Project Bike

[Heifzilla]

I went trash picking this past week. My neighbors had a bike they were tossing, a 1990 17" Schwinn Caliente. It's PINK! I grabbed it and brought it stealthily home at 7:15 in the morning. Actually, the neighbors across the street from them were pullingout of their driveway and giving me weird looks so I guess it wasn't so stealthy.

Once I got it home I really took a good look at it. It wasn't in *that* bad of shape. It's a steel lugged frame, has some rust, the back wheel badly out of true, the front wheel in true but with a very very slight flat spot that doesn't seem like it will really affect the ride much (it's not that bad really...probably from the previous owner hitting a curb), the rims are chromed steel 27 x 1 1/4", some spokes were loose, has suicide brake levers that work as well as expected, cables were bone dry and moving like an arthritic old man, chain and gear rings absolutely caked with grease and filth, foam handlebar grips disintegrating. But the crank turns smoothly, the wheels turn smoothly, the tires are are newer Kendas that still have the extra rubber on them from the molds, the derailleurs look to be in decent shape and they work, and it really seems to be a solid bike. It has a rear index derailleur, a Shimano SIS, but the front derailleur is not indexed. The shifter levers are cheap plastic, but they are in good shape, no dings, etc..

So I decided that this would be my Very First Project Bike Ever™. It was free and I want to learn how to work on a bike. If I screw this one up I won't cry like I would if I screw up on my Raleigh It's going to need a new seat and cosmetic things, and I am going to change out the cables, etc.. I am not going to mess with pulling the cranks or doing anything with bearings or the like, I really think it isn't necessary right now. I want to get the bike into rideable condition, see if it is comfortable for me to ride, and then go from there. I am currently riding an aluminum hybrid, and I want to see if steel is really a smoother ride, and I'd like a road bike to tool around on occasionally.

And, the bike already has a name: Pepper I even ordered some cool grey Salsa bar wrap with their little pepper on it. Since it's a Caliente, the name Pepper just fit her I know you guys will understand. DH just kind of rolled his eyes at me. Even my Raleigh doesn't have a name. I can't help it if it never spoke to me, right?? LOL

Here's a pic.

[Zen]

Looks nice from here, have fun fixing her up

[Tri Girl]

What a great find! Looks like a solid bike and a great project. Woo hoo!!!

[SJCzar]

Hey !!! I have that exact same bike hanging up in my garage. It had been my daughter's first "real" road bike years ago.

I brought it out last fall and cleaned and lubed her up. It still worked great.

Have fun with your project.

[TrekTheKaty]

Sweet! My first road bike was one step from the curb when I rescued her. I didn't like the shifter on the stem, so upgraded quickly. But we still have her. Good luck being "stealth" on that pink bike

[sgtiger]

Heifzilla, nice find and I hope you have fun with Pepper.

[Heifzilla]

Sweet! My first road bike was one step from the curb when I rescued her. I didn't like the shifter on the stem, so upgraded quickly. But we still have her. Good luck being "stealth" on that pink bike

I don't care for shifters on the stems, either. Did you go with bar end shifts or what did you end up with? I don't know much about road bike shifters. I have to change out the cables, anyway, so I might as well change the shifters in the process.

[DebW]

I don't care for shifters on the stems, either. Did you go with bar end shifts or what did you end up with? I don't know much about road bike shifters. I have to change out the cables, anyway, so I might as well change the shifters in the process.

How many cogs on the freewheel? Finding new shifters with the correct indexing might be a challenge. You could go with friction shifters and give up the indexing, or look on eBay for the appropriate parts. Bar ends would do nicely on that bike. Clamp-on downtube shifters would be another option.