On 11/19/07, Harvey Sachs <hmsachs@verizon.net> wrote:
> With all due respect, I'd offer a couple of observations:
> 1) the Continental was designed and built to be bulletproof and
> idiotproof. By slavish attention to details derived from Sherman tanks,
> they succeeded on both counts. And, it is actually air transportable
> and should survive drops without parachute. The penalty is just a wee
> bit of overweight.
> 2) Once you understand the twisted logic, they're easy to work on.
> Ashtabula cranks are easy to work on, and have huge bearing surfaces. Of
> course, the lesser bikes (Continental, Collegiate, Varsity) seem to have
> very weak and easily bent cranks, and all took 1/2" pedals, which make
> 14 mm easy to find in comparison. Almost.
>
> Ergo, my own recommendation is to clean it up and sell it quick as
> "commuter" with the special virtue that it passes the "next bike" test.
> As in:
> Q: why do you ride that beat-up, super-ugly bike to work?
> A: That and a decent lock helps draw attention to the nicer bikes parked
> next to it.
>
> But, I could be wrong. There may actually be value in the steel rims or
> something. The most robust Huret derailleurs ever. The thinnest
> diameter and thickest tubing walls ever found on a bike. Best welds on
> a main triangle.
>
> I'm a fan of the upper-level Schwinn Super Sport and Sport Tourer. The
> continental is certainly much better than the infamous Varsity, which
> abandoned a real tubular fork for a strap-iron Ashtabula fork, and
> long-reach side-pulls replaced the CPs on the Continental. And used
> bolts to secure the wheels instead of QRs. ~shudder~
> Please don't take my poking at these as personal. After all, I'm one of
> the guys with a Genuine Sears Ted Williams Sport Racing, waterpipe
> tubing and all.
>
> harvey sachs
> mcLean va
>
Thanks, Harvey. I enjoyed your reply tremendously. I had been up in the air about whether to put her back to original specs (either repainted or not) or turn her into a fixed gear bicycle. My wife, bless her heart, got tired of me rambling on and on and on about it and ordered an inexpensive set of track wheels for me. So I guess that question is answered.
The steel rims are beat up pretty badly and several spokes are bent. I may recycle the hubs. The one-piece-crank shined up nicely and I was able to overhaul the bottom bracket parts and pedals. Picked up some new headset bearings over the weekend. The wheels should be here to tomorrow, and all I should need are tires, tubes, bar tape and elbow grease. One question. The paint and bar tape are yellow. Should I go with yellow or black brake housing?
I almost felt bad about doing this to such a "classic", highly sought after bike, but after reading the threads about hipsters doing this sort of thing to very nice lugged racing frames my guilt went away.
:)
Thanks for all the replies.
--
Scott Loveless
New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, USA
http://www.twosixteen.com/