Juli's Pink Schwinn Taking Shape

I received some parts this week intended for Juli's next bike, so I spent a few minutes today trying out my bastardized headset idea, and then test fitting some parts.  As you can see, the pink Schwinn frame is starting to look like a bike!

Currently on the bike are a Dia-Compe 610/750 brake combination, a pulley for the rear brake cable (which on this frame will approach the seatpost clamp area from below, not above -- I'll detail this when I write up the build another time), a Greenfield (made in USA!) kickstand, a Shimano 12-28 7-speed freewheel, the 650B wheelset I built up in class, a seatpost, stem, handlebar, and the aforementioned headset.

The day after Thanksgiving, Juli and I will start the build process in earnest, beginning by taking everything you see off the frame, and giving it a good scrubbing and polishing.  After that, it should go together pretty quickly.  We have most of the parts we need (beyond what's listed above), save for tires & tubes, fresh brake pads and control cables.  Blue handlebar tape and cable housing are sitting in a box out in the barn, along with a Pletscher rack that I'll modify to sit level on this little frame (as I did for the Fuji, by shortening the support struts).  The drivetrain, control levers and saddle will be scavenged from Juliana's Fuji, along with key accessories, like the bottle cages, blinky and saddle bag.

As for the hybrid headset, it seems pretty sound to me.  The headset is threadless, but the steerer tube is threaded.  There is a locknut near the top of the spacer stack, and the threaded top-nut, as you can see.  For the test fit, I put a spacer between the lock nut and top nut, but in the final build I may move that under the locknut, and play with the order of spacers and hanger in the stack, to get the cable hanger as low as possible.

The girls' mother stopped by with the girls today to pick something up, just as I got to the stage you see, here.  Juli was all smiles, seeing her new bike, and offered the verdict that the dreaded raspberry-pink frame is overshadowed by all the shiny metal, making it acceptable.  As long as the cables and bar tape are blue, that is.  We'll see how long that position lasts!

It should come together quickly, from here, and be ready for Juli to use as soon as the weather warms up enough for riding, next Spring.

All for now,

J