Illustrated Service Guides & Vintage Bicycle Repair
Service Guides
A couple photo-illustrated service guides are almost here, with more titles on the way in a month or two. Want to wrench your own vintage Schwinns without going it alone? We've got you covered.
Available Now:
Schwinn Tech and Spec Guide 1.1
1950 - 1980 Electro-forged Schwinn Bikes
400 pages of text and photos (B&W) detailing the mechanical aspects of the most popular era of Schwinn bikes. Includes model name index, serial number decoder,
and more information that you can shake a kickstand at. 26 chapters cover chainrings, frames, forks, pedals, chainguards, tanks, racks, badges, hubs, grips, lights, accessories, and much more.
It's not a pretty picture book of minty Schwinns, it's not xeroxed ads or dealer part lists, it's a real world guide to Chicago-built Schwinn bicycles.
$29.95 plus shipping. Purchase on PayPal page.
Available soon:
The Big Book of Bendix Hub Overhaul
Instructions for overhauling all Bendix hubs. It will be like three books in one.
- Bendix Coaster Brake Overhaul
Step-by-step overhaul of a standard Red Band Bendix coaster brake hub. These instructions apply to all models of Bendix coaster hubs, USA and Mexico. Photo-illustrated (B&W) to make the text easy to follow. If you're riding on the original grease, you're riding on borrowed time.
- Bendix Two-Speed Automatic Overhaul
Bendix Two-Speed hubs explained and photo-illustrated. All three varieties (red, yellow, and blue) overhauled step-by-step. Pitfalls and common problems discussed. Shift-spring repair and tuning shown.
-Bendix Two-Speed Manual Overhaul
Bendix's Manual shift two speed hub taken apart and brought back to like-new performance. These hubs are at least fifty years old, and the original grease is long gone. Get it cleaned and greased the right way.
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Available soon:
Complete Schwinn Krate Overhaul
Take your classic Schwinn Krate down to the frame and build it back up the right way. Make your vintage steel ride as nice as when it left the dealership. Covers all aspects of mechanically refurbishing your Chicago era Schwinn bicycle. This book will use a 1968 Orange, but instructions for disc brake overhaul will also be included.
This book will also be useful in overhauling pretty much any other Chicago built Schwinn bicycle.
Topics Covered:
- Crank removal and installation
- Fork removal and installation
- Hub overhaul
- How to true wheels
- Rim swaps
- How to remove rim dings
- Setting up brakes, plus more.
Bendix Wrenches
Bendix wrenches are here. These are special double end cone wrenches, 7/8" and 47/64", and although not a must for wrenching on these hubs, certainly do make it much easier and less swear-wordier. These wrenches are an improved version with rotational offset to improve wrench positioning. Two wrenches are required for full servicing of Bendix single coaster brakes. Only one wrench is needed for the 2 speed hubs, Automatic or Manual. $22 for a pair plus $3.50 shipping. $12 for one wrench plus $2.50 shipping. These are new laser cut wrenches, and are solid steel, nothing fancy.These work on all Bendix coaster and 2 speed hubs. The Mexico made Bendix hubs changed the wrench flat dimensions on the drive side cone, so the 47/64" side will fit a hair loose on these later hubs.
The sooner you buy proper tools, the sooner you can enjoy using proper tools.
Purchase a pair of Bendix Wrenches on the PayPal page.
Schwinn Seatpost Adapter
Having trouble finding a decent Schwinn-sized seat clamp? You're not alone. Back in the day shims were mass produced to adapt a skinny Schwinn post to a standard 7/8" seat clamp. One of my many projects is to micro produce a similar adapter. It's not high tech, it's just the right size tubing cut the right way. I'll post here if I start making them and what the cost will be.
Gratitous photos of my decked '59 Speedster.
Schwinn Schwinn Schwinn!
Schwinn Schwinn Schwinn!
