Recycling can be fun — at least when it “requires” air tools. Picked up this classic 32 year old 1974 Schwinn Collegiate at the landfill last week, did a complete frame-off resto yesterday. Took about six hours fender-to-fender. Completely tore down the bicycle: clean and polish all metal and paint, repack bearings, new tires/tubes and a new front brake cable, straighten a few bent parts, adjust derailleur, true wheels. Result is a classic cruiser for my wife! We love the “stick shift” and chain guard. Weighs a ton and rolls smooth. Riding a cruiser around town keeps us in shape for backcountry skiing, at least that’s the theory. In case you’re wondering if this is Lou’s would-be career number 68, yep, my first job as a teenager in Aspen was bicycle mechanic — I’ve still got the hub spanners to prove it.
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| 1974 Schwinn Collegiate – restored for 2006. |
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| Chainguard is classic! |
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| Our favorite part, the stick shift! |
Inspiration for this project came from the guys at Gear Exchange in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. They’re the ones who knew how cool the “bike pile” at the dump can be. Gear exchange has everything from vintage bicycles to used Dynafit bindings. Their phone 970-945-8500.
(And speaking of backcountry, got out Saturday on the Schofield Pass road between Crested Butte and Marble, Colorado. Four wheeled Schofield Pass and hiked Arkansas Mountain. Good news is that the Punchbowl area on the Schofield road is open and rough. Arkansas is a short beautiful alpine ramble – recommended and easy to figure out from a map.)
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.
