Flood of memories- was[CR]CL Providence outing - Schwinn T&C tandem

(Example: Framebuilding:Paint)

Date: Sat, 05 Apr 2008 16:31:29 -0400
From: "Harvey Sachs" <hmsachs@verizon.net>
Subject: Flood of memories- was[CR]CL Providence outing - Schwinn T&C tandem
To: velo59@yahoo.com, Classic Rendezvous <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>


Thank you, Jason Cloutier, for bringing back such a flood of memories! I take you back now to ~1970, when Susan and I lived in Providence; about the time we helped start the Narragansett Bay Wheelmen (Remember, Billy Mount?). I was a Brown grad student then, had given Susan a wonderful (in hindsight) full Columbus DB Atala with loopy lugs as an engagement present. There was no CL, and I don't know we heard about this tandem for sale in nearby Cranston (?). All we knew was that tandems were rare, cheap tandems were not worth having, and great ones were - if you could afford one.

We went to look at it, and took the bathroom scale with us. 50# or so (~23 kg), not bad, twice the weight of a single, must be decent tubing, considering that it had steel "lightweight" wheels, steel cranks, steel posts, everything. We bought it, and found that it had come from the estate of Bill and Edith Lovely, of East Providence, proprietors of a typewriter shop. They had already "hot-rodded" it, to a 3-speed derailleur, with seriously ground brake calipers and levers, etc. The Odo had three stripes, from the times it had turned over 10,000 miles. Later, Schwinn gave us an article on them from the house magazine. They had done a double century in ~13.5 miles (about 325 km). At the time, he was 61, she was 59. That is not flat terrain.

Ultimately, the frame cracked at the front seat tube top, and Schwinn replaced it under warranty, with a NOS one still hanging in the factory, in Cosmoline. 4130 main tubes, oversized everything. We rode it another 12 - 14,000 miles. More hot-rodding, with a brazing torch, to install vertical drop-outs that I made, and tiddly bits to accomodate modern brakes and such, and 700c wheels. I made copies of Phil BB to accomodate the 74 mm BB, and we ran cotterless cranks. Rodney Moseman painted it for us. The steering may have been like that of a heavy truck, but we loved the tight 61" wheelbase. Eventually, this one went to former CR list member Ann ____, in Atlanta, but it brought us pleasure for 30 years or so. As did a T&C triplet we "did" even more thoroughly, but that is another story. Maybe I can gather some pix for Cirque, or this will kick me into doing the web page i've wanted to.

harvey sachs mcLean va usa

++++++++++++++++++++++++ Jason wrote:

http://providence.craigslist.org/bik/631358156.html

I am not the seller, but I would be willing to be the buyer's local agent.