This is the 8.7 out of 10.0 installment of a multipart series (if Murphy’s Law has anything to do with it) on upgrading an old Schwinn Collegiate to a practical and pleasing daily bicycle for transportation.

So … we finally got around to taking some pictures of the “mocked-up” bike.  Much to our delight, Ole Murphy is starting to look pretty darn good:

Of course, there are still a few minor (ahem) details that the eagle-eyed reader probably already noticed:

1. We didn’t actually mount the VO fenders just yet.  The hitch is fashioning a bracket for the front fender struts … but the front fork does not have proper fender eyelets (nor does the rear for that matter).
2. The chain and shifter cables are missing.  But since the next step is to disassemble anyway, we eyeballed these items rather than full-on install.
3. The new brake pads are not yet installed.  Yeah, about that …
4. The kickstand magically floats about 2 inches above the floor.  Of course, this is one minor concern in changing to a larger wheel + tire diameter.  This would be the culprit in the serious Gangsta Lean of the parked bike.

While not perfect, we definitely achieved a couple of the design objectives:

• The larger wheels and tires accentuate the rake of the front fork, giving the desired “chopper” look.  Basically, it’s a comfortable and “cruisable” style that sets the bike off from bikes of similar design / decade.
• The Soma Iggy 3-speed wheelset is just the ticket for this project — classic, simple, elegant.
• All of the parts (especially the VO Mod 8 saddle) are of good quality and don’t detract or overstate any particular part of the aesthetics.  The vintage look is retained.
• While the simple black color scheme is good, a monochromatic-ish color would be even better.
• We wouldn’t mind having this bike for ourselves.

At this point, it is pretty tempting just to ride the bike as is.  It has a cool stance and an understated style that makes the bike unique without being gaudy.  More than anything else, this is a good indicator of the bike’s potential.  But alas, we will soldier on … we haven’t even gotten to the “sprucing-up” part of the project yet!

More Photos of the updated Murphy’s Law Project →

What’s next you ask?  How about The Murphy’s Law Project — Part Demolition

This is the 6th installment of a Very Delayed part series (if Murphy’s Law has anything to do with it) on upgrading an old Schwinn Collegiate to a practical and pleasing daily bicycle for transportation.

As you may have guessed, we haven’t had much of a chance to focus on ole Murphy in the last two weeks. 

Here are the answers to some of your questions:

• No, we haven’t forgotten about it.
• Yes, we have the parts needed to “mock-up” the bike.  And yes, the parts have a little bit of dust on them.
• No, we aren’t holding out on you — we just haven’t “mocked” yet.
• Yes, we intended to finish this project.
• Yes, business is still brisk even though the traditional “season” is coming to a close.  And Yes, we are thankful for this.
• No, the bike is not for sale yet. (But keep in mind that the proceeds will go to a very worthy cause.)
• Yes, we are working on a “Build Package” that will help turn your classic 10-speed into a worthy City Bike.

So basically, we’ve been working fast and furious this week, but haven’t had quite enough time to attend to The Murphy.  But don’t worry, it hasn’t been forgotten.

Sometimes, despite our best efforts, unfortunate things can still happen. We can’t shield ourselves from the constraints of the world of commerce, so we try to use the available resources to our best advantage.

One of the hardships in the bicycle industry is the shipping of bicycles. Anyone who has spent time behind the counter at the local bike shop can attest that complete bikes are often subjected to poor treatment during shipping. No matter the packaging, professional carrier, or the cautionary tales, bikes still get damaged.

We have been pretty fortunate with shipping; no bent and twisted frames, no mangled wheelsets, no forklifts piercing the packages. But we have had our share of headaches with damaged packages, bent racks, and un-trued wheels.  In other words, the writing is on the wall … one of our custom built bikes might meet an untimely fate.

In an effort to be proactive, we now have an alternative packaging option for our customers … the Thule 699 Round Trip Travel Case.

Yes, this the real-deal Terminator-meets-cocoon travel case. Basically, it is a hardplastic shell with layers of internal foam padding, plenty of straps, and external wheels for transport.  Sure it is heavy and tough, but so are the guys throwing around the packages at the warehouse.  Fortunately, Thule designed this case to meet standard UPS Ground shipping requirements, so it is not considered an oversize package, saving the $45 “oversize” tax.

And here is the best part:  If you need to ship a bike via UPS, you can rent this case from us. For a nominal rental fee of $45, we will let you borrow this case and send it anywhere in the U.S.A.  Basically you pay for all the shipping hither and yon, and you get to keep your valuable bike in a safe harbor against the wear and tear of commercial shipping.  Obviously there are some restrictions with extended use, bikes larger than 58cm, using this like personal luggage, etc. — but we’ll try to work with you.

The bottom line is this:

• As a customer of Renaissance Bicycles, we will be happy to send your custom built Soma, Rivendell, Colnago, etc. in this case.  Just send it back (at no extra charge) using the enclosed UPS address label.
• If you are buying / selling / or trading a unique bike that deserves a little extra care, just contact us for the availability and fine print regarding using this case.

The bottom bottom line is:

• Cardboard is good but a hardshell case is much better.
• Cases are expensive, but you can borrow ours.
• We’re just trying to think inside the box (and write bad puns).

This is the 5th installment of a 4 part series (if Murphy’s Law has anything to do with it) on upgrading an old Schwinn Collegiate to a practical and pleasing daily bicycle for transportation.

Now that we have introduced the project, taken in the Big Picture, guestimated the budget, and formulated some ideas for the intended result, now we get to go shopping. So here is the grocery list:

• Wheelset
• Drivetrain with multiple gears + cassette / cog
• Tires and tubes
• Fenders
• Saddle
• Chain
• Paint and decals
• Cables + housing, and other random little bits.

Wheels + Drivetrain = Upgrade

Knowing that the wheelset and drivetrain are the two most expensive elements in this build, it really makes sense to combine the two.  In other words, if we can get a new wheelset with an integrated multi-gear drivetrain … wait for it, wait for it … then an Internal Gear Hub makes perfect sense!  And fortunately for us, Soma has already produced the perfect specimen to fit the narrow 120mm rear spacing on the Collegiate:  The Soma Iggy Wheelset.  At around $250 for both wheels, a 3-speed hub, shifter, cog, and all in a classic silver finish, we just hit the jackpot!  (Well … maybe not the jackpot, but still a reasonable price to cover the two main upgrades for this project.)

Fenders + Tough Tires = Real World Commuting

Fenders and tires go together.  The general rule o’thumb is that the fender should be at least 12mm wider than the advertised width of the tire.  Apparently, our thumbs are a little more narrow than other people, because we sometimes try to squeeze 10mm wider fenders over tires.  While this usually give us the “look” we want, sometimes the annoyance of fender rub under acceleration or the sharp sound of a rock traveling through the inside of the fender is enough for us to second-guess our decision.

For tires, we want something in the realm of 700 x 32c to 700 x 35c for a daily rider.  The idea is to provide a comfortable yet reasonably low resistance ride.  Plus, most tires in this range are considerably more flat-resistant than their skinny tire cousins.  There are lots of good options …

• Panaracer Pasela w/ Tour Guard — $25 apiece
• or the Schwalbe Marathon — $30 apiece
• or the Continental Touring Plus — $35 apeace

… just to name three.

But as luck would have it, we have a used pair of 700 x 33.3 Jack Browns (the Blue edition) just laying around.  In the spirit of a budget build-up it simply makes more sense to use these homeless tires rather than buying new ones.  While this is a little bit of “cheating” on our part, it is hard to imagine that the average cyclist wouldn’t have a saddle, tires, or even whole wheelset that could be re-purposed for a build like this.  Likewise, we could debate the “somebody had to pay for it” line of thinking, but we like to think that good judgment in keeping useful parts is “priceless”. [Or, if you are keeping score at home, just add $60 to the total.]

While Honjo fenders are the indisputable champions of aluminum fenders, Velo Orange sells their own house brand for about 40% less than the cost of a Honjo set.  Alternatively, we could use some quality SKS Chromoplastic fenders for even a little bit less, but the metal fluted fenders just feel right for this bike.  For $48 we can use the 48mm polished and fluted VO fenders for plenty of tire clearance.  But low and behold, the ones that need a little polishing are actually on sale for $35.  Score!

Saddle

For a good city bike, we should get a proper city saddle.  In other words, I don’t envision too many out of the saddle town-line sprints on the Collegiate.  Basically, a sprung leather saddle would be ideal.  But at this point we haven’t left ourselves much room for ideal Brooks saddle.  Hmmm … maybe we just won’t sit down.  I wish we could have another “low and behold” moment …

And once again, our friends at Velo Orange come to the rescue.  As it happens, their Mod 8 saddle (which is both leather and sprung) is just within our grasp at $65.  The downside is this might stretch our budget just a little bit …

Everything Else

Basically, there are a couple of worn-out elements to the bike.  We need a new chain, new brake cables and housing, and new brake pads.  It breaks down like this:

• KMC singlespeed chain: $10
• Replacement brake cables and housing: $12
• New brake pads: $14

The Total

So far, we have racked up a grand total of $386.  That is a mere $11 (or 3%) over budget.  Not too bad … but I have a feeling that we may have overlooked something important like the paint scheme … but we’ll worry about that next time when we start to see how things take shape in The Murphy’s Law Project — Mock Build-up.  Once we have all the parts on-hand, we’ll see if this creature will go together as planned (cue maniacal laughter).

A Footnote

For quick pricing reference, we took the “average” price available online for the highlighted product.  Obviously, this overlooks sales tax and/or shipping.  But hopefully your local bike shop would be your first stop.  Even if they don’t have every item on-hand, they will probably make-up for it with backroom bargains like our used Jack Brown tires.