# Handbuilt filet-brazed Schwinn Sports Tourer--back to period correct



## Reynolds531 (Nov 8, 2002)

A little over a year ago I built up a Schwinn Sports Tourer using a SRAM Spectro S7 internal gear hub. The hub sucked. I decided to restore the Schwinn to 1970's period correct with the key elements that made the Sports Tourer--Safety brake levers, Plastic bar tape, Chrome seat post, Chrome kickstand, and Chrome spoke protector.. I also made period correct upgrades--Suntour V GT derailleurs, Sugino Mighty Tour Crankset, and a Suntour Perfect 5 speed touring freewheel--14,17,22, 28, 38! It actually shifts very well with those big jumps. The Sports Tourer was available with barcons, which are very nice Suntour stamped "Schwinn Approved". The bike is quite high quality for something made in the 70's in Chicago. The Sports Tourer was built in the handmade shop along side the Paramount


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## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

Wow...great job.....Is it going to be wall art or a rider?


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## Scooper (Mar 4, 2007)

Beautiful job! Stunning!

I absolutely adore the fillet brazed 70s Sports Tourers and Super Sports. Of the two models, the Sports Tourer was the higher end with the three-piece alloy crank, and was second only to the Paramount in the model line-up. I had a '72 Super Sport that I put thousands of miles on before it was stolen in 1980.

Here's the specifications page for the 1971 Sports Tourer.


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## Reynolds531 (Nov 8, 2002)

Dave Hickey said:


> Wow...great job.....Is it going to be wall art or a rider?


I've been riding it. A 35 year old 32 pound bike with chrome fenders kills any competitive spirit in me and lets me enjoy slow rides. I rode a Schwinn Continental many thousands of miles back in the late 70's and this bike is way better than that. I'll probably ride a leisurely century on it later this year. My goal will be to take more than 7 hours. Gotta get the period correct touring clothes like in the ad below.


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## Kuma601 (Jan 22, 2004)

WOW...very nice job restoring it. 
Is this the original paint?


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## graw (Jun 2, 2007)

Very nice. I have that same 14-38 freewheel on an old Takara touring bike with the same Suntour barends, sans the Schwinn logo obviously. It does shift well.

Why did you dislike the geared hub?


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## Reynolds531 (Nov 8, 2002)

Kuma601 said:


> WOW...very nice job restoring it.
> Is this the original paint?


The paint is original, but there are quite a few touch-ups that don't show in the pics. It looks great from 10 ft, but the yellow touch up is a little darker. All of the decals are in very good condition


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## Reynolds531 (Nov 8, 2002)

graw said:


> Very nice. I have that same 14-38 freewheel on an old Takara touring bike with the same Suntour barends, sans the Schwinn logo obviously. It does shift well.
> 
> Why did you dislike the geared hub?



The story of my Spectro S7 is here 

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=110140&highlight=spectro+s7

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=80797&highlight=spectro+s7


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## ShayAllen (Jan 10, 2008)

That is beautiful. Yes, you do need to get the period correct outfit and go for fondue. That would be a memorable afternoon. If I had a bike like that, I might even make a regular habit of those types of afternoons.

-Shay


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## NJNightRider (Mar 1, 2012)

*PArts Source?*

Nice build! I have my original 1972 Sports Tourer still in operation ... Funny, I didn't like the Cool Lemon when I first purchased it on my NYC to Fairbanks via LA tour back in 1972 so I took the bike apart in Fairbanks and painted it ... GREY! LOL , Now I like the Cool Lemon! :mad2: 
But the Cool Lemon spray paint is way too expensive just for the color so I'll probably respray it gloss black or something ... OR maybe MAtt Black for the NYC grunge look... Hmmm .. 

OK, so I'd like to get a new bottom bracket (bearings, spindle, maybe even gears and cranks) Can you tell me brand, part numbers, supplier of your replacements? OR did you get the parts used? 

ALso, where to get a 5 speed free wheel gear cluster like your 38 max gear size these days??? 
I know Phil Wood sells the 120mm rear free wheel36 hole hub for like $170 

Thanks for your help! 
Will 
"The Mind remembers, The body forgets" :cryin:


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## Reynolds531 (Nov 8, 2002)

NJNightRider said:


> Nice build! I have my original 1972 Sports Tourer still in operation ... Funny, I didn't like the Cool Lemon when I first purchased it on my NYC to Fairbanks via LA tour back in 1972 so I took the bike apart in Fairbanks and painted it ... GREY! LOL , Now I like the Cool Lemon! :mad2:
> But the Cool Lemon spray paint is way too expensive just for the color so I'll probably respray it gloss black or something ... OR maybe MAtt Black for the NYC grunge look... Hmmm ..
> 
> OK, so I'd like to get a new bottom bracket (bearings, spindle, maybe even gears and cranks) Can you tell me brand, part numbers, supplier of your replacements? OR did you get the parts used?
> ...


I used a new velo orange cartridge bottom bracket, VeloOrange.com, a new nitto Randoneuour handlebar, and a Nitto stem that i machined down from 22.2 mm to 21.1 mm the fit the stout Schwinn steerer tube, both from Ben's Cycles in Milwalkee (benscycle.net) I rebuilt the wheels on the original hubs and Weinman 215 "hook bead" rims with new Sapim spokea. the 27 X1 1/4 tires are panracer pasela, commonly available. Everything else was either in my parts bin or pruchased on Ebay.

Since the re-built I did ditch the "safety levers" , added some hoods to the brake levers, converted the Sugino Mighty Tour crankset to a 52-47-34 half step and granny, and put on better handlebar tape. It's a nice bike.


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## NJNightRider (Mar 1, 2012)

Reynolds531 said:


> I used a new velo orange cartridge bottom bracket, VeloOrange.com, a new nitto Randoneuour handlebar, and a Nitto stem that i machined down from 22.2 mm to 21.1 mm the fit the stout Schwinn steerer tube, both from Ben's Cycles in Milwalkee (benscycle.net) I rebuilt the wheels on the original hubs and Weinman 215 "hook bead" rims with new Sapim spokea. the 27 X1 1/4 tires are panracer pasela, commonly available. Everything else was either in my parts bin or pruchased on Ebay.
> 
> Since the re-built I did ditch the "safety levers" , added some hoods to the brake levers, converted the Sugino Mighty Tour crankset to a 52-47-34 half step and granny, and put on better handlebar tape. It's a nice bike.



Thanks! 
I agree with your ditching those "Safety Levers" they do not apply enough "bite" when puting on the brakes as well as get in the way for bar bags. 

I went to the Velo site. They get $35 for their sealed BBs .. Anyone have any ideas why why that German SKF brand BB from Compass Cycle cost $129 ??? I think Phil Wood BBs cost even more ,, why??? (Just a general qt ... like why the GW Bridge tolls in NYC went from $8 to $12 and the governor from NJ and NY (who had veto power) says "Yea, there's been financial mismanagement at the Port Authority, buT cross our hearts and hope to die, we're going to look in to this. Oh, and by the way, WE're increasing the tolls anyway! ... but that's a different ball of wax than simply building a bicycle, so please accept my apologies for wasting your time on that one!) 

Back to business here:
When you went with the 2 gear crank, what spindle length did you use? 116 or 118mm? 
How about the 3 gear crank? I'm toying with the idea of going three gears. Did you go Velo BB also? What spindle length? And what crank set did you use? Used? New? Cost??? How about the rear derailure? Changed that too when going to 3 gear ? 

LOL ... maybe I should just a brand new bike ... Yikes! sorry guys, I slipped ... and besides, my bike has gone deaf a long time ago ...


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## stevebul (Dec 6, 2011)

Did you check out the prices for the Schwinn in the ad back in 1971, $196.00. I'm sure anyone would be glad to pay that now for one in even decent shape.


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## Reynolds531 (Nov 8, 2002)

NJNightRider said:


> Thanks!
> I agree with your ditching those "Safety Levers" they do not apply enough "bite" when puting on the brakes as well as get in the way for bar bags.
> 
> I went to the Velo site. They get $35 for their sealed BBs .. Anyone have any ideas why why that German SKF brand BB from Compass Cycle cost $129 ??? I think Phil Wood BBs cost even more ,, why??? (Just a general qt ... like why the GW Bridge tolls in NYC went from $8 to $12 and the governor from NJ and NY (who had veto power) says "Yea, there's been financial mismanagement at the Port Authority, buT cross our hearts and hope to die, we're going to look in to this. Oh, and by the way, WE're increasing the tolls anyway! ... but that's a different ball of wax than simply building a bicycle, so please accept my apologies for wasting your time on that one!)
> ...


 I used the same Sugino Mighty Tour crankset and used longer chainring bolts and spacerd to add the 3rd chaniwheel. This crankset is 110 bcd, so you can put on a 34 tooth granny. I did use a velo orange bottom bracket. It was 122 mm, I think. Modern triple cranksets don't need that long spindle. Most use 113 mm, but it depends...

I kept the Suntour Vx GT derailleur. It shifts well. I'm not sure if I could get into a 52-38 and I might lose the chain if i tried the 34-14, but i love the derailleur. To me, it has historic significance--a lower cost, better shifting, lighter derailleur. I think that it initiated the Japanese invasion of components. I bought one for my Schwinn Continental back in about 1974.


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## 4Crawler (Jul 13, 2011)

I just rebuilt my '73 Sports Tourer last spring and have about 3500 miles on it so far. About half those miles on gravel and dirt trails. It makes a nice bike for those sorts of rides, the frame is compliant enough to soak up the rough trails and yet still be ride-able on the pavement. It is a blast to ride at 15-20 MPH on gravel roads, just floats over that stuff, and you can usually pass both mountain bikes and road bikes on skinnier tires. Now on rougher trails, the mtn. bikes pass me up and on the road, the skinny tires and stiff frames have the edge, but for a "do it all" bike, it is hard to beat.

I bought the bike new in '73 for $202 and have owned it ever since.

New Years Day 2012 at the top of Montebello fire Road in NorCal:









Restoration writeup:
- Schwinn Sports Tourer Restoration

The orange paint I used is not quite as red as the original "Sunset Orange", a bit of which still exists on the steerer inside the head tube. I out on a Phil Wood bottom brkt. along with a Sekai triple crank (24-34-48) that I bought in the early '80s and a 6 speed cluster (14-16-19-24-28-34) in back which took a fair bit of work to make it fit. Also think it still has the original center pull brakes.


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