One thing I remember from Schwinn school's wheelbuilding lesson was that the wheels were deliberately undertensioned so as to absorb shock and protect the bikes during shipping in the long-pack Chicago Schwinn boxes. David Feldman Vancouver, WA Schwinn Sales West graduate, autumn 1975
> Some years after developing a pretty good regional
\r?\n> customer base from my
\r?\n> wheelbuilding skills, my bike shop employer sent me
\r?\n> to the Schwinn mechanics
\r?\n> school to show our customers we were all 'Schwinn
\r?\n> Certified'. Didn't learn a
\r?\n> whole lot there that was previously unknown to me,
\r?\n> but it was certainly good
\r?\n> training for the new mechanics.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> The school's whole aim with wheelbuilding was for
\r?\n> speed because TIME =
\r?\n> MONEY. And we never saw anything but heavy steel
\r?\n> rims; nothing lightweight
\r?\n> was discussed as I recall. Thus, building "good"
\r?\n> wheels was not the goal,
\r?\n> minimizing labor costs was. Period. I dunno about
\r?\n> that exact 7 minute wheel
\r?\n> claim but certainly heard similar stories at the
\r?\n> Schwinn school which were
\r?\n> supposed to inspire us to become "good wheelbuilders
\r?\n> who can crank them
\r?\n> out". We subsequently learned speed-specific lacing
\r?\n> and truing techniques
\r?\n> that got them out in about 15 minutes... but they
\r?\n> were not wheels I would
\r?\n> sell to a customer back home doing his first
\r?\n> century. Ick! :-(
\r?\n> Replacing *crappy factory wheels* is exactly why I
\r?\n> sold a good many wheels
\r?\n> to cycling enthusiasts during the 1970s and '80s.
\r?\n> But you get what you pay
\r?\n> for, too-- and those heavy steel wheels didn't sell
\r?\n> for all that much
\r?\n> either. Indeed, that was the whole point. OTOH, I
\r?\n> would be very surprised if
\r?\n> the wheels on Schwinn Paramounts of the same era
\r?\n> were built in 7 minutes,
\r?\n> but they weren't all that well-built either.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> As to the short, wide woman at the Schwinn factory
\r?\n> cranking them out in 7
\r?\n> minutes (probably for piece-rate wages because time
\r?\n> = money), I'd really
\r?\n> like to know what would make anyone think her wheels
\r?\n> were "great"? Did they
\r?\n> go ride them for thousands of miles? Hell no, they
\r?\n> were very likely heavy
\r?\n> steel-rimmed dogs bound for lowly Varsities,
\r?\n> Suburbans, Continentals, etc.
\r?\n> And for around town usage they probably held up
\r?\n> fine-- braking in the rain
\r?\n> aside. So, by that definition, maybe they were great
\r?\n> in their own way.
\r?\n> Funny, though, one sure doesn't see many of those
\r?\n> "great" wheels out on club
\r?\n> centuries, doubles, races, or being ridden
\r?\n> cross-country.
\r?\n> Apples vs. Oranges, IMHO.
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Bill Bryant
\r?\n> Santa Cruz, CA
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> on 7/1/03 5:31 PM, DTSHIFTER@aol.com at
\r?\n> DTSHIFTER@aol.com wrote:
\r?\n>
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > In a message dated 7/1/03 5:00:25 PM,
\r?\n> tsan7759142@comcast.net writes:
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > << He again said that good wheels are good wheels
\r?\n> and that if we wanted to
\r?\n> > talk great wheel builders that he had seen a very
\r?\n> short woman years ago at
\r?\n> > the
\r?\n> > Schwinn factory who was as wide as tall, but could
\r?\n> build a great wheel in
\r?\n> > seven minutes. He felt that was the greatest
\r?\n> wheel builder he had ever seen
\r?\n> > and
\r?\n> > that was unlikely to be topped. >>
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Evening Gang,
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Seven minutes, eh? Sure would like to have seen
\r?\n> it in action, because my
\r?\n> > experience gives me much cause for doubt.
\r?\n> Especially, the "great wheel"
\r?\n> > claim???
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > I don't think wheel building should be rushed
\r?\n> (IMO)!!!
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Cheers,
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Chuck Brooks
\r?\n> > Malta, NY