My dad bought me a used Schwinn Racer, which had hand brakes and three speeds. It was green with a black saddle. There were not many of those bikes around. I don't remember having much trouble with it, so it must have held up well. I put some wire saddle bags on it so I could transport a baseball glove or a lunch for longer rides and after the seat wore out I put a light green cover over it. That did not look very good and I don't know why I did not just get a new seat. One rainy night I had it at a neighbor's house and it was stolen. My dad reported it to the police, and a couple of days later it was found intact behind the Coad Funeral Home on West Walnut Street.
The only other bike I remember riding was a 20-incher with a white banana seat. That must have belonged to one of my younger brothers. That was the last bike I rode before I started driving, but I don't remember why I did not ride the Racer. Maybe it did finally break down.
At some time in the 60's my dad bought one of my brothers a brand new Schwinn Typhoon. Bent's Cycle Shop on Main Street sold Schwinn and that may be where he got it. The Typhoon had beautiful lines and was a very desirable bike. This one had the Coppertone gold paint. Both of my brothers rode the bike into the 1970's until they started driving. My dad rode it around the neighborhood a bit after that and may even have taken it to Florida for a winter or two. Eventually, it ended up in the storage area behind my dad's garage and was not ridden for the better part of 30 years.
A couple of years ago I decided that fixing up that old bike might be a good winter project. I had never done anything like it before, but was determined to give it a try. I checked with my siblings to find out if they had any interest in the bike and not surprisingly, they did not. So I brought it home and over the next few months took it apart.
Although I had good intentions, time slipped away as the bike sat dormant in the basement. I was not sure what I wanted the bike to look like when I was finished and I was not at all sure I could put it all back together myself. But in August my niece told me she had been working on an old bike she intended to take to college in the fall. She seemed to be making good progress and that made me feel a bit guilty about my own efforts.
In the fall I went to an old bike show and talked to some people about my Typhoon. They gave me some good ideas on what direction to go with it and what to use to clean it up. The more I learned about the bike and what others have done with them, the less I wanted to change on it.
In December I stopped at Pete's Garage on Broadway in Green Bay. It is a recently established bike store that sells a great variety of bikes and outdoor equipment. The salesman there knew something about old bikes and encouraged me to use as many of the original parts as possible. I also talked to the mechanic there, who happens to own a vintage Schwinn Typhoon. My plans of doing the work myself had changed, so I asked the mechanic if he would put the bike back together again. He said they do that all the time and the price he quoted was reasonable.
After talking to them I again searched online for photos of vintage Schwinn Typhoons. There are hundreds of them, but one caught my eye. It was a Coppertone gold with white wheels, a black seat, and black hand grips. By this time I had decided to keep the original wheels, but I thought whitewall tires would look good. The wheels are a unique size, so I had to find just the right tire. I found a vendor who sold the tires, tubes and rim strips for this particular wheel and had them shipped to me.
A few days ago I brought the frame, parts, and new tires to Pete's Garage. Within the next few days I should have my new old bike back and have something else to look forward to this spring.
No comments:
Post a Comment