# 82 Schwinn World Sport Upgrades



## harbday (Nov 13, 2007)

*help with 83 Schwinn World Sport Upgrades*

I am new to road biking and recently fixed up my dad's 83-ish Schwinn World Sport. I would rather fix this bike up gradually than go all out and buy a new road bike. The first thing I want to change are the shifters. Any help with models in the 150-200 price range that would still keep the retro look? What would be the next logical upgrades after that? Bear in mind I do commute to class on this bike.

Thanks.


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## handsomerob (Oct 5, 2005)

harbday said:


> I am new to road biking and recently fixed up my dad's 83-ish Schwinn World Sport. I would rather fix this bike up gradually than go all out and buy a new road bike. The first thing I want to change are the shifters. Any help with models in the 150-200 price range that would still keep the retro look? What would be the next logical upgrades after that? Bear in mind I do commute to class on this bike.
> 
> Thanks.


you are thinking the same thing countless others have... 

You really can't just upgrade to integrated shifters without also upgrading (at a bare minimum) the rear derailleur, cassette, rear wheel, and chain. It is possible, if not likely, that a newer and more narrow chain would not shift very well with the front derailleur and crankset. 

There are some exceptions to this if you would like to use much older and likely well used parts, like if you find some Shimano RSX 7 speed shifters or get some 8 speed shifters and set the limiter to not allow the last shift (since Shimano 7 and 8 speed cassettes are spaced equally). But for either of these you would have to already have at least 7 gears in the back. If you have a 6 speed freewheel (which is what that looks like) then refer to my initial advice.


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## 10ae1203 (Jan 14, 2007)

Maybe he wants to upgrade to downtube shifters. 

You can get a clamp set up for the shift levers, similar to the cable stop. I did such a thing a while back. 

A good upgrade would be to get rid of the horizontal brake levers.


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## buck-50 (Sep 20, 2005)

You could get some paul's thumbies and bar end shifters- that'd put your shifting up where it's easier to get to... Plus, since you are dealing with a 6 speed, you could just switch off the indexing. 

Figure 50 bucks for thumbies and between 25 and 50 bucks for a pair of old bar-end shifters...

You could take off those death-levers and replace them with some cyclocross interrupter levers... that's another 30-50 bucks...


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## harbday (Nov 13, 2007)

buck-50 said:


> You could get some paul's thumbies and bar end shifters- that'd put your shifting up where it's easier to get to... Plus, since you are dealing with a 6 speed, you could just switch off the indexing.
> 
> Figure 50 bucks for thumbies and between 25 and 50 bucks for a pair of old bar-end shifters...
> 
> You could take off those death-levers and replace them with some cyclocross interrupter levers... that's another 30-50 bucks...


being as i have no idea about nay of this stuff what would be the best way to figure out what to buy if i were to go with what you suggested.


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## 10ae1203 (Jan 14, 2007)

google paul's thumbies


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## harbday (Nov 13, 2007)

am i wrong that ergos would not require me to replace anything?

"Ergo is indexed on the right (rear) side, but is not indexed on the left (front) size. This makes Ergo shifters compatible with all front derailers and all chainring sizes, double or triple".


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## buck-50 (Sep 20, 2005)

harbday said:


> being as i have no idea about nay of this stuff what would be the best way to figure out what to buy if i were to go with what you suggested.


You could probably talk to your LBS and tell them you are interested in Paul's thumbies and some interrupter levers...


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## handsomerob (Oct 5, 2005)

harbday said:


> am i wrong that ergos would not require me to replace anything?
> 
> "Ergo is indexed on the right (rear) side, but is not indexed on the left (front) size. This makes Ergo shifters compatible with all front derailers and all chainring sizes, double or triple".


Did you even read my response above?

PLEASE NOTE: If you currently have a 6 speed freewheel, you will DEFINITELY need more than just shifters.


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## Red Sox Junkie (Sep 15, 2005)

I think you're barking up the wrong tree with this one. I wouldn't spend the time and money to upgrade that bike. If you have $150 to $200, I would start by looking on Ebay/Craigslist and find a bike that is more upgradeable. For $200 you could find a bike that is from a similar era or even newer (think late 80's early 90's). During that time, the quality of mid level bikes improved a ton and a lot of the specs changed. Seven speed and more modern rear spacing became the norm. A bike with 7 speed is a lot cheaper and easier to upgrade.


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## Reynolds531 (Nov 8, 2002)

harbday said:


> I am new to road biking and recently fixed up my dad's 83-ish Schwinn World Sport. I would rather fix this bike up gradually than go all out and buy a new road bike. The first thing I want to change are the shifters. Any help with models in the 150-200 price range that would still keep the retro look? What would be the next logical upgrades after that? Bear in mind I do commute to class on this bike.
> 
> Thanks.


Your World Sport is a nice commuter. If you ever ride in the rain, fenders would be a good upgrade. New shifters will not significantly improve this bike. This is really not a good bike to upgrade--the frame, wheels, crankset, brakes, and shifters are all decent entry level quality, but not upgradable quality. 

If you want a nicer bike for recreational riding I would recommend that you buy something used. You can find a lightly used 5-10 year old mid-range bike for about $200 that would be a big improvement over the World Sport. I'd look for a steel bike, Shimano equipped (even the lowest Shimano Sora components are very good compared to 1983 entry level World Sport Shimano 105 is great stuff and the best value you can get on a used bike). 

What kind of riding do you want to do? There are important differences between bikes built for racing and those built for touring. many people go for racing style bikes when they would be better off with a tourer or sports tourer.


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## ARP (Mar 7, 2002)

*I upgraded a similar project bike*

It is a Schwinn, it was 6 speed, it had basically the same type of equipment you have on your bike in the picture. There is one big difference; I had a 7 speed drivetrain and wheelset with an option to go double or triple STI that was not in use at the time so I stripped off all the old parts and put the newer DT on the old bike. I also added fenders, the bike is a classic and kinda rare but the old drivetrain needed an upgrade to keep me interested in building and riding the bike.

If I was determined to upgrade what you have the things I would look at would be brake levers. Find some aero (cable under the tape) levers that feel nice in your hand. I saw some Cane Creek levers @ Nashbar that I like, gum hoods. Is the stem long enough for you fit wise, Nitto has some nice stems but you can probably find something less expensive. I would look at the bars and determine if they are wide enough for you, if not Nitto has some nice alu bars. Lastly, move the shifters to either down tube or get a set of bar end shifters and set them to friction shifting. Right when STI/Ergo shifters were coming to market, the next best thing to STI was indexed bar end shifters. One of my old bikes now has barend shifters in friction mode(6 speed), work great, smooth as butter, no reaching off the bar to shift. As I look at your shifters, you might find a clamp to put on the downtube that allows you to remove the levers from it's current clamp and put them on the down tube clamp. If you do this you would eliminate the loop of casing and need to shorten the cables as a result of the new position. A good place to search for parts is obviously an older LBS or some of the online sellers like Loose Screws or bikepartsusa.

Index shifting(STI/Ergo or index in general) on your bike requires just about an entire drivetrain swap, a part here and there won't work. But you can swap a few contact point parts that will make it a very serviceable ride and not break the bank. Almost forgot, even putting Kool stop brake pads on your brakes would greatly improve stopping power and if you like the inboard brake levers, take a look at some of the newer add on levers.


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