tutorials

i thought i'd share some tutorials i used to help with all the bike repairs.

this one was invaluable for getting all the rust off!

and this is the one i should have looked at before trying to get the original chain off...it would have saved me from breaking that one chain tool...

hope this helps someone else!

well...

i didn't meet my deadline. the first day of fall was on friday, and it flew past me.

i was waiting for one more part to arrive, and when it came on saturday, i thought that'd be close enough, and i could suck up my desire to have this bike ridable by the end of the summer, and just be one day over.

but, i can't fix the chain. i'm going to need professional help, cause i just keep hurting myself trying to get it together, and correct.

so, i thought i'd give a rundown of some thing i bought to fix this bike, their sources, and cost.

i figured i'd need a bike stand, so i wouldn't have to fight the thing the entire time i was trying to rebuild it.  unfortunately, it's sold out at amazon right now. also, it's pretty sturdy and holds the bike up just how i want it, but it came with hardly any instructions whatsoever.

through a lot of research, i found out that schwinn decided they didn't want to play by everyone else's rules, and sized their tires any way they damn well pleased. but, fun fact, a company called kenda still makes tires and tubes for these wheels! and lucky me, amazon carried both, for exceptional prices!

i found this saddle, and had to order it, because all the 'schwinn authorized independent bike shops' listed on their website don't seem to exist they way the website claims (i.e. they don't sell schwinn products at all)...  and unfortunately, it didn't come with a seat rail clamp (this was the part i was waiting for), so i had to hunt for one of those as well.

and as for tools, i had to get tire levers, a two chain tools (because i managed to bend one to hell, as well as 2 chains which i attempted to graft together...to no success at all), and a new crescent wrench, from voldemart and a local small hardware store.

so all in all, before going to one of my fabulous LBS to get a chain, it looks like i spent about $100 on this project! for which i'm pretty proud of myself!

hopefully i'll have pictures of the finished project to post soon. i'm sorry didn't post more progress shots. but it was pretty boring, to be honest. luckily, i could take everything apart with a handy crescent wrench and a flat-head screwdriver!