152

View attachment 487153

View attachment 487155

My first mountain bike was an '84 Schwinn High Sierra. Never saw a Paramountain before!

 

[MoreWatts]

Never saw a Paramountain before!

They only made them for about 2 years. [Edit: See 4 posts down. Also, I think after Schwinn was sold in ~'93 they might have been done aluminum through parts of the 90s and later, but it appears a catalog dig is required to answer that, and I don't have the patience.] After Ned Overend won the first Mountain Bike Cross Country World Championship for Schwinn, he jumped ship to Specialized, which is the brand he is long-associated with.

 

[Subob]

This was my latest N+1.
Tbf, the Jones bar style was needed at the time due to health issues meaning the drop bars were out of action for a good while. The disc brakes were not my choice, but for bike packing, they'll do I suppose.

 

[Chrispy]

They only made them for about 2 years. After Ned Overend won the first Mountain Bike Cross Country World Championship for Schwinn, he jumped ship to Specialized, which is the brand he is long-associated with.

I used to look longingly at the Paramounts in the Schwinn catalog when I was a kid but outta my price range then....had Schwinn bikes for the most part, from my basic 20" wheel bike turned into a stingray, but was more in the Varsity/Continental/SuperSport range when old enough for the road bikes

 

[Subob]

As this is an audio board with a bicycle thread, can I combine my love for Reggae and bicycles all in one quick video? Lol

 

[MoreWatts]

They only made Paramountains for about 2 years.

Internet, you guys, rabbit holes....

From an old post at MTBR.com Forums:

"Jan 15, 2006

I wrote to Richard Schwinn at Waterford Bikes asking about production numbers or other information related to the 1987 Paramountain.... Richard's reponse:

.... The Paramountain was the only "Paramount" built at Schwinn's Greenville facility. I loved the name but not the implementation. It was brass, not silver-brazed of chromoly. It is therefore not designed for repairs. The emblem is the Schwinn family crest from Germany and the graphics have a similar medieval look. I don't know for sure how many were built but I'd guess somewhere around 1000."

 

[The Dunster]

I need tyres for my old 26" MTB (2011 I bought it) with UST rims. Does anyone still make UST tyres for 26" wheels or are they long gone ?

 

[MoreWatts]

I need tyres for my old 26" MTB (2011 I bought it) with UST rims. Does anyone still make UST tyres for 26" wheels or are they long gone ?

In the USA, a good source for tires, bicycles and gear in general, is the aptly-named BikeTiresDirect.com. Here's a link to their 26-inch mtb page.