1980 Schwinn World Sport

Here's my second commission: another red Schwinn for another friend.

Well it used to be red, at least.  This 1980 Schwinn World Sport was rescued from the dump as always.  It had a bent rear wheel and all of the usual consumables were shot: tires, tubes, chain, cables, etc.  This particular bike was made in Schwinn's Giant factory in Taiwan rather than the Chicago factory.  One of my friends, again from the architecture school, wanted a decent road bike to get around town and go on nice rides with, but within a budget.

I'm assuming this bike was tossed because of the bent wheels because the frame was still in great shape.  It breaks my heart when people throw these things away.  Since my friend didn't have money to buy new wheels like the other guy did, I let him have my other alloy 700c wheels for cheap.  They were the ones that I used on my Ross Gran Tour for a short time before the winter tires became unusable so I knew the wheels were still good.

I don't have many photos of this bike while it was being finished because I did it rather quickly, but my friend found some Ford Duplicolor engine enamel that he liked so we repainted the bike.  Also, I really liked how the underside of the down tube had a braze-on to keep the cable clamp from sliding.  It looked like a heart.

The fork is bent back a little, as is the case with most road bikes from the '70s and '80s, but being that it's made of steel, it should be fine.  I took it for a test ride and it wasn't nearly as flexy as the fork on my own road bike.  Speaking of the test ride, this bike weighs in at "only" 30 pounds, which is far lighter than my classic Raleighs and still lighter than my own road bike so even the steeper hills in town felt easy.

Check out the details on the shifters! I think they're supposed to look like chain links around the edges.  Cool stuff.  One unfortunate thing is that the front derailleur of this bike is tired and sort of stuck.  The cable can pull it into position but the spring won't return it.  I didn't have any extras lying around but my friend said he'd be willing to deal with it until he earned more money.  After all, the new rear wheel does have a 7-speed gear cluster which offers a wider range than the original 5.

I guess that's it for this post.  There is not nearly as much invested in this build compared to the Schwinn Varsity but this bike still rides beautifully.  I'm happy this bike went to a loving new owner.

P.S. There is another World Sport that belongs to another architecture student, but I'm not sure who it is.  It's in much nicer shape.  The paint is the exact same as the one I rebuilt but the serial number doesn't have a G in front which means it was made at the Chicago factory.